Pay the Artist/Writer

[Scott Schroeder]

An epic rant from Harlan Ellison:

 

Kind of fits the discussion going on in other threads.

 

Thoughts?

[Jonathan Sanchez]

Epic rant man!! I was cracking up when he said the studio don't even send him a copy of the dvd and they tell him: 'well the dvd is available in the store, you can stop by and buy one", then he goes: "YOU can go to the store and buy it m*****k*r!!!". Good stuff.

 

Anyways, I've definitely felt this same way about our industry. Recession has made it a lot worst. More and more artist offering their services worldwide, less jobs, too much undercutting. Just the other day I had a multi-millionaire owner building a 5 million dollar ranch residence in a beautiful location. He asked me if I can do the images for 200 bucks because that is what he can get others to do it for. When I told him what I really charged, he got mad and never called me again. But at least I stood my ground. If we all as a community did this, things would be much better, me thinks.

Edited September 22, 2011 by sancheuz

[Scott Schroeder]

While his view is very extreme, the core is correct. I really like the part where he rallies with exposure and publicity doesn't put food on your table. Many times jobs will try to use that in order to charge less, but people will see your images. While, the first time we've had our images in print or on TV, it is neat to see them for sure. But you can't take that exposure and pay your bills. You can't take those 5,000 views on YouTube to the bank and save them.

 

As bluntly harsh as it was, his view on amateurs making it hard for professionals was spot on.