I'm comfortable with doing stuff for free to learn my way up. The way I see it, this is a helluva lot cheaper than going to a British film school and film school is not for everyone. For example, I have met one too many UK film school graduates who have shot less than 3 short films during their 3 years at film school and considering tuition fees are $40,000 USD for 3 years, I have done more than this in the last year and held down a full time job.
However, as relaxed as I am about doing this, I am also mildly uncomfortable with the general ethical stance within the documentary film-making industry. Recently, one poster mentioned 'ethics' in relation to volunteers doing something for free and sure, this is fine, but it is also as unethical as it gets.
The reason I mention this is I have been in touch with a documentary film maker about to go on a 3 month shoot in another country (let's say, for example, France) who is breaking the local country's laws in their remuneration methods.
All of this stems from the attitude that they don't see why they should be paying people, even though they will be making money from the doc. They have six shooters on site, none of whom are being paid as camera operators (they get a little bit of cash plus food, accomodation etc...), all of whom will be shooting with the latest Canon kit (C100s or 300s) and all who are desperate to drive their careers forward. In addition, the production company is breaking quite a number of local labour laws by simply not making the relevant financial and human-resource related declarations and simply operating illegally.
Without giving too many details about the doc, the individuals at the top will be taking the lion's share and the people doing the work are the slave labour, putting in serious hours in the hope of advancing their careers. In the industry I work in, this would be unnacceptable and the company I work for would instantly fire any manager for this type of proposition.
The film making business is not only illegal but unethical and I see this more and more often in the docu business. It is a question of seeing how many local laws can be broken, how little people can be paid and how much cash the bosses can pocket, all because the industry is potentially 'enjoyable.'
How the h@ll did we get here and where are the safeguards? Do you care? Do you find this ethical?
However, as relaxed as I am about doing this, I am also mildly uncomfortable with the general ethical stance within the documentary film-making industry. Recently, one poster mentioned 'ethics' in relation to volunteers doing something for free and sure, this is fine, but it is also as unethical as it gets.
The reason I mention this is I have been in touch with a documentary film maker about to go on a 3 month shoot in another country (let's say, for example, France) who is breaking the local country's laws in their remuneration methods.
All of this stems from the attitude that they don't see why they should be paying people, even though they will be making money from the doc. They have six shooters on site, none of whom are being paid as camera operators (they get a little bit of cash plus food, accomodation etc...), all of whom will be shooting with the latest Canon kit (C100s or 300s) and all who are desperate to drive their careers forward. In addition, the production company is breaking quite a number of local labour laws by simply not making the relevant financial and human-resource related declarations and simply operating illegally.
Without giving too many details about the doc, the individuals at the top will be taking the lion's share and the people doing the work are the slave labour, putting in serious hours in the hope of advancing their careers. In the industry I work in, this would be unnacceptable and the company I work for would instantly fire any manager for this type of proposition.
The film making business is not only illegal but unethical and I see this more and more often in the docu business. It is a question of seeing how many local laws can be broken, how little people can be paid and how much cash the bosses can pocket, all because the industry is potentially 'enjoyable.'
How the h@ll did we get here and where are the safeguards? Do you care? Do you find this ethical?