Finding RELIABLE PEOPLE!!!

salils

salils

Well-known member
I'm a 17 year old no budget filmmaker. How do you find RELIABLE and motivated people to work with you on productions??? From writers, directors, crew, to actors; I've been struggling to find people who are reliable and motivated. Even the few that I find at my school aren't very reliable or timely with their work. I'm located in a suburb 40 mins west of Chicago and it doesn't seem like there's anyone here that wants to make movies??? Am I just not looking the right place? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :thumbup:
 
hey I have the same problem. The problem is that theres little to few people around that area who is into movies (or at least passionate about it), I should know because I'm from glendale Heights. Anyways Ive been looking for some help with a project. If your interested let me know
 
salils said:
I'm a 17 year old no budget filmmaker. How do you find RELIABLE and motivated people to work with you on productions??? From writers, directors, crew, to actors; I've been struggling to find people who are reliable and motivated. Even the few that I find at my school aren't very reliable or timely with their work. I'm located in a suburb 40 mins west of Chicago and it doesn't seem like there's anyone here that wants to make movies??? Am I just not looking the right place? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :thumbup:
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Think of it this way. I'm guessing you want people to help make your project(s) happen. If so, you would have the vision and the authority to make the decisions. Everyone wants to be a director, not everyone wants to be that name in small font halfway through the roll of credits. Want a crew? Read the above post. Pay them. Feeding them is also a good idea.
 
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Volunteer to work other people's projects and then then call in the favor when you do stuff.
 
AdvanTech said:
Think of it this way. I'm guessing you want people to help make your project(s) happen. If so, you would have the vision and the authority to make the decisions. Everyone wants to be a director, not everyone wants to be that name in small font halfway through the roll of credits. Want a crew? Read the above post. Pay them. Feeing them is also a good idea.
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True, but I haven't had much luck with opening credits titles either. With the exception of music composer, because I'm able to do that online.
I have crewd on a few people's projects, but I have yet to really find anyone that even sort of knows what they are doing. The people "directing" a project are often much less motivated to finish it than I AM (when I'm just crewing or DPing).
I guess I have to go to Chicago for that??? My parents are usually a little leery about that which is why I can't usually go.
 
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haha I know how you feel. I'm eighteen and used to have a similar problem. But I don't see that problem anymore. Keep your crew real low...for your first shorts do as much as you can yourself. As for actors etc - there's bound to be a local theater group or perhaps some students you know/ have access to that want to be actors? Surely there's a few people. Even non actors! Sometimes they're great, it's just a matter of finding the right people. Good luck. :)

-Chris
 
salils said:
I'm a 17 year old no budget filmmaker. How do you find RELIABLE and motivated people to work with you on productions??? From writers, directors, crew, to actors; I've been struggling to find people who are reliable and motivated. Even the few that I find at my school aren't very reliable or timely with their work. I'm located in a suburb 40 mins west of Chicago and it doesn't seem like there's anyone here that wants to make movies??? Am I just not looking the right place? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :thumbup:
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The people who are serious about filmmaking usually move to either Los Angeles or New York - but there are exceptions...
 
The people who have said it before are unfortunately right - the way to extract reliable performance from people, is to pay them.

It's true that I spend a fair bit of time every year working gratis on small projects...and I treat those projects the same way I treat a paying, professional gig. And there are others who like to do that, too, just for the enjoyment of it. But I suspect that we are few and far between.
 
One idea that I recently tried was , I told people honestly what I was working with, was on a low budget and couldent pay them, and posted it on craigs list website.

so far i have a handful of people willing to be in the film, that i have yet to shoot
 
Honestly, if I saw an ad for some 17 year old filmmaker wanting to find a crew for no pay, there is no way I would ever take that seriously. How do you beat that? Either find a great way to show your vision and inspire them, or pay them.
 
There are many ways to resolve this.

1.) Post ads where the right people are already congregating. Post at ads in the media department of local community colleges, universities and public access stations. Make sure your flier is professional.

