ARE YOU WORKING? ARE YOU GETTING PAID? October 5, 2011

There are two kinds of people in the entertainment industry:

Those who are working and getting paid and those who are working and not getting paid.

We’re either working or we’re looking for work.

We’re either on a project or pitching/creatin/raising money for a project.

There are two kinds of people in the entertainment industry:  Those who are working and getting paid and those who are working and not getting paid.

We’re either working or we’re looking for work.

We’re either on a project or pitching/creating/raising money for a project.

VACATION?

When we’re on a project it’s like a vacation. A vacation from looking for work. A vacation from wondering when the next job will be. A vacation from wondering if we’ll ever work again.

Of course, when we’re working, then our lives are somewhere between unmanageable and completely on hold.

We’ll be out of town, on the road or stuck in a shooting stage or on location from before sunrise to the outer edge of turnaround. You know, before they have to pay a PENALTY for working us that long.

DR. EVIL?

And producers aren’t evil. They work hard too. And the studios aren’t evil. They exist to make money from making hit product. Fairly simple equation.

And the studios inherited a workplace and a workforce that allowed itself to be exploited. (And I use that term loosely. We’re still living in an affluent country and working in a generally affluent industry.)

PAY TO PLAY?

But the main reason we get exploited is this: We’re doing something we love to do. And in fact, we love it so much we’ll even do it if we’re not getting paid. Or even pay to do it. The original Pay to Play industry.

And it’s not the studios fault. They started out just like us. Yes, one hundred years ago, but still. They had investors to satisfy and release dates and seats to fill and an audience with an insatiable appetite for more, more, more.

CALCULATED RISK

And they took risks, and they didn’t know what would be a hit, and they had hard times paying their bills and they tried to put as much money on the screen as possible so that the audience would keep coming back and keeping paying their 5 cents for the next movie.

Living for the thrill of performing, writing, being on the set. Working with other creative to get the shot, find the location, tell the story, tweak the sequence. We’re willing to do all kinds of crazy stuff to feel that rush of creation and group collaboration.

Like wait a long time between doing it. Like make a career out of “looking for work” and feeling like it’s just part of the equation.

BUYING A THRILL?

We live off of the thrill and momentum and dreams of those peak experiences of being on the set, being part of the team and being paid nicely for the pleasure of it. Why can’t our lives be or feel like this all the time, we ask. All of us. Up and down the freelance food chain.