Work 40 hours a week for credit anyone?

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Supply and demand - 500,000 kids a year want to get into the industry; those who put out the most and receive the least will get the gigs. As ridiculous as it seems, it is very akin to a band "paying its dues", playing clubs for nothing to gain experience and exposure. It's a given in the music biz; I did it myself.

What will be interesting is that in the recent Financial Reform bill passed by Congress interns will no longer work for free - they must be paid, I believe, minimum wage. This includes all of the college internship programs. This will have a serious but unknown impact on numerous industries, especially television and film.

There are quite a few who may have already found a way around this, however. You will no longer be an intern, you will be an apprentice. The only people this will really help are the lawyers....
 
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A true internship/apprenticeship is where you actually learn something from an experienced pro. "Back in the day" that was how you got your verifiable credits, which in turn got you into the union, you were sponsored by your mentor and then hired for the next position available as you already knew how to do the job and would be working with the same team. Unfortunately too many unscrupulous types offer "internships" which are nothing less than slave labor - fetch coffee, get my dry cleaning, answer the phone, clean the crapper - and they offer nothing in return. That's what prompted the regulation in the first place.

I have also used interns and definitely mentored them. Plus I fed them well, and they got the use of unbooked studio time for a few hours to play with the "toys".

Hmmmmmmmmm..... Instead of an internship or apprenticeship maybe it could be a barter agreement...
 
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funnyintern.jpg
 
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Zensteve said:
Heh, this gig sounds awesome:

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/evg/2047393596.html

:lol:
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Sixty bucks for photography, HD videography and equipment hire on Thanksgiving weekend? All done in an hour? You'd think someone who makes a living from artists would value their time a little more. I've half a mind to email him an invitation to go fuck himself, but the sad thing is someone will end up doing all that work for that little money…
 
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That guy is so rude/ungrateful as well. The idea that he would dismiss someone within 5 minutes if they turn up and don't have enough arbitrary units of professionalism is ridiculous. Clearly he thinks he's a big shot and yet he's offering $60 for his 'oh so serious' gig...
 
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500,000 kids a year want to get into the industry; those who put out the most and receive the least will get the gigs. As ridiculous as it seems, it is very akin to a band "paying its dues", playing clubs for nothing to gain experience and exposure. It's a given in the music biz; I did it myself.
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I know that in this economy a startling percentage of college graduates are now working jobs that don't require a college degree -- food service, customer support, etc. I wonder what percentage of "film degree" people actually go on to find steady work.
BTW the music business isn't far behind. Back in the day, album sales could pay the bills; now touring is where the $$ is if you ever get that far.

Anyway young folks who are considering entering this field need to know what lies ahead. Instead of spending $80,000 to go to USC, maybe that money would be better invested in the stock market.
 
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To be honest, if it wasn't so rudely worded and located on the other side of the Atlantic, it would be the sort of job that I would be interested in. Less for the money and more for the experience.

It's just really hard to get a foot in the door of such an over-subscribed industry.

Doesn't excuse his rudeness though :P
 
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It's just really hard to get a foot in the door of such an over-subscribed industry.
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If the project doesn't have a substantial budget then it really doesn't make a difference if one has a long list IMDB credits. A lot of people work for free on a bunch of projects only to find that there's nothing high paying available for them. Cheap technology has really opened the flood gates for people to become editors, composers, etc. It has also opened the flood gates for more people to make movies to over saturate the market. So there's too many editors and too many ultra low budget projects.
 
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Hmmm, I once gave shedloads of time over a 4 1/2 month period for nothing!!!

Help with Re-writes, cast, rehearsal, scout, pre/prod/post...

Was it hard - yep.

Did the 35mm feature with about 22 cast members on a 19 day shot (+12 days pick ups!) turn out pretty bad - yep.

Was it the biggest lesson oif how NOT to do something (and glad it wasn't MY $30,000 savings) - you better believe it!

So 4 weeks @40hrs plus credit... pleeeeeeeaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeee, what a breeze - lol!
 
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Blade_Jones said:
If the project doesn't have a substantial budget then it really doesn't make a difference if one has a long list IMDB credits. A lot of people work for free on a bunch of projects only to find that there's nothing high paying available for them. Cheap technology has really opened the flood gates for people to become editors, composers, etc. It has also opened the flood gates for more people to make movies to over saturate the market. So there's too many editors and too many ultra low budget projects.
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yeah... but just because people can edit and what not... doesnt mean they can make a good movie... or we would all have blockbuster hits hahahahahaha i mean there is a big reason i still have a day job hahahahahahahahahahahah

its still always going to take talent... or the drive to do extra work for no reason just for the experience... i mean if i had a week off and no wife and kid to make sure is ok... and the wifes cake business wasn't my other part time job ... then honestly... i would do this just for the experience... because you never know who you can meet...

and we all know the social network is were it is at... except for at the oscars hahahahahahahha
 
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