petapixel.com: In 2007, famed science fiction writer and fierce protector of his copyright, the somewhat controversial Harlan Ellison, was being filmed for a documentary about himself called Dreams with Sharp Teeth.
Before the documentary went live, this short clip was released in which Ellison talks about Warner Brothers asking him to use one of his interviews for free.
2 comments:
This man just outlined the fallacy that p;agues the lives of every single person who is trying to work in a creative field. When you begin work, you are expected to work for nothing. This happened to me with a theatre company I worked in my last two summers before college. The first summer I designed an constructed two huge shows for a student theatre. I was not paid, because I was taking on the work as part of my senior thesis. I agreed to it, and I was fine. I did well over a hundred hours of work for the show. The next year I returned, triumphant, believing that I had paid my dues. I then found out that they expected to pay me less than $100 for the same amount of work as the summer before. Looking back, I am scandalized. However, at the time I was far too nervous to argue. The unfortunate fact is that if you won't work for free or close to free, you can be replaced with someone who will. I needed to learn to advocate for myself more, but we also need to change the stakes. We should adequately compensate artists for their time.
This video was honestly exactly what I expected from a “scathing, brutally honest rant.” How can you expect an essay for free, lady? I agree with him. People often want the writer, or the artist, to work for free. “Exposure” is a cover to mooch off of someone. Society treats creative work as a hobby, not a profession. I also think people don’t see a direct correlation between time or effort or skill spent on a creative piece in the same way they would for STEM.
Its also important to set the expectation of payment. Like Ellison angrily remarks, you’re “undercut by all the amateurs” who will take experience. I understand and can empathize with both sides. It is hard to get any paid experience in the arts. It is hard to get your “name out there” while also making a wage. But the more artists push for payment, the more it will be normalized.
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