Last year I made a grand total of $110 as an actor. Not for lack of work, just a lack of paid work. Gotta love working those short films and webseries.
Are all these free films worth your time?
The short answer is: YES.
The short answer is: YES.
DEFINITELY YES, if all you were going to do was hang around the house checking Twitter.
PROBABLY YES, if all you were going to do was work your survival job.
OBVIOUSLY NO, if you are working a paid acting gig.
What do you get out of acting for free? That would be the famous payment of Copy, Credit, and Meals. Sounds glamorous, like at least you’ll get free food, right? Let's define these terms:
Copy of the movie, if it ever gets finished and they remember to send it to you. Generally, you'll beg and plead with them and then perhaps a year later you’ll finally receive your copy and once you watch it, you’ll probably wish you hadn’t.
CREDIT on IMDb, again only if it actually gets finished and then only if it gets submitted to the right festivals or gets a public screening. If the movie is on IMDb and they forgot to give you credit then you can take it up with the IMDb gods and hope they will give it to you.
MEALS consisting of bagels, pizza, and Redvines. Heavy on carbs; light on nutrition.
And my favorite of all: DEFERRED PAY, which means if they ever make money on the project (and they never do), then you will get paid. Yeah, good luck with that.
So, why does anyone do this work for free?
BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU GET TO GO SOMEPLACE AND ACT. You are doing what you came out here to do, not waiting tables.
Plus, you are meeting people with equipment and a desire to create, even if they aren’t going to be the next Scorsese or Coppola or Fincher. Maybe this project will end up terrible, but eventually they might make a decent film and remember the people who struggled through these early films with them.
It’s all about getting out there and doing something for your career everyday. And remember, WORK BEGETS MORE WORK. (Even when it sucks.)
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