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Ethics of “Hiring” Unpaid Production Assistants
I wanted to gather some opinions on the ethics of working with unpaid production assistants. In my case, I normally shoot as a one man band but I find that it is far too easy to overlook simple things (like turning ON the Zoom H4N to record mode prior to EVERY take!) when you are concentrating on doing everything.
Unfortunately my micro-budget productions can’t support paid staff yet having some assistance would be ideal. What I can “pay” is providing real on-set experience, meals and expenses.
On one hand I know this is quite common in the industry, on the other hand I don’t want to feel like I am taking advantage of someone – everyone’s time and contribution should be appropriately valued.
I guess what I am reacting to is mostly my own annoyance at seeing ads on Craigslist where people are wanting full production services for free in exchange for gas and “credit” – that angers me but, frankly, I am now talking about doing the same thing or do you see a difference?
Of course, a production assistant is typically only responsible for a limited aspects of the production and the time they invest is up to them – whereas someone wanting a full video production for free is asking for something much greater.
What’s your take on this?
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15 Replies
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If you can give some level of training and work experience, then offering this to a film student or someone looking to gain “real” experience I think is fair.
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I think that if you make it clear up front that this is a type of internship or apprenticeship, you will end up with the assistant you want at the price you need.
Bear in mind that sometimes the people who are willing to work for nothing are worth just that. I wouldn’t expect anyone with over a year or two’s experience working on shoots to not be insulted by such a request.
The other side of the coin, however, is that you might provide a clip of the production to the person so that they could say they gripped on “such and such a shoot” to better the odds that they’ll be paid on the next shoot. That opens up the possibility, though, that they’ll take that clip and say they were the producer or the shooter – you never know. Good luck!
Joe Bourke
Creative Director / Multimedia Specialist
B&S Exhibits and Multimedia
bs-exhibits.com -
I just want to thank you for caring about the ethics! Sadly enough, that’s not a common thing.
In my beginnings – just like most of us guys, who work in the creative field – I had some good experience with unpayed work on “other peoples projects” and some… well, not so good experience.
What I learned, is not take it for granted, if someone cares about you and not just treats you like a workhorse.
Like Joe wrote, if you make your point clear upfront and give your assistant(s) the opportunity to learn something, both sides will be happy!
So, thanks again and good luck!
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The problem I see so many times is people want expects in the field to work for free, or for the “experience.”
My favorite – “Need editor/cameramen/colorist/fill-in-the-blank, to help me on this unbelievably cool project of mine. There is no pay but the experience to work with me is more than enough. Please send resume, demo reel and references to…”
But Steve, if you are offering real training to the person this is exactly what an intern program is for. But as others have said, they will often slow you down but if you find a good one you can both profit from the relationship. As long as you are truly giving something to other person it is very ethical. Best way to do this is to work with them (train them) while not on the set. That way they have a little experience to go on.
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Yeah, I was thinking that too, since I would probably use them mostly on monitoring sound and making sure all the batteries are kept charged, that I would spend a day with them before the actual shoot date showing how to use the sound equipment and answering any of their questions about DSLR filmmaking or my workflow.
I totally agree with all the examples you give but one difference I see is that editing, color grading etc takes a lot more time and effort plus it requires an expertise – my situation would be best for someone with minimal experience but who is reliable and see it as a fair trade (and someone who won’t walk off with any of my gear at the end of the shoot too! 🙂 )
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I’d like to just throw out a couple of thoughts here…
Does your state have a minimum wage law? Can you explain to an official why your this law does not apply to your assistant? Really?
Are you fully insured for an accident or injury on the job, and can explain to the injured/curious official/press/grieving widow why there is no worker’s comp insurance?
Now, I understand that a lot of people want to get “interns” to do their work for free. And it seems that it’s VERY common in our industry, because our work is so damn glamorous. But I think it’s taking advantage of people. You don’t claim to have an actual urge to teach – you have work that needs doing but don’t want to pay them. Is minimum wage really too much? I understand people wanting to get experience, and others wanting to call them “interns” and have them work for free, but if you’re getting value from them – and you wouldn’t want them on your shoot otherwise – they should be paid.
Real legal internships are offered by accredited schools, are regulated to prevent abuses, and, believe it or not, some are actually paid.
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Steve I was contrasting your attitude (as the right side of things) with what you normally see out there.
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Oh yeah I understood that Michael, no worries! 🙂
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Peter, if you don’t want to call it an internship, call it an apprenticeship, which as a very long history in the arts. What Steve is talking about is well within the normal run of things. If you read what he is saying he is will to offer some training (even if it is for self interest, it also benefits the “kid”).
Within reason this can be a win-win for both sides.
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Our industry has been built on the free intern who gains experience. I did it – everyone I know has done it. But here in CA. it is illegal to use free interns – even if you offer college credit and have an agreement with a local film school or whomever.
The only way they can legally be there for free is that they are simply observing. The moment they do anything to benefit the business they have to be paid at least min. wage. So if you ask an intern to get you coffee or carry a camera bag or render some shots they must be paid! If you show them how to render some shots and let them practice on some old footage you’re not going to use that is ok – they are learning etc.
That said, it’s never gonna change – sadly producers will always create budgets based on free help here and there – even if it’s a high budget show. And these same producers will drive their Porsche’s back to Malibu every night after spending the day telling you how tight things are and how they wish they could pay and how if you do a good job they can probably pay you on the next show…
Is your budget so tight you can’t even offer a little cash for gas and buy their meals? Anything helps – they’re obviously not gonna make a living wage but at least they’ll feel better about the whole process and really try hard for you.
Lance Bachelder
Southern California
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