This past weekend I was given the reminder of life's up's and downs in business. And all due to someone else's mistake, I was left out of both time and money. Two commodities which I would typically trade for each other, but both were gone after one disheartening text.
By. Text.
(this must be what it feels like for Millennials to break up with each other)
On with my story of joy, motivation, and betrayal...
At 11:30pm Friday night, I received a message from an production assistant inquiring about some footage that I would be able to film or may already have access to. The story was, that there was a production team in town from Washington, DC filming a documentary that needed some b-roll footage. After doing some name-checking, they were LEGIT AF! (I'm going to leave their names out at this time) The weather was pretty rotten all weekend and they wouldn't be able to get what they wanted. So, they contacted me to see if I could help. Leary, tired, and intrigued, I gave my phone number and went to bed.
The next morning I woke to an early text message and then spoke on the phone with the PA to confirm what they needed. They ALSO needed the footage in less than 48 hours.
(I had this footage saved from years ago, so I was just going to upload some.
Psyched!!! EASY MONEY!!!
I shared some sample video files and the director and producer both gave the PA the thumbs up on my work and for me to get in on this project. They confirmed the pricing, the form of payment, and we were off and running!
Awesome!
Easy Money!
So I thought...
Like a machine, I began furiously searching through my files and clipping & uploading what they required and before I knew it, I had uploaded over 50 clips. (I uploaded them without my watermark but blocked them from download). The production team complimented my shots and the speed with which I delivered them and I provided them my e-mail address for the payment via PayPal. The Director e-mailed me to confirm that he would be sending payment later that evening. That night, I went to bed expecting the payment any moment.
I woke up the next day and still didn't notice that the payment had processed. I inquired of the PA, who notified me that they had gotten the footage from somebody else instead.....W.T.F.....They were all looking and some producer found the footage and didn't tell the rest of their team. Exit Dan Oshier Productions.
Left with nothing to say, (nothing nice at least), I asked them to consider reimbursing me for my time. They said that they would ask (2 days have gone by now, I'm not holding my breath).
So, I'm screwed on this one. Years ago, I'd be really pissed off and waste energy on being mad. Now, considering I paid dearly losing both time and money, I'm taking the lessons from this one to heart!
1 - NEVER stray from taking payment on terms (1/2 up front), no matter what type of a rush the client is in. I bent over backwards to help, bent, got screwed while bending...
2 - Label my files more efficiently or hire someone to do it. I found that I need to do my filing of video clips better.
In the end, I did impress the PA and Director with my work, hustle, and professionalism.
To get something for my time, I asked the Director for a testimonial of my work and to consider me for future opportunities. I received a nice e-mail this morning. I'm taking it and my lessons and moving on quickly to the next Adventure!
peace,
d
ps- that photo is edited in Photoshop. While I was having my moment digesting the news of my losing out on the project, I spent time editing some photos...And this is what I ended up with. Me on a road that I've never been on, wearing my father's classic hat (the photo was from a recent vacation to Florida)