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Friday, August 29, 2008

Hilarious. Also true.

How to interpret ‘crew wanted’ ads

Craigslist is a marvelous institution. There are editions for some 500 different cities, but you can still consider yourself lucky if you live near one. Among (lots of) other things, Craigslist has ads for temporary or permanent film/tv jobs. Some of those listings have more to do with a newbie director’s fantasies than anything real - no budget, no plans, no technique - but you learn to ignore them.

Except in LA, where there are so many ads looking for free actors and crew that a Craigslist contributor actually provided a glossary, comparing actual film positions and descriptions to the way they’re used in these ads. For instance, did you know that ‘craft service’ means ‘we might have candy and cold soda on set’?

Here’s the whole list.

There’s nothing wrong with low- or no- budget projects. Even as an experienced pro, I’ll sometimes work on one… when I have the time, and think the film and filmmaker are interesting.

But those are filmmakers who at least have read a couple of books about the process, and made some shorter pieces. Creating a real movie takes more than an ad on Craigslist. 

Business • Pre-Production • Production • Training •

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