Friday, April 17, 2009

Face to Face with ONE EXAMPLE OF GREED

This is a conversation almost word for word I had with a couple of guys who recruited me off craigslist for a Contract Final Cut Pro Editor job. I thought it fitting to what is going on in America right now and the premise is one of a million incidents of greed that has put us all in troubled times. I put it in script form.

FADE IN:

INT. OFFICE - DAY

Garrick waits outside clutching his laptop. Mildly relaxed, which is never the M.O for this kind of meeting. Maybe he knows something WE don’t.

Man #1 opens the door. Mildly dressed. Not professional. Shocker.

MAN #1: You Garrick?

GARRICK: (confident) Unless you’re a lawyer...

Man #1 doesn’t get the joke. Maybe he was not listening. Maybe the joke was no good.

MAN #1: This way.

INT. OFFICE - ROOM - DAY
Garrick sits facing Man #1 and Man #2, his partner, identically dressed down to the sideways hat and two hundred dollar Air Jordans.

The Men watch Garrick’s Demo on a laptop computer. Both seem entertained.

Garrick picks at his fingernails. He has seen it a couple of times.


Man #1 cuts the demo off.

MAN #2: (pause) Damn!

MAN #1: That’s a great demo. You may be one of the best we’ve seen so far.

Garrick rolls his eyes.

GARRICK: Thank you.

MAN #2: Alright, so here’s what we are willing to offer you. We do about thirty five percent of the Triad’s television spots. We’re looking for an editor to come in one to two days a week and cut the spots we shoot. We pay $300 a spot..... Sound like something you’d be interested in?

Garrick thinks about it knowing he can cut thirty second spots in five hours or less. Easy money even though his normal going rate is around seventy an hour.

GARRICK: Yeah sure. I would love to do it.

Man #1 smiles. Figures this much.

MAN #1: Well what we’re going to have you do... Cut maybe three or four spots depending... If we think you prove yourself on those spots we’ll start paying you.

YOU CAN HEAR A PIN DROP...

GARRICK: (long pause; almost a smirk knowing this conversation was going to end this way) Nope.

Man #1 stops for a beat.

GARRICK: Prove myself? I’m a certified FCP editor. I don’t have to “prove” myself to anybody, especially you guys.

MAN #2: Na see what [name excluded] means is we wants to see if your style coexists with ours.

GARRICK: (pause) Again... I’m a Doctor of the Chop. You give me fabric, I make the dress...

There’s another long pause.

GARRICK: Or should I just blow your cover now. I saw this all the time in LA. You tell me-- work hard, do a couple of jobs for you to “prove” myself or to see if I’m a fit in your “company.” Meanwhile, you’re lining up the next editor to come in when my three job gig is up noting that “our styles didn’t coexist,” relieving you of having to pay me like the many guys before and sure to be after me. And meanwhile to that meanwhile you’re pocketing at least a thousand dollars you’ve allotted in your client’s budget for editing and not paying anybody but yourselves anything. You doing your camera men the same way?.... Don’t answer that, I know already.

The room silences.

GARRICK: Guys like you two make it hard for the hard working skilled guys like me to make a living doing this. Guys like you are the reason our economy is in the proverbial crapper so to speak.

Garrick begins packing his computer. Nothing is said.

GARRICK: Good luck with your exploitations.

MAN #1: Hate you feel that way, bro. You’re missing out on a great opportunity.

Garrick turns back to them.

GARRICK: No, “bro.” You’re missing out the opportunity... And ruining others.

Garrick reaches the door and turns to them one last time.

GARRICK: And you guys don’t plan on paying anybody.... At least don’t insult us and raise the flat rate a little. What’s it matter right? Nobody but you gonna’ get a dime of it.

Garrick exits.

FADE TO BLACK.

Greed. These guys right here are probably quoting around $3500 a spot to these companies and “interning/cheating” their labor out of everything and pocketing ALL $3500 of it leaving the hired principles out to dry thinking they did something wrong after “being let go.” The most horrible part of this is-- I don’t think it’s illegal.

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