Sound recordist working on multiple jobs??

[dr stilly]

Hi, my sound recordist contacted my after I sent him the call sheets and he says that my schedule is too sporadic for his schedule to work on other jobs. I asked about the 'other jobs' and he told me that he always works on about three projects at one time. This to me sounds dangerous an I wanted to know if it is common for a sound recordist to work this way? Will it conflict one way or another?

btw we are paying him a rate.

 

[PaulGriffith]

He's freelance, of course if your schedule is one day on, five days off he's going to work in-between. If he's handling production audio (on set) then it's not like he's simultaneously working on someone else project the time he's billing you for. If you don't want him to do that and to live-eat-breathe your project you need to pay him for that on your in between days. He's trying to get 40hrs like anyone else, what he does when you aren't paying him is quite literally his "business" haha.

Just curious how sporadic you schedule is?

If he can't do a sporadic schedule and everyone else on your crew can, hire a new guy. Ask him for a recommendation. Freelance guys send work to each other a lot. There's a few guys I send projects I can't do to and they do the same for me, also, you keep potential future clients happy. The number 1 rule in freelance is if you back out of a gig, help find a replacement.

 

[gpforet]

It depends on the duration of the job(s). I have a regular client who books me 2 days a month for an ongoing commercial contract doing car reviews. I primarily work in the indie scene so features are shot on a sporatic basis as funding flows in. As an example, a feature I am currently working has been in production for nearly a year, sometimes shooting only one 3 day weekend a month. Other indie features I have worked on were similar. So, for me, it is very common to have 3 (or more) projects going on at the same time. What I tell producers is that once you have a solid date, let me know. Until then, that date is open to other commitments. Once you ink me in for a particular date, you're committed to paying me for that date (although I have often worked things out when weather or other mitigating factors come into play).

It is also very common for sound ppl to trade off jobs with each other when these conflicts arise. I regularly trade days with other sound ppl when these conflicts occur. If there is a difference in rate between my rate and other soundies, we usually work that out among ourselves.

Hi, my sound recordist contacted my after I sent him the call sheets and he says that my schedule is too sporadic for his schedule to work on other jobs. I asked about the 'other jobs' and he told me that he always works on about three projects at one time. This to me sounds dangerous an I wanted to know if it is common for a sound recordist to work this way? Will it conflict one way or another?

btw we are paying him a rate.

 

[dr stilly]

Thanks for the replys. He is complaining about Octobers dates which are: 5th, 10th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd.

Btw two days ago he told me he couldn't do 14th (which is the biggest day of the whole shoot, booked in a nightclub, all paid up) because he is doing ADR work on a previous project. I agreed to find someone to replace him on that day. Now he comes back with this.

The main problem seems to be money. We verbally agreed two months ago to 50 a day (plus a back-end deal) which is low but he is just out of college and semi-pro with entry level equipment. Now he seems to want more money if I'm using this schedule.

btw, the reason for the schedule is we are using pro actors for free who do paid work for big productions. Some other actors have kids etc. Also I think a bit of breathing space between shoots are good to gather everything we need.

 

[PaulGriffith]

If he's hard to work with now, he'll be hard to work with later. It sounds like a case of getting what you pay for. You can't rent a shotgun mic, boom pole and recorder for $50 a day at most places, plus you're getting 4-18 hours of work out of him and I'm guessing he's driving himself to set?

I totally understand budgets, but the only people I trust at a no/low budget rate are people sold out to the project. If he's feigning interest, what happens on the day of the shoot when the alarm goes off early and he's too tired from the night before and decides that $4 an hour plus $2.50 in gear rental isn't worth getting up for?

I do hear what he's saying about sporadic. It's one thing committing a week to the project for $350, but a day here and there when you're hoping to book work at a decent rate is hard. If I put myself in his shoes, I don't feel good committing for pennies when I might find a gig that needs me straight the 19-22 paying 2-3 times as much or whatever.

Are there other options? If you can find someone sold out to the project I'd go with him, otherwise hope for the best. Either way, put yourself in his shoes and ask him to put himself in yours. Your budget is your budget, but his rent is his rent.

Tough decision, good luck man.

 

[trueindie]

The main problem seems to be money. We verbally agreed two months ago to 50 a day (plus a back-end deal) which is low but he is just out of college and semi-pro with entry level equipment. Now he seems to want more money if I'm using this schedule.

If you think money is becoming an issue because he thinks he has you by the nuts, he is going to do this again.

I'd take my chances and get another sound guy as soon as possible. If I have to pay more, I'd rather pay more to somebody else, not this guy. So I would weigh my options and figure out if I really do have to pay more, and if the answer is yes, I'd just get rid of this guy.

 

[dr stilly]

If you think money is becoming an issue because he thinks he has you by the nuts, he is going to do this again.

I'd take my chances and get another sound guy as soon as possible. If I have to pay more, I'd rather pay more to somebody else, not this guy. So I would weigh my options and figure out if I really do have to pay more, and if the answer is yes, I'd just get rid of this guy.

I'm searching.

 

[AudioPostExpert]

btw, the reason for the schedule is we are using pro actors for free who do paid work for big productions. Some other actors have kids etc. Also I think a bit of breathing space between shoots are good to gather everything we need.

I think the idea of pro actors working for free is a misconception. Employing pro actors for no fee is not "for free" because the pro actors themselves, by definition, have a higher expectation than of the usual no budget indies and everyone else involved (even if their only experience is on no budget indies) also has a higher expectation because pro actors are now involved.

IMHO, it's unlikely that a just out of college student with budget level equipment will get good enough quality production sound to satisfy this higher expectation and that will mean more ADR is required and even if the pro actors are prepared to do it for free you've still got to pay for decent ADR facilities and decent quality audio post personnel/facilities. So using pro actors (for free) is not for free because you either have to spend more money on better production sound personnel/equipment and/or on better audio post.

Just my 2p, G