JustTakeAPebble wrote:Hey Rob
Good to hear from you again, its been too long, do you have any evidence (websites, articles etc) about this "freelance is dead"? because its part of my assignment I have to do about why getting into freelance work can be difficult and I want to proove to my tutors it is true.
Well I found my niche, and it's something I have been doing freely for a while now and only discovered that there is a market for it
(take a look under Tribute DVDs on my business)
I will keep filmmaking as a passion, but it will be a hobby, but the skills I have obtained will help towards Take A Pebble.
Simon
Well, don't give up on the films. I want to be a camera operator on major feature films and I'm not stopping until I succeed. But in the meantime I have to pay the bills, hence finding a market for my skills. Truth be told most freelancers do a different job for at least part of the year. I met a successful cameraman once who runs a gardening business for half the year
Even for the best, there is a dry season, usually in winter.
The industry is still finding its feet in the 21st Century. Like many, I am hopeful that the internet will eventually reach some level of balance and inject some cash back into media workers pockets. The truth is technology is having both great and terrible effects at the moment. For example; while cheap cameras let everyone make films, it also destroys structure. Everyone fresh out of film school is a "Director" with only 2 or 3 shorts under their belt. In the old days (before out time
) a prospective film maker would have to labour as a trainee and then slowly work their way up the camera/sound department etc. Ultimately this new structure results in two things; lots of producers with no money and little idea and film-makers who have no idea what quality entails. If you haven't worked with the masters, how do you know what real quality is? The public are also to blame to some extent having been desensitised by youtube and crap on TV.
But now i'm just rambling. To answer your question; there are no published articles I know of. I attended a lecture on the death of freelance at the Broadcast EXPO but cant recreate it
However I can point you to very relevant sources, if primary info is ok. Are you a member of linked in? there is currently a huge debate among one of the groups about this very issue, and everyone commenting is an industry processional, I'd say that is a relevant academic source. I know its another site to join but it is quick, and it is a valuable networking resource. A quote from said debate;
Who are these guys?
Today I was contacted by a former client who asked me to do a one half day shoot. Ok, good enough. She then tells me she needs it done for $250.00-$350.00. I was so shocked that I literally did not know what to say, was she kidding me? I told her to call me back in five minutes so I could think of a diplomatic way to tell this person no without acting offended. As I thought about her statements, "producers know guys are starving right now." "We have a guy in D.C. that does it for $250.00, he's my favorite!" I became angry. Who are you? Who is it that keeps hurting ALL of us by accepting jobs at unreasonably low rates? Are you aware of what you are doing to others? Are you aware that by working for nothing you cheapen everything we do and yourself? This is the curse of cheaper and cheaper cameras and ignorance. I, like everyone else, am having to struggle, we are all hurting, but when you work for nothing you ROB money from my family and that is unacceptable. Please anyone out there accepting substandard pay to work in broadcast, find another job, or get educated about your competitors rates. If you want to compete, then under cut them a hundred bucks, don't tell a producer in essence, "oh please I'm so desperate I want to be your slave!" Have more respect for yourself than that. All of us who are seasoned need to educate these lost souls.
Another aspect of the argument is that there are simply too many talentless graduates who are willing to work for little or no pay out of desperation to make it. They undercut the market by offering to do things for silly money, then when the seasoned pro comes along and says "I'll make your wedding video/film/ corporate video" the client expects it for less or even free.
If you go on sites like mandy, talent circle, shooting people etc. and look at the jobs, they are all expenses only positions. There are some paid positions, but usually they are very low. BECTU has a document on their site that lists recommended rates of pay for different positions on a crew. The guide pay for a camera assistant is £200 per day. The most I've ever earned as an assistant is £50 per day, working a 12 hour day that's less than minimum wage! Why does this happen? Because someone will do it for less, it doesn't matter if they are crap at their job, producers think in terms of £££, quality is out the window these days.
Between BECTU's guide price, mandy job listings and linked in debates between pro's that should be all the evidence you need
Rob
All this plus doing uni work, has made my life very busy indeed 
;