What websites do crew members subscribe to?

harmonica44 · Oct 3, 2012

I haven't been able to find any. I've posted on craigslist and kijiji, but perhaps those aren't the right places.

I want to hire a DP and PCM for a project next year, but haven't been able to find sites they would subscribe to, or places nearby where they work out of, or where they can be found. A couple of people responded to the adds, but they didn't have the gear I wanted for some shots exactly. Some others responded, but they did not live in my area, and I would not be able to add motel overnight stays, into the budget.

I talked to a woman I know who went to film school and she said that most pro DPs and PCMs will not do independent film projects and is probably why I did not get responses. And I might not get many responses if I look elsewhere either. She said most graduates think they are above independent, once they become part of the professional world. But you never know. Are there any websites I should do hiring off of?

mlesemann · Oct 3, 2012

We used mandy.com and got a lot of people from there, including our dp.

justinisfilming · Oct 3, 2012

I found my DP off of craigslist no problem. Try posting ads every other day though because you never know when these guys check the site. Also, if it's a paid gig then I don't see why anyone would turn down the job. You should easily get a couple of people interested. You just gotta know who are the shady ones.

Morris · Oct 3, 2012

Some people use productionhub. There are linkedin groups like Stage 32. Also, there are groups in different areas that people belong to and know each other from.

Mannie Bothans · Oct 3, 2012

Have you tried the links at http://www.saskfilm.com/?s=usefultools

bellabell · Oct 3, 2012

Try your local and state film commission and motion picture alliance groups. Production hub has multiple city listings too.

harmonica44 · Oct 10, 2012

Thanks. I don't know if my city has a local site, at least that I have not found yet but will look again. I haven't tried production hub but tried the others, and so far there is not much in Saskatoon, Canada which is where I live. The nearest crew members are six hours away and I would have to pay their motel stays. They also have other day jobs I am guessing and will probably not want to take that much traveling time off of work.

I haven't been able to find many actors where I live either. That short film I made, only five people came to the audition and I needed to fill 8 parts, which is one of the reasons for delays. I want to do a project with no delays and an iron schedule since things cost money.

I thought about taking advice on here and moving to a bigger city, but that would eat up my budget for future projects since the bigger the city the more expensive it is to live in. I have a friend who is in film school in Vancouver and my only option would be to maybe live with her for however long the movie takes to make. She probably would not be okay with that though. She even said though, don't move to Vancouver, as the actors and crew here will not do independent projects and will only do things funded by industries.

So far I have been able to find one dolly grip here, but no steadicam operators. That's another thing, she said that in film school, they only have gear for pro projects where cash is involved and a steadicam is more of a poor man's dolly, in situations where dollies cannot be used so well. I tried that saskfilm.com but they keep asking who I am representing, as if they want me to be part of a company. They may not do indie work either.

I keep arriving at paradoxes at not sure what to do. All the actors and crew are in the big city, but the big city, does not want to do indie work.

Sweetie · Oct 10, 2012

Have you tried asking local film schools if they have good candidates/graduates?

jax_rox · Oct 10, 2012

harmonica44 said:
So far I have been able to find one dolly grip here, but no steadicam operators. That's another thing, she said that in film school, they only have gear for pro projects where cash is involved and a steadicam is more of a poor man's dolly, in situations where dollies cannot be used so well.

A steadicam is a poor man's dolly? Since when..? A glidecam is certainly a poor man's steadicam, but a poor man's dolly...?

Hm.. who is this person that's given you this advice?

mlesemann · Oct 10, 2012

Either you have to go where cast and crew are available (whether a permanent or a temporary move), or you bring them (temporarily) where you are.

There are no other magical choices.

harmonica44 · Oct 10, 2012

jax_rox said:
A steadicam is a poor man's dolly? Since when..? A glidecam is certainly a poor man's steadicam, but a poor man's dolly...?

Hm.. who is this person that's given you this advice?

Well for a dolly I would need to lay down tracks all along the sidewalks and road, cause of all the cracks in the street, that the dolly would get stuck in or ruin parts of the shot, if I were to use one. And the authorities would mind, if there was tracks layed out all over the place. But with a steadicam, we can just avoid all those tracks, and run around, and no one cares. No having to pay for permits. So I just thought it was a poor man's dolly in that sense.

As for hiring graduates from film schools, the characters in my script are over 30, and graduates are quite young usually. I could ask if they have any older graduates, but they are probably moved on, just like other actors, I'm guessing. I checked out production hub and there is nothing in Saskatoon.