I am writing this because I am pretty disgusted at the ads I see for video production personnel on Craigslist. However it is truly buyer beware on Craigslist. I have hired some good people but have also had some really bad ones. You really have to check these people out if you are going to use them on your crew. This blog does not put blame on Craigslist but condemns the advertisers that place ads on Craigslist to hire video professionals in our industry.I don’t know If I should laugh or cry when I see some of these posted ads by advertisers, that want to pay $250 for a two day shoot or an ad I saw for an HD shooter for $125 per day. Most of the pro guys don’t use Craigslist because they have established clients, but even for the guy that is just starting out or even with someone with some experience this pay scale is outrageous. The main point to this is that by these advertisers wanting to pay third world wages in our industry it devalues our business. Video Production must have a standard, that is what diffirentiates us from uncle Harry with his camcorder and his $50 editing software he purchased online. I truly hope that no one is that desperate to take these jobs at these rates and shame on these advertisers that actually think someone is going to give them a quality product at these rates. We are not in the fast food industry and don’t let us become that. Let them know what the industry standard is which is usually $75 per hour and up. Most of us have college degrees, we have also invested thousands of dollars in equipment and provide our clients with superior productions. Stand up for yourself and the industry and let them know that. I am hoping that Craigslist actually starts charging advertisers to post jobs and eliminates the free ads, as this will hopefully filter out those advertisers that are looking for cheap labor. I hope these advertisers get to read this and don’t treat our industry like the fast food industry, beacuse we are not.
Author:
Victor Sieff has over 18 years of experience in Video Production and is the owner of VS Video Productions in Denver, Colorado.
