To pay, or not to pay, that is the question…

In late December or early January Gretchen and I were talking and Gretchen commented that with her set still photography she was now at a place where she could get all the free work she wanted. Then a week ago Saturday at the Utah Women in Film meeting the often thorny issue of paid versus free work came up several times. It's a real issue.

My personal goal is to re-join the ranks of working actors by the end of this year. I've defined what that means to me in terms of dollars per month as well as what counts as acting. (I'm including voice over and background work in my calculations.)

I've been acting in Utah for just under three years and in my opinion, I've done my share of "food, copy and credit" projects. (Special note: If I'm working for copy and credit, give me the respect I deserve, spell my name right and get me the copy of my three minute short within two years!)

Anybody ever waited forever, you finally get the DVD and it's a total piece of doggie-doo?

I've made a conscious decision to give one day a month back to the local film making community. That's why I do student films. I love doing student films. The students at the "U" and BYU are the best and I love working with them. I think that most of us are willing to do student films. I also think many of us are willing to do the "occasional" non pay project. Where I've started to draw the line is the guy who's on his 673^rd film and still doesn't pay his actors or crew. Or the guy whose films have commercial distribution and he doesn't even feed his extras!

If I'm willing to work multiple days on your project free, why aren't you willing to commit to pay me if, IF your film project earns some money?

I've got some ways for film makers to earn money that I'll be announcing in the coming weeks. I'm investing my time and skills in your project, if it's a hit, are you willing to pay me?

I'm not telling anyone that they have to pay their actors or crew, I just know that I've become very discriminating about whose free projects I choose to work on. And in my opinion, as we stand up for ourselves and demand the compensation we've earned and deserve; our self confidence and self respect will spread like a virus and Utah actors and crew will be recognized as the professionals we are and are working to become.

If we choose to become a working actor in Utah, we can achieve it. After all, "Professionals get paid for what amateurs do free."