Hasta La Motion!

Figured since there is a Jr artist thread…and a senior artist thread…why not one about freelance. I work totally freelance from studio to studio and project to project. It means keeping good ties with clients, keeping up with clients, and keeping up with what other artists are doing, since an insider recommendation is always your best entrance into a new facility. I have had a lot of help from friends, colleagues and clients getting work, and I always try to help out fellow freelancers find work if I’m somewhere.

As a freelancer you are expected to just walk onsite and get going. You may have an hour to get to know the setup….but mostly it is, here is the job, here is your computer let me know when you have something. The more skills you have the better. If you are a compositor but you also know how to edit or have some 3D skills (like I do) you can extend contracts sometimes with this knowledge. I worked with one company last year on a comp gig, then they had some edit work they needed and some 3D, so I got to extend my stay there by a few weeks because I could work on more than what I was originally contracted for. I usually try to land jobs that last a few months or more, but since I don’t have a specific company I work for I will take weekend jobs or jobs that last a few days.

It sounds stressful…but the good thing is, as a freelancer you can actually charge more than a staffer….since you have to not only figure how much you need while your working, but you need to figure out how much you will need to survive between projects…and sometimes that between time can extend a couple months!

The thought of going freelance is REALLY scary and most people won’t attempt it, but if you like working with a variety of people, don’t mind traveling, and can keep good track of invoices it might work out well for you!

As with other threads like this I expect other freelance artists to chime in with answers to new artists questions as well!