Don’t Get Taken Advantage Of !

This site is Evil – poptentmedia.com    UPDATE : no longer around !

This site is Evil 99designs.com  UPDATE: These are are still around, and expanded their bottom feeder program to include video from $499

This site is good. Antispec.com

Would you turn out a complete spot for free ? or for $200 ?

Would you front all expenses for free ?

Would you leave money on the table, in fact most it if you do get paid ?

Would you write, cast, shoot, edit ANY clients project for FREE ? or so cheap its not even minimum wage ?

Excepting a good local charity cause  I doubt it.

Who else would work for free ?

Please tell me who in any other career, job or business would work for free ? ( except charity and community support things )

This is NOT your Big Break.

In regards to “contests” like PopTent or other companies running “competitions”.

Let’s get real, if you were to submit your pure odds of making that $5K payout is 1 in 100 to 1 in 300 or more. Nice odds, NOT ! Oh and your still out everything if you don’t get it.

Let’s also consider that $5k Payout…. you’re probably being paid anywhere from 1/4 to 1/10th what the job is actually worth. Maybe less than that.

Let’s also know this is not a new game, but is has gotten a lot better and slicker thanks to the internet. Now scamming has gone global, but you knew that, right ?

I started out in NY many years ago. Back then everyone was shooting music videos on 16mm. It was simple. Maybe you hooked  up with a known artist like Rodger Daltry who was working with an up and coming band. The new band sounded good, played ok and had a big known backer. You shot a video with your own money, your own editing time on tape ! you edited, and re-edited and finally presented it. The goal was always to spend around $10K and make it look like $50K. That was always the dream.

Well sometimes the record label would like what they saw, some times not. Sometimes you could get a few grand fronted to cover your film and transfer costs begging and borrowing all other favors.

In the end, after 6 months or a year of your life had passed by, you might have an ok video done, which maybe the label would pay you for, or not.

Its pretty clear looking back that while a couple of people I know did go some where, almost everyone involved didn’t. I made some great friends I still know 20 years later, but only a few people I know ever played things out to bigger and better things. The vast majority didn’t.

So get real, don’t get sold on “This is your way to get noticed”. Its not, especially in the age of the internet where tons of stuff is around. Go do something for a local charity, a local band. Do a project for yourself. Don’t get suckered by one of these sites that simply exploit people, get hundreds if not thousands of free hours of work for…

What did you get ? an  email saying thanks for entering “we’ll get back to you” ?

You’re smarter then that !