Absolutely flabergasted! 25 y.o. crew member gives my client his business card

[Andrew Kimery]

[Ned Miller] “Now, if they can get the money to buy the gear and figure how to operate it they consider themselves “professionals”? Are they taught nothing in film schools? WTF? I have seen such a decline in professional standards in our business in the last 10 years it is truly disgusting. “

In my experience film schools don’t create ready-made professionals. If all they’ve worked on is film school assignments and/or their friend’s movies they have no idea how the ‘real world’ works which is the case here. Anytime I see young people looking for education advice I always tell them to intern or get parttime jobs at local production facilities so they can learn how productions really come together.

I think you answered your own question to an extent. Due to the proliferation of video production and the reduction in the cost of gear you are seeing more people that strike out on their own at a young age as opposed to getting a job at an established shop and learning the ropes. The apprenticeship model that used to be common in this industry is all but dead.

Did you tell the guy that’s it’s poor form to hand out his card like that? To me he sounds more ignorant than malicious.

[Alex Elkins]

Hi Ned,

It sounds like the way this guy conducted himself was completely unprofessional, right from the moment he arrived (late). As an under thirty myself I’d like to think that this is not the norm! One big problem I have with film school (and education generally, really) is the lack of preparation for the ‘real world’. When I was studying I was amazed that there was no ‘film business’ module. It seems the only way to learn the business side of filmmaking is by just trying it out, and in the case of your freelancer this can lead you to make some very foolish decisions.

“I broke several of my rules such as- Don’t hire people under under 30, hire only married people, car owners only, etc. etc.”
I have to take issue with this. Yes, your recent experience was a bad one, but that’s not because the guy ‘didn’t own a car’ or any of the other criteria he didn’t fit into. He didn’t know how to be professional on set. If you only hire people who are married then by definition you wouldn’t hire any homosexuals, for instance. Or people who have been divorced. Or maybe someone who doesn’t own a car simply chooses to ‘go green’. Refusing to hire someone based on age, marital status or some irrelevant lifestyle choice is ridiculous, not to mention illegal.

Anyway, getting back to your overall point here, I think mentioning to the guy what he did wrong would be beneficial to both of you – you’re paying him so he should know why you weren’t happy with his conduct, and at the same time it will stop the guy from making the same mistakes again. If he has any interest in rebuilding broken bridges he’ll invoice for the lower rate.

Alex Elkins
@postbluetv
http://www.postblue.tv
View my new colour correction reel

[Tom Sefton]

Did you ask him to go to the client and retrieve his business card and apologise?

[Joseph W. bourke]

I think all of the input is right on the money – by setting rules for “over certain age”, “must have car”, etc. will only hurt you. There are gung-ho, reliable types in all age groups – you just happened to hit a young jerk – there are plenty of old jerks around too, they just tend to have been weeded out by reputation…

I think you should have reprimanded the kid for being late (not in front of the client – although he deserved that treatment), and you should have docked his agreed upon fee for throwing the production off schedule and making you look bad. Sometimes hitting people in their wallets is the only thing they understand.

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

[Ned Miller]

OP here:

Well, I didn’t mention anything to him about the card, my jaw had hit the floor, he is a nice guy, very technically capable, someday will be a good soundman. He knew he had done wrong regarding being late, which I will address below. I didn’t want to pile on, I was just checking on this forum if it was now OK in our biz to blatantly try to steal a client? And it should be taught in production classes when they teach about freelancing.

Alex & Joe, in regards to my “rules” it’s a tenet in life to learn from one’s mistakes. Since I have freelanced this long (33 yrs) and been on various crews and booked people at least a couple of times a week, here’s what I know to be reality:

• Someone who does not own a car, meaning they don’t drive the greater Chicago metropolitan area all the time, will be late 100% of the time to a far flung suburban location, especially if they are young. We no longer have defined rush hours, we have horrible construction areas, terrible weather, etc. They will borrow a car or rent from Zip car etc. and being young they tend not to use maps like us old codgers or listen to live traffic radio. They will believe what their GPS arrival time says or what Mapquest predicts. That is why it has been a 100% rate of tardiness.

• I avoid hiring someone who work nights such as a bartender, waiter/waitress, actor etc. for a crew member because my experience is that they will have been out late the previous evening. And even if they are not working the night before our shoot their circadian rythms are of a night owl, so a 6AM call is not in their best interest.

• I prefer to hire people at least in their thirties because I am not running a film school and need crew members who have been doing their craft for preferably ten years. PAs can be younger or perhaps a Lite Grip, but key positions forget it. In fact I prefer the Lite Grips to be in their twenties for strength and stamina.

• Married: depending on the person, if I have a shoot on let’s say Thursday, I may first say, “What are you doing Wednesday night?” If the response is “My buddy’s band is opening at a club” or “I have a date”, then I will most likely not book the person. Our call times are usually around 7AM and with the drive time that means waking up at 5AM. I need for the person to be there fresh, alert and bouncing on the balls of their feet like a point guard. If someone is married then I am more assured that during the week they aren’t out late. Also, if they have kids, they are more likely to appreciate the work.