2.) Stop focusing on free help and ask for inexpensive help instead. If you pay each crew person $30.00 a day and have a 5 person crew you're spending 150 dollars on labor. A typical short film takes 2-3 days to shoot. Anyone can save $450.00.

3.) Stop expecting people to care about your movie as much as you do. That lesson took me 10 years to learn. I assumed people thought like I did...I'm very loyal, and I thought they'd realize that I'd stick by them if they stuck by me. Inevitably, most of the crew people I worked with during that time period were flakes. I often ripped my hair out thinking "Why is this happening to me?" Things didn't change until I realized that most people are flakes and it had nothing to do with me...

4.)...which leads to #4. Make your projects flake-proof. Accept the fact that you'll have to write it, storyboard, learn FCP so you can create an animatic, scout the locations, do the casting, hire the crew, secure the food and secure the equipment. Why? None of that stuff is fun! Why on earth would a lazy slacker work for FREE and bust their ass to do grueling, time-consuming, detail-oriented tasks FOR FREE? It's your movie. Redefine the word director to include "chief toilet scrubber." The only way you'll finish your film is if YOU do all the heavy lifting.

5.) Treat people incredibly well. Keep your shoot days to 10 hours a day, feed them well, thank them often, be polite even when they're not and keep notes on the few people you'll meet who are worth working with again. If you do 2 shorts a year and find 1-2 people per short worth keeping, then in 1-2 years you'll have a team that you trust.

There is nothing easy about making movies...its even harder with a small budget. There are no short cuts. The secret to success is to accept that this is the most demanding career you could ever choose. Run away if you can't stand years of dysfunctional freaks, meanspirited losers and smiling crooks. Only choose this path if there is nothing else on this planet that will feed your soul. And if you choose to be like many of us, absolute slaves to our love of filmmaking, then accept reality...most every aspect of this is going to suck. But, once you assemble an amazing team it is a truly transcendent experience. You appreciate the good SO MUCH MORE.
 
Prodigi Pictures said:
There are many ways to resolve this.

1.) Post ads where the right people are already congregating. Post at ads in the media department of local community colleges, universities and public access stations. Make sure your flier is professional.

2.) Stop focusing on free help and ask for inexpensive help instead. If you pay each crew person $30.00 a day and have a 5 person crew you're spending 150 dollars on labor. A typical short film takes 2-3 days to shoot. Anyone can save $450.00.

3.) Stop expecting people to care about your movie as much as you do. That lesson took me 10 years to learn. I assumed people thought like I did...I'm very loyal, and I thought they'd realize that I'd stick by them if they stuck by me. Inevitably, most of the crew people I worked with during that time period were flakes. I often ripped my hair out thinking "Why is this happening to me?" Things didn't change until I realized that most people are flakes and it had nothing to do with me...

4.)...which leads to #4. Make your projects flake-proof. Accept the fact that you'll have to write it, storyboard, learn FCP so you can create an animatic, scout the locations, do the casting, hire the crew, secure the food and secure the equipment. Why? None of that stuff is fun! Why on earth would a lazy slacker work for FREE and bust their ass to do grueling, time-consuming, detail-oriented tasks FOR FREE? It's your movie. Redefine the word director to include "chief toilet scrubber." The only way you'll finish your film is if YOU do all the heavy lifting.

5.) Treat people incredibly well. Keep your shoot days to 10 hours a day, feed them well, thank them often, be polite even when they're not and keep notes on the few people you'll meet who are worth working with again. If you do 2 shorts a year and find 1-2 people per short worth keeping, then in 1-2 years you'll have a team that you trust.

There is nothing easy about making movies...its even harder with a small budget. There are no short cuts. The secret to success is to accept that this is the most demanding career you could ever choose. Run away if you can't stand years of dysfunctional freaks, meanspirited losers and smiling crooks. Only choose this path if there is nothing else on this planet that will feed your soul. And if you choose to be like many of us, absolute slaves to our love of filmmaking, then accept reality...most every aspect of this is going to suck. But, once you assemble an amazing team it is a truly transcendent experience. You appreciate the good SO MUCH MORE.
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Very good points. Thanks for all the advice.

