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I get that dynamic and maybe it’s not great to look at one of the all-time most succesful indie productions as an example. Rodriquez really did a lot by himself

I get that dynamic and maybe it’s not great to look at one of the all-time most succesful indie productions as an example. Rodriquez really did a lot by himself in that one also. Maybe to clarify a bit what I take issue with is the culture of celebrating no-budget success stories. It’s not less work to make those films so in the end you do spend the work hours, you just leave them out of accounting as nobody got paid. It’s really sort of a accounting trick leaving out sweat-equity. In what other field would we celebrate creating commercial products that take years of collective effort for cheap by not paying anyone. Maybe it shows that I work in the field and get asked to do these all the time. Sometimes I do them, but it’s just sponsoring promising talent.

VikingCoder 3y ago
> Maybe it shows that I work in the field and get asked to do these all the time. Oh man, yeah. Getting asked to do free labor in your field is rough. Sympathies.
zeekaran 2y ago
> It’s not less work to make those films It's more! That's part of what makes it impressive. You can come at it from the perspective of "It's merely an accounting trick and slave labor" but I think that's missing it for what it is. Most art is created without an expected paycheck. Movies especially are collaborative and everyone involved in small indie projects with no budgets knew there were working for little to no pay. You think the actors, camera man, lighting and set guys, were all thinking they were going to make a bunch in the box office from Dark Star / Mariachi? Likely not. They probably were thinking they'd try their shot at exposure. Actors might get recognized and get a career out of it, or not. Film crew at least had something on their resume. It's not like the directors (Cameron, Rodriguez) were making any promises they couldn't keep.

VikingCoder 3y ago

> Maybe it shows that I work in the field and get asked to do these all the time. Oh man, yeah. Getting asked to do free labor in your field is rough. Sympathies.

zeekaran 2y ago

> It’s not less work to make those films It's more! That's part of what makes it impressive. You can come at it from the perspective of "It's merely an accounting trick and slave labor" but I think that's missing it for what it is. Most art is created without an expected paycheck. Movies especially are collaborative and everyone involved in small indie projects with no budgets knew there were working for little to no pay. You think the actors, camera man, lighting and set guys, were all thinking they were going to make a bunch in the box office from Dark Star / Mariachi? Likely not. They probably were thinking they'd try their shot at exposure. Actors might get recognized and get a career out of it, or not. Film crew at least had something on their resume. It's not like the directors (Cameron, Rodriguez) were making any promises they couldn't keep.