Isn’t there a minimum wage law?

[Mike Cohen]

It seems that just like there are young people who feel entitled to a good salary without working hard, there are unscrupulous companies looking for cheap labor, knowing that there are likely people who consider $50 good money for a day.

Do you see a lot of this crap in LA?

Why don’t you replay to the ad…might be a hoot.

That being said, Craigslist tends to have something for everyone – and I mean everyone.

Mike Cohen

[Rebecca Gillaspie]

Craigslist makes me mad! I just can’t even grasp the concept of hiring people for nothing. I know I wouldn’t be able to count on them.

I see a lot of people get away with things either by paying people under the table, or offering a “stipend” or what not.

[Grinner Hester]

It’s in trade for experience… like you and I happily started out.
We first paid a college to learn a little and then got paid a little to learn alot at our first gigs. It was awesome.
remember?

[Rebecca Gillaspie]

Sure if craigslist jobs were people that were taking the time to teach somebody something. Usually they’re looking for cheap labor for menial work, OR they’re looking for a young bright person to do their work for them (meaning they’re not qualified to do it themselves and cant teach someone else).

[David Roth weiss]

I think they are simply looking for slave labor. Let’s face it, they aren’t running their show for peanuts, so how can they get away with paying peanuts?

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Shane Ross]

Well, paid interns sorta. We have two interns that work two days a week for 4 hours a day, for free. And we have an assistant that works for a pretty major TV show as an intern two days a week for 8 hours a day. All for the experience.

But that is at post and production houses…learning the trade. This is working a trade show. Where they claim you can “network.” But who networks with the guy taking tickets?

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[David Roth weiss]

[Shane Ross] “Well, paid interns sorta. We have two interns that work two days a week for 4 hours a day, for free. And we have an assistant that works for a pretty major TV show as an intern two days a week for 8 hours a day. All for the experience. “

I think internships are great, but real internships are setup in conjunction with schools to give college course credits. If ShowBixExpo created honest internships for college credit I wouldn’t have an issue.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Walter Biscardi]

[David Roth Weiss] “I think internships are great, but real internships are setup in conjunction with schools to give college course credits. If ShowBixExpo created honest internships for college credit I wouldn’t have an issue. “

Yes and no. I’ve had multiple students come to me, both high school and college, who just wanted the experience for no pay. I made sure to set up the arrangements so I included some Final Cut Pro training on my own time as part of the deal.

I have talked to colleges in the area about offering internships for credit but only a few of those ever panned out. It’s the students who took the initiative to contact me directly that have worked out the best including an incredible 16 year old who is now a Junior in High School. Worked with us most of the summer on a pretty heavy documentary and she did a great job.

But I don’t think the non-school sanctioned internships are any less credible or “real” than school sanctioned so long as the intern actually get to do some work and doesn’t just sweep the floors and do Starbucks runs. In my case, the interns log tapes, digitize, pull footage from the library and get one-on-one training time on Final Cut Pro / Color. They also get the opportunity to sit in on edits for PBS, NSF, NBC and others. They seem to enjoy it and they’re getting some really good exposure in broadcast / feature Post.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards.
Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post
Biscardi Creative Media

Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital.

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[Ron Lindeboom]

Like Walter, I have found that our most successful internships have “walked in the door” and not come from a school.

The only students we ever interned were there keeping the seat warm and were such a pathetic waste of time that I grew so tired of them that I dropped the program.

On the other hand, we once had a kid get hold of us wanting to learn about this industry and I think he was about 15 or so at the time. He was driven and we taught him motion graphics, compositing, desktop publishing, and the web. He was awesome.

So we eventually hired him.

His name is Abraham and he is now our perpetually self-educating technical director.

:o)

Ron Lindeboom

[David Roth weiss]

Well, here in L.A.L.A. land the competition for good interns and internships is a little different than either Atlanta or Paso Robles, and much stricter labor laws now apply, as California cracked down on the “interns as slave labor” concept that had become pervasive throughout the industry here. In fact, unpaid internships are common all over, but for the most part are illegal. Here’s a link to an artical on that very subject:

https://laborlaw.typepad.com/labor_and_employment_law_/2007/11/unpaid-internsh.html.

In any case, no matter what the internship setup might be or how the interns arrive at your facility, I think you will bot agree, there are some interns that get it, and some interns that don’t and never will.

Meanwhile, back to the initial subject. ShowBizExpo is requiring an unpaid initiation and a full day’s work at less than minimum wage, with no mention whatsoever of an internship. As you have discussed before Ron, these types of shows and conventions charge big bucks to exhibitors, so how do they justify and get away with hiring workers at rates that are not in keeping with state and federal laws?

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.