When you said " 3.) Stop expecting people to care about your movie as much as you do."
I laughed, I've worked on too many of other people's projects where I cared more about their project than I think they did. (a lot of them didn't get completed because of this)
 
Some really good advice already in this thread but I would add to keep leading by example. Don't fret if you are the most passionate person on a project, even if it's not your own, and keep striving to be the hardest worker around. Most likely you will progress through the ranks on a set quicker than others and hopefully motivate those around you to improve and work on your projects. :)
 
Try to build relationships with a reciprocating circle of production friends. Sometimes you have to make the first effort in working somebody else's gig for free... and then they will return the favor. Watch out who you decide to do this for however... the list of people who want free work is endless... and people who want to be in films are a dime a dozen, but the people making nonsense are just as prevalent.

In STL the "churn 'n burn" mentality is well rooted... all you have to do is go on the filmwire to see it. Sign up and you'll get nonstop emails from people wanting free work. I don't mind that except after doing that a couple of times and then having no reciprocation I decided to get a lot more selective.

I've got an endless list of people who want free work... and I've got an endless list of projects that I'd love to do with the benefit of no payroll... you gotta' find a balance with THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

But I'm guessing everybody had the same reaction to this thread title, just like word association... I was going to simply post "pay them" also.
 
get a short reel even if it's just random shots that look good or some of your friends pretending to act a scene out. i'd be more motivated to work with a 17 year old if i saw some of his work first. they're some older people with budgets, crews, equipment and still put out shyt work or don't have a clue. i wouldn't work with a 17 year old if he's got no experience. it'd be a waste of time.
 
Reading you're first post felt like something i'd post myself. Same age, same problem, same everything. To put it bluntly. Most adults don't give a crap about Student Filmmakers, there are some grand exceptions. Low budget, yeah, means you're usually stuck with a comedy or horror sort of genre or some cheesy action film.

Sometimes it's worth a shot looking around you're local film commision or council asking if they have any links to places near by that can provide funding for you're project. As long are you're pre-production is well under way when you send of the details you should be in with a good chance as long as you're a manipulative b@sta!d everything should be okay on that front.

Thats the only thing i can say really, it does change with the area you live. Though I actually find it BETTER if you don't live in some place like NY or LA until you become bigger in filmmaking and a better reputation.

Reason for this is if you live in your hometown or a place that rarely or never has films made. Especially a company that has a global/international connection. They'll be happy to let you film or get involved for the publicity of the city.

It works to if you ask the local newspaper and radio station to put a nice add in. If you just drop them a line Inviting them, they more than likely will turn up. However, if they deny most chances are they say they'll ask you for an interview, a clip from your film, come down with a photographer instead or something will happen.

I hope something helped. =]
 
16 year olds with no experience will totally look up to, and work for, a 17 year old with no experience.

Do whatever you can with whoever you can recruit and if your work is good enough then people be dying to work for you... or pay them if you're not brilliant.
 
Ki-Ki said:
Most adults don't give a crap about Student Filmmakers, there are some grand exceptions.
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I've given my time, gear, and skills to a couple different student filmmakers on two different occasions and it was totally taken for granted... they didn't even have the sense of obligation or responsibility to send me a copy of the finished product or even let me know what they did with it. Even if a project turns out to be junk you still want to know what happened after you donate time and gear.

Most people only care about the job they want done... with no sense of reciprocation or genuine gratitude if it means any more effort then a "thanks" and a handshake at the end of the job... and you're more likely to encounter this mentality in young people with little experience. Maybe that's not YOU... but the odds that it is are higher. Older, experienced people have probably been burned several times in doing favors... you're going to understand this after it happens to you a few times... and it will.

Set up something that addresses a return on the person's time and effort... be it reciprocation or something other then "I'd really appreciate it" and you'll have more success.

They say there's no free lunch... but that's not entirely true, some people on occasion can get away with stealing one... which is why older guys are hesitant to put their steak on your plate when they already know there's no money.
 
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