Post-Production : Please don't ask for completely free music... by Mark Saltman

Here Here!

My minimum fee is $500 for 1-2 songs for a short, Web series or micro budget feature. If someone can't or won't pay that, it's not a worthwhile project to be involved in. Also, I won't work for filmmakers who are looking for free songs. It is totally against my principles. I tell them "pay something" for their art. This whole sense of entitlement to free music has got to stop.

I couldn't agree more, Mark.

Oh, if only I were introduced to you in 2006, then my feature would sound completely different. Thank you for Stage 32 for solving this issue.

Mark I'm feeling you, been there done it too. Robin as a filmmaker I sometimes go through it too. People think they have a great script, but no money, so can I do it for free, please?! I love working with low/no budgets, but I always make it clear there is no such thing and if you want this done, you're going to spend money. It is true many untrained wanna be filmmakers don't understand what goes into making a film. I take the time to break it down so they understand just what they're getting into. I've come across a few who didn't even have a budget, they just figured two hundred should do it. However, if I see they really are honest and passionate about their work and willing to sacrifice for it, I will work with them to get their dream in the can, including post, but my expenses have to be paid. I also make it very clear that they have a lot of blood, sweat and tears ahead of them, this is the real world.

seems like its a global phenomena to ask for free service......I am from bangladesh and directors here also carry the same mentality. They spend most of the budget on shooting and than starts nagging about cost during post production. I think the editors and colorist should let them suffer for their stupidity...

I can't imagine someone asking for free services. Yet, "friends" persistently ask my wife (an attorney) and myself (a psychologist) for advice, etc. Late in my career, I took the position that it was far to the asker's advantage for me to make a referral than to ruin a friendship by taking a position that might be unpopular.I assume the same for music people whose work might not be well received or falls on its face. Friends tend to last longer than the existence of their professional productions on the screen.

On the other hand, I've consulted with authors for nothing but a thank you and an appearance in their acknowledgements.

Lawrence, can I get a free psycho-analysis- I need it to be sort of Fruedian, but with a little bit of Skinner thrown in. Also, I really like the myers-briggs thing, so don't forget to include that- and would you mind doing a little test analysis for me, just in case I want to pick a different therapist?

Mark, you certainly give new meaning to eclectic theories: Freud, Jung, and now the Big BF Skinner? I could do that, but traditional Freudian just doesn't fit well with anything. They don't face their customer, but the others do. Well, Jung sometimes, but Skinner was a lab person, not a therapist. I can make a session out of it if you don't need to name the theories. You mean a dialogue? Do you need an intake interview, an ongoing therapy session, or a "crisis resolution?" I can do it, but you'll get a few laughs from the pros. FYI, the Meyers-Briggs (that's one lady), is a test to define "types" of approaches to dealing with life challenges and people that reflects Jungian analysis. We can throw in a few archetypes, too.. they're fun, but a traditional Freudian will have a seizure if you mix some things like definitions of "ego" (pronounced egg oh), and libido (not really sexual for Jung as it was for Freud). Sinner didn't even believe in personalities and was uncertain about how theories are created. They do work together but it takes a deft hand to use them. A hint: we tend to use psychodynamic theories to describe what's going on for people and behavioral/cognitive (SkinnerPavlov/Watson and like Ellis) to fix them. Does that help? Set me up with a character and I'll do up a brief intake and therapeutic contract session for you... we can do cuts to various parts of the session, and such. It would work best when it's clear you're leaving out parts of the session, for the critics in the therapeutic community. In other words, I'd do my best to make it look real, instead of some theory bound thing that you usually see in movies and TV. Do we need a little countertransference where the therapist gets pissed or falls in love with the patient? Simple huh?

Yes, I know I left out the trait (Cattell), existential/humanistic (Rogers), and family theories (Ackerman, Bowen, Minuchin, Maddens, etc) people. And let's not forget the people on the other side of the Western Pond. Buddhist and similar theories are quite good. This is called uncorking the can of squiggly things.

btw, Mark, I'm retired from practice, so what you'd get in your freebie would likely be worth exactly that. Ohhhh, I get it.. a freebie session!.. right. Is this an attempt to borrow my couch for casting purposes? I heard about you guys.

One more thing. I had to say that. I think you'll find that clinical psychs are always "on." Dr. Phil made a decent living being supportive to Oprah during her trial and tribulation with the meatpacking people. His job, at the time, was jury selection etc. but his original training was clinical psychology. Milton H. Erickson, probably the greatest therapist in history, is reputed to do a therapeutic intervention with everyone he met.

And yes, I can be very concrete.

Hi Brian. Your fees are impressive. I paid considerably more money for a song from Crash Karma (a Canadian alternative rock band) to be heard during the credits in my sci-fi feature.