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• I think the figures above are unsurprising. I've done around 2-3 unpaid jobs in my 2 years out of Drama School and these didn't lead to any paid work or either further unpaid work. I think one of the problems lies with lack of contracts and "unwritten rules." For example, an actor working on student films is expected to do as he is ask and as directed and in return the least he can ask for is a version of the final product to use for their showreel. All my previous unpaid work have failed to do this. If there had been a simple written statement involved it might have been avoidable. I do also think in these cases its down to the University to push their students to send footage. It's in their interest as it really does give them a bad name!
  
  Do I think you should work for free based on my experience? I don't think it's expected in many other career paths to work for free for little to no gain so why should the creative path be any different. Also the places where I would work for free are the places that would never allow it. Would I do a free month at the national? Hell yeah! would I do a free month in the back room of pub, performing to 4-5 people for nothing? (and I have known people who will do this) no, just no. If I had control it wouldn't be an issue. Theatre companies wouldn't be able to put on a show unless they had the money to pay everyone a fare wage. Yes we would enter an arts recession with fewer shows available for the public to see, but eventually it would pick up and hit the boom times and everyone would be catered for.

  

  dasher86 , Scriptwriter , 31/01/13 , 80 AP

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• Working for free can lead to further opportunities. Throughout my studies it has proved to be a great way to meet new people and network. However as graduation looms this year financially I will have to take whatever work I can to live, whether this benefits my career or not. I do not that that internships are justifiable, if a person is working with a company for long periods of time, placed in a position of responsibility and taking upon as much work as a paid worker surely it is their right to be treated equally and paid too. Unfortunately I think this is a classic case or
  Arge organisations knowing that young people are struggling to find work, and will do whatever possible to help their careers, including working for little or no pay.

  

  LornaMackinder , Dancer , 27/01/13 , 279 AP

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• I hate money. I mean, no, if you were about to send me money. Still do that. Please.
  But I hate the stupidness, the weirdness, of our ideas of money and value, and that we can’t do without them. You know the obvious examples already, the new car that begins to plummet in value before you drive it home, the wedding bouquet that costs twice as much as the Exact Same bouquet that happens not to be for a wedding, the incalculable, irreplaceable quality of the sentimental items you can’t put a price on.
  A friend and tour guide of mine once told me a good deal is one where both the buyer and the seller are happy with the result. And in many ways I think that’s wise. Why should it matter really if a tourist pays 5 times the going rate for a scarf, if it’s half what they would have been willing to pay at home? So why should it matter that a student, or a PA, or a fireman, or an ‘undiscovered artist’ should do creative work for free, if it seems worth it to them at the time? Well, one time of course it doesn’t, but sadly we live in a stupid world where there is economics. Things have the value we assign them and those patterns spread and repeat. More so than ever what with the speed of communication being what it now is.
  We’re so used to the right to find, the right to share and use other people’s work to assert our own identity that when we’re in a position to commission, we feel a right to that ownership.
  And yes there’s still the student or amateur voice inside me that gets excited just at the idea that I get to do some fun creative work. I think the suggestion that people only work for free because they are desperate for later success is a cynical one. It’s much nicer to be working than not working, at most things. But it’s also nice to be able to afford luxuries like shoes without holes in. I think at root this is about emotions and expectations. One person’s valuable experience is another person’s feeling exploited, and some of that is also to do with what connections you manage to make and what questions you ask while you’re working for free, and how you develop your own skills. The longer you work in an industry the more you’ll get a feel for the paths that are more likely to lead to lucrative ends.
  It’s been said that kids these days feel entitled to success, that people don’t expect to have to put in those years of struggle to achieve their goals. So unless you had the luck to be born with the connections you needed to get ahead in your chosen field, you need as much sparkling networking skills and business nowse as talent to make it – and to get those you will usually have to work for free, even if the work itself if just putting in hours of endless self-promotion.. There are just so many people in the in between stage, still learning, and making those people work for free may cut a certain amount of chaf from the wheat, but it also tends to mean a lot of really talented people never get their work out there.
  

  

  jennyrobins , Illustrator , 23/01/13 , 643 AP

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• The more people work for free, the more the product or service they offer is devalued and the more exploitative situations arise.
  
  
  
  

  

  johnchamberlain , Illustrator , 23/01/13 , 306 AP

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• What really sticks in the craw is companies who say they will pay after a specific time and then fail to (naming no names)- there is a reason that jobs in the creative industries have such a high turnover. People are being taken for a ride, with the blame being put squarely on ''we don't have sponsorship'', etc.
  Oh, really? That'll be why you have stayed afloat so long, then.
  Sadly, the ultimate truth is, as has been said before, there is always someone willing to go that little bit further for very little recompense.
  

  

  Missy Lorelei/Lorna Irvine , Writer , 22/01/13 , 5,719 AP

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• Really interesting and hugely relevant topic. Enjoyed all the responses so far. Professional London opera singer here, coming up to three years after graduating music college, £27,000 in debt, earning approx. £14,000 a year and still having to work for free regularly.
  
