Advertisement

When Working for Free as a DP Makes Sense

When Working for Free as a DP Makes Sense

Working for free in the film industry is very controversial – be it as a director of photography or any other position in our niche. Our industry is definitely growing with the productions shifting to the Internet and pay TV productions (and I am talking about commercials, corporate films, documentaries, drama series and feature films).

However with the accessibility of high-end camera technology, the playing field is levelled. Everyone can say they are a DP, and many people do even when just starting out in their career. While technology is empowering – and Vimeo’s constant flow of new creative videos is a testament to that – it has gotten really, really hard to get your name out and actually stick out of the crowd.

Benefit-of-working-for-free

Some creatives have a clear opinion on “working for free” ;-)

Working for free for the right projects can make a difference to attain a higher level of productions in the future – but they need to be carefully chosen. I for my part have made some good and bad decisions on free projects in the past, but I agree that it’s a bit of a minefield choosing the right projects to donate your workforce for.

Watch Matt Workman raising some interesting points about working for free as a cinematographer in this video:

What is your experience? How often has working for free on a project enabled you to take the next step in your career? Does working for free make sense at all? Let us know in the comments.

17 Comments

Subscribe
Notify of

Filter:
all
Sort by:
latest
Filter:
all
Sort by:
latest

Take part in the CineD community experience