How to Know if You Should Work on a Free or Low-Budget Project

Taking on free or low-paying jobs is a great way to gain the experience you need to move up in your career, but you have to pick and choose what you do carefully.

So one of the challenges of being up and coming in the entertainment industry is that people are constantly approaching you for non-paying work. The concept of it by itself seems crazy, but for those trying to work their way up an industry ladder that is already always over saturated, competitive advantage is everything. 

Should I just say "no." when asked to work for free?

Some would say yes, but I think the answer to this question is more complex than that. On one side, by accepting non-paying or low-paying work you are effectively lowering the industry standard of pay rates and what big companies think they can get away with. At the same time however, as someone who is just starting off, with a thin or green-looking resume or reel, no one is going to pay you high rates or put you into large projects. The reason is simple. Even small budget films are extremely expensive to run. For example, the cost of Quiet Flame’s first feature, Eastbound traffic, had an operating cost of about $10,000USD per day. And that was a micro budget film of about $300,000. Now imagine the running cost of the average major film with a budget of 10x or 100x times that. They can literally cost that much to run per hour. That means literally every second on set counts. Mistakes that requires correction or a retake can literally cost thousands of dollars.

As such, no one wants to take chances with someone who may not know what they are doing. In a union space like the states, your union membership alone earns you a certain level of credibility and a guaranteed pay rate. In a non-union space, your credibility markers will determine your pay rates instead. When you have no credibility markers early on, the free stuff can help you to gain the experience and resume loading necessary to get there.

when should you work "for free"?

I would say you aren't really working "for free". You are working for credibility, inside industry recognition and experience; but that fact aside, I certainly wouldn't recommend jumping onto every free project you can find or are offered.

As aforementioned, the problem with free work is that it doesn’t just lower the standard pay rates for the industry in the non-union space, it can cheapens how people see YOU in particular as well. And there is a danger in that. If you have a reputation for taking cheap work, people tend to think twice before they put you in anything bigger. The oxymoron of that however is that no one is going to hire you when you have an empty resume either.

So what do you do? The answer is simply to do the free stuff you need, but to be really selective about it. Even 20+ years into the industry, I still do volunteer on things from time to time, although as I get closer and closer to where I want to be that is becoming less and less.  Below are my own criterion for deciding if I do or not.

the 4 criterion for offering your services for free

1. when it allows you to gain new experience

Shooting free content for people who train at Quiet Flame is a way that I can help people out while testing out fight concepts and continually honing my editing and directing skills at the same time.

One of the rare occasions that I take on work for free is when it can give me a chance to work in a faculty that I don’t have (but want) more experience or credibility markers in. 

For example, there is little to no conditions I can think of where I would do a fight scene or acting work for free simply because I’ve already got a loaded resume in both of those regards. If however, I was asked to do a scene on horseback, I might consider it because I don't have much experience in that. That however would still be contingent on another element, which brings us to the next point. 

2. when you have the time and the working conditions seem good

This one isn’t so much a reason to do anything for free or cheap, but it should absolutely be a pre-requisite. 

The fact of the matter is, if someone is asking you to give up your time (and in the case of stunts; risk physical injury) they damn sure better take good care of you. 

Early on in my career, I did a favor working on a film for a producer friend of my that not only paid horribly (around $30 a day) but the working conditions were horrid. Incredibly long days; bad food, and an extremely cold set on a mountain side in the middle of winter. To make matters worse, I got the Epstein-Barr virus on set because everyone’s immune system was so down and it wrecked my immune system. Even now my kidneys still aren’t the same. Did that film do anything for my career? No, not at all. It was my first time having my name on a movie poster; but it was for a film no one cared about anyway. I still regret taking that one and "helping out my friend" to this day.

This is a point I’d like to drive home. Anytime you step on set your body is at risk. Even just working as an actor or PA, so you damn well better be compensated for that. And if they aren’t paying you, they should absolutely be taking great care of you and not asking you for anything crazy in terms of hours, risks or labor. Likewise, as a producer, asking too much for no pay is a great way to burn bridges and piss people off. In the entertainment world, there are few things more dangerous than a bad reputation.

3. when it can connect you to people you really want to meet or work with

So in addition to gaining new expertise and experiences, another reason to consider working for lower pay or free is if the job connects you to people you really want to be connected to. 

When I graduated from stunt school back in 2008, I heard about a guy who went around to every major stunt coordinator in LA and offered his services for free just to get experience. Then once on set, he worked his ass off. Of course he said there were times where he was exploited; but he went on to say that the coordinators who were good people paid him afterwards anyway, and then called him back for more work. In doing so, he started his career working with some of the bigger coordinators in town and as such got himself into a better position in half the time of other people. He also learned who exactly he never wanted to work with again early on.

4. if in addition to the aforementioned factors, it is personally meaningful for you

The last reason (or at least factor) that you should consider in deciding whether to take a free and/or low paying job is how meaningful it is for you. Sometimes a job can be meaningful because it’s helping out someone you care about and/or respect or it is in line with a cause that you care about.

For example, when I approached the Internation Justice Mission to be script consultants for Eastbound Traffic, they agreed to come onboard because they liked what the mission of the film was. (Raising awareness about international sex trafficking). With most of the investors of the film, they also told me, “My investment isn't really in the film, I'm investing in YOU .” 

The last time I offered to help someone for free (as a production consultant) was also for similar reasoning. I just liked the guy for his modesty, and honestly. He was really trying to get himself somewhere, so I wanted to help. It was as simple as that.

The caveat of that however is that it should still not be something that is stressful to do. In the case of my investors, what I was given was never more than what they could comfortably afford to lose, and I never pushed them for more than that. In the case of the International Justice Mission coming on as a script consultant, I was sure to keep what I asked of them to a minimum. 

If not, then even the best intention for a worthy cause can turn bitter. So if you do decide that a project is a worthy one for the cause, do make sure that what they are asking you is not something that would be so hard as to stress you out. 

conclusion

So to recap, the reasons that you should take a free or lowering paying job are as follows: 

• it gets you experience you otherwise wouldn’t get 

• It connects you to people you otherwise could not connect to

• the working conditions aren’t too harsh

• it’s personally meaningful for you. 

Outside of these conditions, personally, I would never do anything requiring my personal expertise for free. On the other hand, that isn’t to say that you have to do the free or lower paying stuff to succeed either; just that it will take you longer to up your credibility markers; and therefore take you longer to get yourself where you want to be. Easier on in my career, I did a ton of free stuff. A few (like the one I mentioned earlier) I really regret. But as long as the working conditions were okay, most were a positive experience that gave me what I needed from it.

All that being said, there is no one way to succeed in entertainment; or anything else for that matter. And the best road forward is the one that feels the most right for you.