How do you find everything else in the entertainment industry? You ask around.
Start with your contacts, again, and look at who does any of the crew positions you need. And then ask.
As Mark Victor Hansen say, “You need to A-S-K to G-E-T!”
Sure, your friend might have DPed for Chris Columbus last year, but he still might be open to doing your movie. You never know. Especially if you have a great script and I’m sure you do!
And if he doesn’t want to do it, he might know someone that is not as advanced as he is that would be interested in doing it. Or he might know of people in other positions that may be interested in helping out.
I know a lot of professional crew members that will do the 1 or 2 day freebees for networking purposes, and because it’s more fun than the feature films, which involve a lot more time, money and stress for everyone.
I prefer getting in contact via phone rather than doing an email blast. It’s more personable. (See my networking page about going “deep” rather than going “wide”)
Sometimes there just isn’t enough time to call everyone you know, so as you are calling, you may want to set up a post at some of the crew-finder sites online. My favorite is www.mandy.com.
I have always had luck with them and have gotten quality people from this site.
Other sites:
www.media-match.com
www.craigslist.com (I have only posted here once and I was not happy with what came back, but I know a lot of producers that find good people here)
www.myspace.com (I have only needed to post in their classified section once and had already filled positions by the time I checked my account for messages, but there were a lot and I’d say about 30% would have been worthwhile checking out if I needed to.)
When you do post, be sure to ask if they have any equipment they can bring. Does the DP have a camera Lights? Does the Make-up artist have makeup? Or are they expecting me to get them a kit?
Crewmembers with equipment can save you a lot of money and raise the quality of your production. Sometimes the crewmember comes free, but their equipment is extra (this is often with make-up artists).
Again, they’ll be more likely to work for free and bring their equipment if the script is great. Otherwise, they may be reluctant to expose their equipment to the ware and tare of production unless they get a little money for that risk.
When you are pitching to crew, be sure to mention that the food will be excellent (and it will, right?) and that it will be an easy day (this is a bit subjective, I find 16 hour days easy when I’m directing because I enjoy doing it). However, be truthful about the amount of hours you intend the day to be (the DP will be able to help you to estimate once you show him the script).
Also mention that they will get copy and credit, which is not as interesting to crew as it is to your cast, but it’s another plus.
It’s more interesting to crew, however, if you also mention that you intend this project to be screened at festivals and for it to be listed on IMDB.
This is significant to crewmembers that only have a few credits because IMDB credits build legitimacy (except for when people pay money to post their resumes. They might as well just get their own website and post the information there because the information has not been verified.)
Also mention if there are any high-profile people involved in the project. This can be cast or crewmembers with awesome credits. This will provide bragging rights to the crewmember after the project is over and will make them feel better about working for free. And maybe the well-known crewmember will be so impressed with you crew that he/she will take them onto the next project.
It happens.
A lot.