So in sum, my “rules” are based on being burned over and over. It’s just self preservation and it works.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.co

[Mark Suszko]

Kid sounds ignorant, but I have to wonder as well why you didn’t call him on it right there. I understand if you didn’t want to lose your composure, especially with a client around. But these kids are not going to learn the right way unless we say something at the appropriate time.

Maybe you need a card to hand out to your freelancers that lists some of your personal rules, before the gig happens. Some people would find that insulting, but I think I would appreciate the clear communication of expectations.

[Alex Elkins]

[Ned Miller]
“• Someone who does not own a car, meaning they don’t drive the greater Chicago metropolitan area all the time, will be late 100% of the time to a far flung suburban location, especially if they are young. We no longer have defined rush hours, we have horrible construction areas, terrible weather, etc. They will borrow a car or rent from Zip car etc. and being young they tend not to use maps like us old codgers or listen to live traffic radio. They will believe what their GPS arrival time says or what Mapquest predicts. That is why it has been a 100% rate of tardiness.

• I avoid hiring someone who work nights such as a bartender, waiter/waitress, actor etc. for a crew member because my experience is that they will have been out late the previous evening. And even if they are not working the night before our shoot their circadian rythms are of a night owl, so a 6AM call is not in their best interest.

• I prefer to hire people at least in their thirties because I am not running a film school and need crew members who have been doing their craft for preferably ten years. PAs can be younger or perhaps a Lite Grip, but key positions forget it. In fact I prefer the Lite Grips to be in their twenties for strength and stamina.

• Married: depending on the person, if I have a shoot on let’s say Thursday, I may first say, “What are you doing Wednesday night?” If the response is “My buddy’s band is opening at a club” or “I have a date”, then I will most likely not book the person. Our call times are usually around 7AM and with the drive time that means waking up at 5AM. I need for the person to be there fresh, alert and bouncing on the balls of their feet like a point guard. If someone is married then I am more assured that during the week they aren’t out late. Also, if they have kids, they are more likely to appreciate the work.”

This is most bizarre, and frankly offensive, set of assumptions I’ve ever read on Creative Cow. I understand not hiring people who work nights, fine – but presumably if you’re paying good people a good rate then they don’t have second jobs in bars anyway, so it seems largely irrelevant. I just don’t see how age and marital status have anything to do with whether or not someone is able to get up early, read a map and lift equipment.

Ned, I’m glad your hiring system has worked for you, but I honestly think you’re confusing ‘age’ with ‘experience’. They’re two different things. The guy you hired here was not ‘experienced’ enough to know not to hand out his business card to your client. I’m roughly the same age as him and I am ‘experienced’ enough to know this. I’m not married, but believe it or not I don’t spend every waking hour dating and staying up late, and the same can be said for 100% of my young colleagues. Some people possess common sense and a work ethic, other don’t. That applies to all age groups.

Alex Elkins
@postbluetv
http://www.postblue.tv
View my new colour grading reel

[Joseph W. bourke]

Yes…the broad brush definitely does not work in a general sense, although it may be working for you. I think you should give second thoughts to the Craigslist hiring plan. It looks as if you’re getting the bottom-feeders and no-accounts, who don’t even understand the basics of the job, or (most importantly) don’t have any business acumen. Late gets you fired from McDonald’s, for God’s sake.

I think the suggestion of a list of requirements/rules in the first email, or a mention in the first phone call, will scare away the deadbeats (“man…I have to work to get paid!”), as well as show them that you’re a serious, no-nonsense, professional.

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

[Mark Suszko]

Without either approving or disapproving Ned’s personal preferences, I would say in answer to his question that yes, kids today have a different set of values and societal norms, and these are not getting corrected by the schools the kids go to – if they go to schools in film-making at all these days. Thanks to low-cost high-tech and the free for all environment of the Cloud, they pick up their video making knowledge like we used to have to learn about procreation: “on the street”. With about the same quality of information and dis-information. 🙂

We’ve talked about this before: the “re-mix culture” of the younger generation doesn’t recognize the same boundaries or societal norms we grew up with. IP law and copyrights are an anachronism to them. The hyper-competitive atmosphere provoked by the various market crashes and economic downturns has taught these kids to be sharks or chum, to be entreprenurial and cut-throat because there is no more Social Contract in the world of work.

From their POV, they’re guerilla fighters and snipers listening to us geezers complain they don’t march in rows like Napoleonic armies anymore. Our business mores look quaint and irrelevant to the younger set, in the absence of better teaching or a shared framework of reasons and reference. So boorish behaviors like the card incident can happen more frequently, because the ethical issue raised never occurs to these kids in the first place.

It remains up to us geezers to hold up standards and try our best to communicate their continued relevance. To express our expectations, while giving reasons for them.

[Walter Biscardi]

Honestly not that big a deal. Your client would have most likely noticed that it was the sound person who held everything up so it’s not that big a deal.

Handing out a business card is nothing compared to what I’ve been through even just the past three years. People stealing original shows, longtime colleagues stealing long term edits, “partners” who are awesome until money gets rolling and then they want it all for themselves.

Having a freelancer hand out a business card? That just earns you a spot on the “never call again” and “be sure to let all the folks I work with know about them” list but other than that, not a big deal.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

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