  Firstly, I have to agree with the fact that this is, to some extent, a class issue. Fair play to those lucky enough to have the means to accept unpaid work, and therefore give themselves more opportunities for the future. They’ve worked as hard as anyone at their craft and everyone deserves their chance to do what they love, rich or poor.
  
  I hate the idea of large companies asking artists to work for free and gleaning a ‘free’ employee through internships. It’s simply not on, I agree that these people should be boycotted. Smaller companies… I have mixed opinions. Of course there are those who simply want to get their dream project off the ground, get their communities involved in the arts, or raise money for charity. Great, we can work together and help each other to the top. Then, there was one small opera company from a very affluent part of a certain Home County…
  
  They were advertising auditions for PROFESSIONAL opera singers for their upcoming season. Not only were they not paying, they were asking for a £100 contribution from successful auditionees, to ‘cover costs’, in return for the tremendous opportunity etc etc. One applicant took issue with this, and asked the company for a costs breakdown. The top two expenditures were: Theatre Hire: £10,000. PROFESSIONAL ORCHESTRA: £5000. Pay the orchestra but not the singers? Not ok.
  
  The moral of the story? If you’re going to work for free, make sure you choose what you do, and who you work for, very carefully!
  

  

  FelicityBuckland , Musician/music production , 22/01/13 , 63 AP

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• What are your advices on 'defferred payments'?..

  

  Melissa Sirol , Actor , 21/01/13 , 1,116 AP

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• I think that if you find yourself with a good opportunity that asks you to work 'for free' you need to use your common sense to work out whether the non financial benefit you'll gain from the job [connections, knowledge, CV] outweighs the fact that you'll be losing money whilst you're there. [If time really is money, which in a capitalist society I can fairly say that it is]
  
  If you come out of the 'job' feeling like you haven't wasted your time, then for me that takes away a lot of the sting of not being paid.
  I think the way our society has evolved has a lot to do with it, it has become the norm for there to be fifty other Tom Dick or Harrys out there to take your place should you not want to work for free, so it's not like you're able to barter for your position. You can however, make sure that your 'employer' knows that you want something other than a glowing CV; when you go for unpaid work squeeze every last drop out of the opportunity that you can. Rack up favours and pull some strings.
  I also agree with the comments before who suggest that we boycott the jokers who abuse this little system, if a company gets a reputation for using and throwing out interns to save cash on a regular basis then put the word out about it in local forums, teach them a lesson. Knowledge is power my dears, knowledge is power.
  Nowadays things may have changed with the growth of this 'work for free system' [my parents call me crazy for even considering working without pay, but they're from a different generation, times change] but things have also changed in the social system, we, like none before us, have the internet for social networking, it's instant and you can reach thousands.
  Don't shirk this tool, it may just be our saving grace.
  
  
  
  

  

  00 Spiro Spero , Photographer , 21/01/13 , 1,565 AP

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• To me the whole paid/unpaid debate falls in two camps (for actors).
  
  I graduated drama school six months ago and am willing, at this point, to do unpaid work in order to build my CV, gain more experience, build a showreel and work with new people. Some of the younger theatre companies I apply to work for are in the same financial situation as myself and are also building themselves up. If they can’t afford to pay me, but can provide me with one of the above and respect the fact that they aren’t paying me – helping to work rehearsals around side jobs that are paying me or not expecting me to sit around when I’m not needed – then I am perfectly happy for the experience. Profit-share are particularly welcome – I might not make anything, but we are all in it together, and I think there should be a real effort to provide at least a contribution towards travel cost, so even if the production is costing time where an actor could be making money, money isn’t physically leaving the actor’s pocket.
  
  However, there are a lot of unpaid casting calls that cross the line and are demeaning to actors. I read multiple role description weekly for women that require nudity. Not for free, mate! Or the commercial breakdown from a well-known company I saw, that could definitely afford to pay it’s actors for exposing their faces nationally, but asked for free work. It’s exploiting young actors desperate for a job. I never apply for such work, and don’t know who does, but we really should be boycotting them and having some respect for ourselves.
  
  If a company can afford to pay its actors it unquestionably should, if it can’t it should respect the actor and offer them something valuable in return.
  

  

  Pippa Caddick , Actor , 19/01/13 , 1,948 AP

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• I am a freelance photographer supporting myself with other jobs, and have found it's a battle to get paid for work. I believe it has all gone wrong because companies know they can get people on "Internships" (unpaid completely or just travel expenses etc for up to 1 month - 6 months) because the interns believe it will lead to paid work or being employed in the future; but the harsh reality is that they just let those people go at the end and get the next intern in for another few months so they don't have to pay again. If bigger companies in particular would stop this, then our economic climate and unemployment figures would probably improve. I really hope Hazel Blears proposal is accepted as it would help a lot of people, and the future might look a bit better for us all! Saying that, we could all help ourselves by refusing to do work unpaid – kill the source and companies will have to start paying.

  

  laurenmarshphotography , Photographer , 19/01/13 , 318 AP

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