You Might Be a Lazy Filmmaker If…You Use “Serious Inquiry Only” Notices
Show Someone This and They Know You're Serious
Atlanta! I have a reality show that needs someone who’s experienced in video production. Looking to film in April 2011 serious inquires only – Lazy Tweeter’s Name Redacted for a 140 Characters of Foolishness
Too often I see folks posting about film jobs and then adding that asinine bit of text at the end. It’s asinine because they’ve not included how much experience one should have, what the full dates of the job are, the specifics, and most importantly what’s the pay. .
If you’re paying someone, say $1500, that may deserve a “serious inquiry”. However, when you say serious inquiries only and you don’t mention what the pay is, what that usually translates into is “inquires willing to work long hours for jack and half of squat need only apply.”
If you want to weed folks out and hire the right talent, it’s much better to set all the parameters up front. Most folks are smart enough to not apply for a job when you say you need 10 years experience and they only have 3. Or try to talk you up from your original price quote.
The more you can give people so they can opt out on their own, the easier it’s going to be on both you the person offering the job and the person submitting for information.
So New Rule: You can only add “serious inquiries only” to any cast and crew call when you’ve given out enough info. To do otherwise is just a sign of laziness.
Addendum: If you’re broke, you’re broke. Just be upfront about it. If you really have an intriguing project, there are people who will work for next to nothing if they believe in the work. And if they don’t, it might be a sign your project isn’t as unique or put together as you think. Use that chance to go back and rework everything till it is.
Producing a weaker production with a sub-par crew isn’t as advantageous as shooting an improved production with the right crew.
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I’ve never used “serious inquiry only,” but I understand why people do and I don’t think it has anything to do with pay rate, etc. It’s an attempt (feeble and futile though it may be) to reduce the spam that inevitably comes from any post. They range from, “Oh, that’s so cool that you’re making a film. I’ve always wanted to do that” to “I know you posted for a make-up artist, but I have a house you can shoot in for just $10,000 a day.”
By the time you weed through all the random actor headshots sent in response to a request for a DP, you’re too exhausted to talk to the one camera person who responded with a “serious inquiry.”
I can tell you now, adding serious inquiry won’t make a difference in eliminating resumes and headshots for positions you didn’t ask for from being sent to you. I work at a film festival and we don’t do any production, yet I still get headshots and resumes for production jobs sent to me. These kinda people are just obtuse and they’re going to send you crap anyway.