I had to do something tonight that's difficult for any actor anywhere. I had to say "no".
When I first started out, I was so eager to "work" that I accepted jobs and projects without pay. I just wanted to get my face and my name out there. I didn't mind not getting paid for anything because I was building a resume, and at the time, that was what was most important. I, of course, had my list of "Things I Wouldn't Do": porn, pro drug ads, nudity, etc. However, if a job or project seemed to be on the up and up and wasn't on my "no way" list, I didn't care if it was for free.
About three years ago I made the decision to, for the most part, stop working for free in theatre and commercials and industrials. I didn't apply that same rule to film because it's a market in which I'm still trying to build a solid resume. Nor does it apply to charity or work by artists I respect and whose work I love enough to do for free. Everything else, however, has to come with some money attached. It doesn't need to be a large amount of money, because I know that most people in this business don't have any. But I do need my product (namely, my work) honored, and I'm not going to give it away for free anymore.
Most recently, I made the decision to require some written assurance that a new business relationship would benefit both parties and spell out their respective responsibilities. This decision didn't come out of thin air. A local actor that I respect both for his talent and his shrewd business sense gave me this knowledge. He had been burned by a business relationship where he was working without a contract, and he didn't want a repeat of that experience. So for his next project, he asked for a contract. Now, understand that he didn't ask for money. He asked for a contract. And the filmmaker respected that wish, and now they both understand the terms that they're working under.
Tonight, I asked for written assurance of my relationship to a potential project, and that request was turned down. The project was a spec commercial* and there was no guarantee (other than verbal) that my involvement would extend beyond the spec project, or that, if the project was picked up by a sponsor, that I would see a penny of the actors' promised 40% share in the profits. The only solid compensation that the producer/director could offer was material for my reel. I have copies of several commercials I've done, and at the moment I'm looking to build a reel of film material. The movie industry does not take a reel full of commercials and industrials seriously. If you're looking for film work, you need to have film work on your reel. So with that in mind, I didn't really have a need of the work. Knowing that freed me from the desire to work just to work, and I could look objectively at what was being offered.
What I saw was a project that provided very little information concerning both parties responsibility and no written information at all to secure the supposed partnerships that this producer/director was trying to build, even though this person said that talk is cheap and that actions speak for themselves. I saw that no action would be taken to insure that if I did the spec commercial and it was picked up that I would be paid. The producer/director was not willing to even discuss written agreements, and so I said thank you and left.
If the producer/director had said, "You know, this is something I really believe in that I'm hoping to will help the target audience. I can't pay you, but I'd appreciate it if you could do it," I would have done it. If this had been a film I was really interested in, and the producer/director had said, "I can't pay you, but you will get a copy for your reel," I would have done it. But the possibility of pay - just the possibility - was dangled as a carrot to hungry actors who want to work so badly they'll do it for free, and I'm not one of those actors anymore.
I sincerely hope that this works out for all those that are involved, and I hope to hear so in the future. I want this person to be on the up and up. I want to hear that their motives are indeed pure. I'll congratulate all of them, but I won't feel like I missed the boat.
*Spec Commercial: a commercial that a director and/or producer creates in hopes of selling the concept to a corporation; literally, a "speculative commercial"
