He was a crotchety old man in the '60's when he yelled at my dad at a screening.
He was a crotchety old man in the '80's when he became my mentor and helped me make my first TV sale.
And he's the best crotchety old man now that he's an old man.

Love this!

He's talented but apparently very offensive.

CI, if he was your mentor, and he was in a good mood, then you could have had no better one.

Even when he was in a bad mood he was the best mentor a writer could have.

You were a writer?

He is right in saying he should be paid, because no one should work for free, and he is a good talker, but he's still got a reputation for making enemies.

To be fair, nearly EVERYONE who is getting a start in the business at any job usually has to work for free or for "less" just to get the opportunity to prove themselves. So as "general advice" to always insist on getting paid isn't entirely applicable to everyone at all times.

That said, the specific situation that he was commenting on is something of concern to some working professionals. It is part of my current career to go shoot many of these "DVD interviews" for marketing and nobody is paid anything extra for their time nor do any of them see any extra payment from the sale of the DVD. So in effect, the studios that offer DVD "extra content" are profiting from the work (the interviews and content) that cast and crew give, usually for free. In this specific situation that he is commenting on, he is absolutely correct.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

I've always thought the always get paid mantra was a bit unrealistic concerning a newbie with no foot in the door.

RJSchwarz

quote:

---

Originally posted by rjschwarz

I've always thought the always get paid mantra was a bit unrealistic concerning a newbie with no foot in the door.

RJSchwarz

---

True, but in most cases, experienced professionals aren't directly competing with newbies, so the sentiment is more toward those who choose to undercut experienced professionals when competing for jobs at the same level.

It happens in nearly every job. I've lost a lot of work to Cameramen who decide to drop their own day rate because they're not working enough. It lowers the bar and sets a precedent that hurts everyone. Start tossing in equipment or time for free and then that company begins to think they can get that every time from everybody.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com
http://www.realfilmcareer.com

Same experience here. I used to play in a band that was well known in our ethnic community on the East coast. There used to be an unwritten common going rate for gigs such as weddings, showers, baptisms, etc. All musicians and bands used to ask the same minimum rate. Surely enough, as the numbers of musicians in the community started to grow, so did the undercutting begin. Early on, there were several occasions where we lost some gigs to these. Interestingly enough, it took less than one wedding season for gigs to pick back up. People quickly found out that you get what you pay for. Our rater remained the same, and majority people really wanted the best band for their events, so we stayed busy, while the others kept undercutting each other for the cheap gigs we never bothered doing in the first place.

Economy usually plays a significant part in the going rates of freelancers (be they artists, software developers or craftsmen of any kind), but all other things being equal, clients usually know the difference in quality and if they can afford, pay for quality.