Does getting grants really work, or are my collaborators just dreamers?

Okay thanks. I tried applying to the Canada Arts Council myself but they told me the script I provided was not eligible since it's a 'crime drama'.

I guess I could do what he does and say I am a DP and such when I'm not but if I were him, I'd be afraid in getting caught in a lie, especially when I seem to know more than he does and it was me correcting him on what to do on his set of the TV pilot. Not that I am a expert by any means, but he didn't know certain things a DP should know, like white balance.

I guess to me it just seems like fraud. I mean if you lie to the airline and say your a pilot to get on a plane, or lie to the courts, and say you're a lawyer to get a case, it's punishable and people take a dim view.

Defraud airlines, courts, hospitals, etc, and you're considered a criminal. Defraud the movie/television business, and no one cares, and you're a success. Go figure.
 
Lawyers, doctors and pilots are all licensed professions. Most positions in arts and business aren't. There are optional industry certifications you can buy in to or study to get to make yourself a more desirable hire, and there are guilds and unions you can participate in that may make you more desirable as a potential hire too but there's no government office (in the US) that tests you to certify you.

You are a Director of Photography if you're hired as one, even if you "hire yourself". It doesn't mean you're good. That's where you need to be smart as an employer and look at reels and past work if you are hiring someone for your production.

The guy seems like a great advertiser. I can tell you as a freelancer that it's all about perceived value. If he's getting funding then he's doing a great job of making people feel like they're getting what they pay for. A studied person may know there are more professional ways to do something, but the guy with the checkbook usually isn't studied in the technical how-to. The things that may seem dumb to you like a t-shirt with his logo on it look like a well run operation on the outside.

It's the same reason you wear a suit to a job interview.
 
Don't get me wrong either, I'm not saying go all fluff. The guys that advertise well and appear professional as well as deliver a professional product and do good work go far. Trick is to be good at both!
 
PaulGriffith said:
Lawyers, doctors and pilots are all licensed professions. Most positions in arts and business aren't. There are optional industry certifications you can buy in to or study to get to make yourself a more desirable hire, and there are guilds and unions you can participate in that may make you more desirable as a potential hire too but there's no government office (in the US) that tests you to certify you.

You are a Director of Photography if you're hired as one, even if you "hire yourself". It doesn't mean you're good. That's where you need to be smart as an employer and look at reels and past work if you are hiring someone for your production.

The guy seems like a great advertiser. I can tell you as a freelancer that it's all about perceived value. If he's getting funding then he's doing a great job of making people feel like they're getting what they pay for. A studied person may know there are more professional ways to do something, but the guy with the checkbook usually isn't studied in the technical how-to. The things that may seem dumb to you like a t-shirt with his logo on it look like a well run operation on the outside.

It's the same reason you wear a suit to a job interview.
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I guess so, but you think sooner or later, they will try testing him to see if he knows his stuff. That's what I do, since no one I've considered hiring, has no certifications from any schools or anything. Business cards can be made at home, on your own printer, so they mean nothing. But later on, I will do the same thing and try to really sell myself to someone. Why not. Has their been any more famous success stories about anyone who has gotten funding for a feature film or TV show, even though they didn't have any knowledge, and just had business cards and logos?

Perhaps filmmaking should be a licensed profession though. Not producers if they are the ones paying cause it's their money, but DPs and PSMs, etc. I mean you here time after time on here, but who a DP or PSM did not bother to do something right, or in my case, where I met a guy who said he was a sound person but yet wanted to aim a shotgun mic in between two people instead of at their mouths individually. If it was a licensed profession they may take their jobs more seriously in order to keep their licenses from being revoked.
 
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And you'd pay more taxes to make room for some agency to license and regulate something that's largely art.

The end consumer cares less about the technique in making it and more the finished product. I don't care what type of paintbrush Van Gogh used, I love his paintings. My mom could care less about what microphone they used in the shows she watches or where they put it for that matter as long as it sounds good enough to keep her in the story.

Make a good product, let enough people know about it, you should be successful.
 
harmonica44 said:
Perhaps filmmaking should be a licensed profession though. Not producers if they are the ones paying cause it's their money, but DPs and PSMs, etc. I mean you here time after time on here, but who a DP or PSM did not bother to do something right, or in my case, where I met a guy who said he was a sound person but yet wanted to aim a shotgun mic in between two people instead of at their mouths individually. If it was a licensed profession they may take their jobs more seriously in order to keep their licenses from being revoked.
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You don't need to certify people, there's a much better weeding out system in place; it's called CAPITALISM - you get what you pay for. Morons, poseurs and incompetents don't last past the low/no/mini/micro budget level. If you want quality, YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. Knowledge, skill and experience come with a cost, and if you add lots of talent you pay premium prices.

There are also UNIONS. I personally think that, in many cases, unions protect incompetent members and drive costs way up, but in the film industry unions are a rare case of the old school apprentice system; expanding skills, rewarding hard work and talent, and weeding out the incompetent drones.
 
Well I've decided to do what he does and just put on a suit with a coat, with a company logo, and have some company business cards. I mean he totally gets away with selling himself when his company is nothing more than a some equipment, and a computer at home, that prints out the business cards. But it's working.

I will do that to and just say I am a director/boom operator, who works for a company because judging by his success, the people he is selling himself to, seem to prefer doing business with companies, rather than just an individual young kid (myself).
 
I just helped out with some local filmmakers who are using state/regional arts grants to fund their filmmaking... successfully.
 
So then you need to find a non-profit to act as a fiscal sponsor. Grant goes to them, they take a percentage and pass the rest on to you. Of course you need to find a non-profit who's interests align somewhat with your film, so the viability of this approach depends a lot on your film.
 
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