Should I Work For Free? (Part I)

I often get asked if I think people starting out in the biz should work for free. Similarly, should you work for less money than is standard just to gain the experience and contacts? This is one lesson I learned the hard way, but I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything. I may have gotten screwed over a few times, but in return I gained something important-- knowledge. And that knowledge is what I will be sharing with you today, so that you don't have to suffer through those same "invaluable" experiences I said I wouldn't trade.

I am going to state my point right here in bold so you don't miss it. Only work for free/cheap on projects that are worth it to YOU for the amount of time you put in. If you work for free or cheap, make certain you're getting something back for your time. Is it contacts? What contacts? Is it experience? What's the experience? Is it something you can add to your reel? Will you really get a copy? An impressive addition or reference for your resume? Is it really that important? Could be. Ask yourself these questions before you blindly accept the job. You will know if it's an opportunity you shouldn't pass up, and in that case I say go for it! But if you find yourself trying to justify the job and asking your mom what you should do, you'd probably do better scenting your resume as it will be a far better use of your time. (Note: Please don't scent your resume, but giving it a nice update it is never a waste of an afternoon.)

If someone spends more than one breath of air trying to convince you how awesome your life will be if you work for them for free, they are taking advantage of you. In your first year here I practically guarantee someone will call you in for an 'interview' after responding to an incredibly vague craigslist ad they posted and say, "We have a lot of other candidates, but basically this is an independent film with an extremely low budget and it would be an invaluable project for you to work on. There is a celebrity in it, and everyone else is also donating their time. You will make amazing contacts, and if things work out we'd love to hire you on our next paying gig. We're suuuper enthusiastic about sending it to Sundance! Congratuiations, you got the job!" (Note: You got the job just by showing up.) I had someone say almost those exact words to me, only they hit their home run with, "Your resume says you have editing experience! We have [famous editor] as our editor. Work for us and we'll tooootally get you in on the editing process. Maybe you could even cut a scene! It will be an invaluable experience for you!" If they had a 2 year contract, I would have signed it.

Well, I ended up being a Wardrobe PA, working three consecutive 16 hour unpaid night shifts, which, since it was obviously non-union they assumed everyone was okay with. Wait a minute, did I say I was a Wardrobe PA? Yes. Do I have any interest or experience in wardrobe or fashion what so ever? I thought overalls were cool until 2002, so that's a big no. (They're coming back though!!) Did I get to spend hours upon hours being ridiculed for not knowing how to properly steam invisible wrinkles out of the actors' clothing between scenes? Oh you betcha. And how, you may ask, was my experience with [famous editor]? Nonexistent! But, they did manage to sweet talk me into building a website for them a few weeks later, also for free. (Palm to forehead.)

I worked my butt off at a job I didn't want, I handed out resumes and business cards at the end of the shoot, and I even attended a super uncomfortable wrap party at which I was extremely insulted by the director's husband, and I did it all with a smile on my face in the name of building contacts and gaining experience. Here's a tip-- you want to gain contacts, yes, but you want to gain the RIGHT contacts. You want experience, yes, but you want the RIGHT experience. Being a Wardrobe PA only led to a serious compulsion to have wrinkle-free clothing, and unleashed a latent desire to purchase oversized sunglasses. Networking with a bunch of other people who are willing to work for free led to... nothing, because if they're working for free then they don't exactly have the paying-gig hookup themselves either, right?

Instead of blindly walking into unpaid independent passions-of-the-heart brought to you by craigslist, try asking some successful person you know if they need an intern in a specific field you are interested in. Ask someone else you know if you can come to set for a day and lend a helping hand. Be proactive when doling out your free work. That way people see you as someone who works hard and is motivated, instead of the loser they can take advantage of and call when they're over budget. But most of all, make sure the work you do for free or cheap is worth it to YOU.

I have had some great experiences working on unpaid/underpaid projects, but those are stories for another day, (See: "Should I Work For Free? Part II"). Until then, tell me-- where do you think the line is drawn when people ask you to work for free?

The Check-Your-Ego Checklist

I thought I'd start from the beginning, since this is my first post. So you've decided you want to move to Los Angeles and start a career in the film industry. Congratulations! Now read the following list, and if you can't imagine yourself preforming any of these tasks on a daily basis, abandon your dream immediately and become the lawyer your parents always wanted you to be.

1. Carrying 6 coffees in one hand, your $95,000 college degree in the other.
2. Getting yelled at or criticized for something you didn't do.
3. Preforming tasks that make you think "I got a college degree to do THIS??"
4. Asking your parents for money.
5. Having a roommate (or three).
6. Taking a second job, or doing temp work to pay bills.
7. Working at night.
8. Socializing and schmoozing. With people you don't like.
9. Recognize that a 12 hour shift is considered a short day.
10. Try not to bitch about #1-9; nobody likes a whiner.

When I came out to Los Angeles, armed with my Sallie Mae owned college degree, I thought I owned the world. I'd been editing films in college for four years, and for a year prior in high school. This meant I had five years of experience! I had friends who wrote and directed, I was an editor, and together we were going to make some unknown actor skyrocket to celebrity stardom by making Clerks II. I swore then and there I would never work in reality television, or on anything that compromised my extremely high moral standards. We were the new faces of Hollywood. Move over Kevin Smith. [Spoiler Alert!] Turns out Kevin Smith went on to make Clerks II without any help from us, which directly impacted our plans for having a stockpile of residual checks to start our own studio and revolutionize the film industry.

Having to grovel for living subsidies (i.e. cash) from my parents month after month got me off my high horse real quick. Fast forward to a year later and I was working my butt off at an entry level 12 hour night shift on a reality show, taking the fall for a smorgasbord of my boss' shortcomings and using a fraction of the massive brain power I'd garnered back in film school. Armed with the fierce desire to ween myself off my parent's dole, I kept my head down and just tried to do my best. (Future posting: Knowing when to be and not to be a doormat). In this case it was the right thing to do. Other people in the office began to notice what was going on, how hard I was working, and how above all I just did the best I could. At the end of that season I had a half dozen connections, a handful of friends, and a job offer on an HBO show. That particular nasty individual... hmm, oh wait, I haven't heard from or of them since.

Moral of the story is, none of the jobs we do out here are rocket science. Of course you COULD be a producer, an editor, a writer. What people want to find out is, do they want to work with you? Why should they take you under their wing when there are 5,000 other perfectly qualified individuals right behind you willing to do more for less? Check your ego at the door, and realize people aren't freaking out that you put Raw sugar in their coffee instead of Splenda because they don't think you can do what's written on your diploma. Of course you are brilliant! But until people know you well enough to want to give you a chance, you'll be working the night shift sustaining yourself solely on Ramen and craft services, wishing you'd stayed in your Minnesota town of 500 because spending all day shoveling out your mile long driveway is preferable to spending an hour in 405 traffic. And until you continually prove yourself day in and day out, don't expect much more.

If you've set yourself up a ladder to climb, it probably means you're still at the bottom and want to get to the top. Well start movin', that ladder ain't going to climb its self.

Stay tuned for more helpful articles on how to start out, survive and move up in the Hollywood entertainment industry. I will be interviewing people who have managed to make it to the top, as well as people who are still on their journeys, and sharing those interviews here. I'm also interested to hear about things you had to do to survive your first year or so in Los Angeles. Everyone has a horror story or two, a favorite word of advice, or at least a good adventure to tell, so spill it! I feel as though I might have gotten a head start if someone had given me a list of things I should have been prepared for, and thus I have created this blog to help those who are now where I once was. Anything you can add to the list?