I saw this video retweeted by @FCPUGIndy today and thought it was perfect. If you’re in multimedia, you know how often you get asked to do things for free by random people. “I need this 3 hour documentary edited, it’s totally low budget so I can’t pay you until it makes a few million bucks, but it’d be GREAT for your reel!” It’s just ridiculous how people either want to pay you next to nothing or nothing at all for your work when you are worth so much more.

When it comes to video, there’s definitely a place for free work. I do a lot of free work on my own to build up a variety of things in my portfolio, but that’s not something I’ll do in the future. Working for free can also be a great way to show someone your skills and seriousness about a job, as long as there is some kind of promise of payment when you prove your worth. But generally, if you’re lowballing your peers every chance you get, you suck.