directing Why I give credit to EVERYBODY

Hi everybody! Thanks for clicking in!

So a week and a half maybe has passed since I joined indietalk, and I've seen a lot of people sharing thoughts and the vibes in this site is pretty awesome, so I thought maybe I could share my experience on, probably, the most underrated thing in a movie: Closing Credits.

Since I can remember, everybody would always tell me "But why do you include so many people in the credits?".

Well, growing up as an artist has given me the opportunity to join a lot of random projects, and after years and years of happily helping everybody out, I've realized one thing: My name is in some 10% of the credits in projects I've worked on.

This has been a huge frustration to me for many years, specially when the people I helped out had success and never spoke to me again.

It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to make a movie your own: you need a crew. Specially when you're starting and you want to build a net, you need people who will do favors to you for free - Give credit in your movie.

Sometimes it has been easy for myself to put my name 10 times in the roll credits because, ugh, obviously I did SO much stuff. But... well... there was this one guy who helped me in a couple of roles... and my little sister has filmed my last 5 short films... hum... maybe it would be nice from me to put their names too.

And finally: a recent experience.

So I was filming my recent feature "Revenge, Porn & Katana", and I was at a Sound Recording Studio. I already knew the owner from before, but this time there was a new young guy walking around, setting up the scene, etc.

I approached him and asked him his name, and after noticing he made a weird face, I straightly said: "You're helping here, I want your name to be displayed in the credits".

He instantly appeared to be much happier and started working hard on everything I would tell him on set, and he as well telling me at the end that I could call him again for future shootings. You want a crew like this, right?

So what I usually do when shooting up is writting down the name of each one helping me out that day. This way, not only you make sure that everybody gets credit, but also if someone prefers to use maybe a nickname or whatever.

Let me know your experience regarding this theme!
 
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Great point! I'm a big believer in giving credits widely.

My features have LONG lists at the end of Very Special Thanks (just a few amazing people), Special Thanks, and Thanks.
I also always list the extras (and in my 2nd movie we had quite a few of those), as well as all of the crew people, even those who may have only worked part of a day.
 
Great point! I'm a big believer in giving credits widely.

My features have LONG lists at the end of Very Special Thanks (just a few amazing people), Special Thanks, and Thanks.
I also always list the extras (and in my 2nd movie we had quite a few of those), as well as all of the crew people, even those who may have only worked part of a day.

I'd love to see some of your features! Are they available somewhere online?
 
I'd love to see some of your features! Are they available somewhere online?
Yup! I made two features - DETOURS and Surviving Family. They're on multiple streaming platforms, but the ones most widely available internationally are Plex (free with ads and available everywhere except People's Republic of China) and Vimeo (99 cent rental)

Links are here:
Surviving Family is on Plex at this link and on Vimeo on Demand here
It's also on Tubi, Xumo, Filmocracy, and Hoopla Digital but those are mostly US & Canada.

DETOURS is on Plex at this link and on Vimeo on Demand here
It's also free on Tubi, Xumo, and Filmzie.
 
I'm also a believer in elevating titles where appropriate. If you had an intern that worked their ass off setting up lights and placing sandbags, why not list them as third electric? You can check with them on this to make sure they agree but in most cases they will be ecstatic.
 
what I usually do when shooting up
:eek:

the opportunity to join a lot of random projects, and after years and years of happily helping everybody out, I've realized one thing: My name is in some 10% of the credits in projects I've worked on.
Yep, know that feeling too. In my case, it's more a question of being one of the cogs in a machine that makes something happen, and maybe - just maybe - contributing a line of code, or a perfect phrase, or some other apparently insignificant detail that goes on to become a key feature. For the most part, it's reward enough just to know that that came from my input ... but every so often, when trying to justify one's experience for a new role, suddenly the lack of any hard evidence is frustrating.

When the roles are reversed, I try to ensure that people helping me out have some tangible reward and/or credit for their assistance. As @Nate North says, it costs nothing to treat your crew with respect.
 
:eek:


Yep, know that feeling too. In my case, it's more a question of being one of the cogs in a machine that makes something happen, and maybe - just maybe - contributing a line of code, or a perfect phrase, or some other apparently insignificant detail that goes on to become a key feature. For the most part, it's reward enough just to know that that came from my input ... but every so often, when trying to justify one's experience for a new role, suddenly the lack of any hard evidence is frustrating.

When the roles are reversed, I try to ensure that people helping me out have some tangible reward and/or credit for their assistance. As @Nate North says, it costs nothing to treat your crew with respect.

I've been 5 minutes straight laughing after I realized what I wrote there. English is not my first language, sorry! 🤣

I'm glad we all agree on treating respectfully your crew!
 
I'm also a believer in elevating titles where appropriate. If you had an intern that worked their ass off setting up lights and placing sandbags, why not list them as third electric? You can check with them on this to make sure they agree but in most cases they will be ecstatic.
This. My last feature could not of been made without the help of my lead actor. Without asking, he stepped up and bent over backwards to make sure we had everything we needed. I made him an executive producer because without him, the film wouldn't have been nearly what it was.
 
Nice, I like the simple idea of going around and asking for everyone's name you see or talk to on set. Good stuff. IMDB is also a great resource for people just starting out filmmaking. Set up their credit, and they have something to start networking with on other projects. Its pretty easy, and looks professional (even though I refuse to pay for a pro membership... lol)
 
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