Re: Professional v Amateur

As a producer, I've asked people for "free" footage plenty of times; part of my job is to keep things within budget and saving in one area helps other areas.

I certainly am not looking to rip people off, but there are two sides of the coin. The key is to offer something *of equal value* in return. That could be credit, or it could be sharing my raw footage in turn when someone needs it. Or it could be paying for footage, or music or actors. It just depends on the value and what each party considers to be fair.

Since I work on behalf of a government agency, my situation may be considered to be a little different. I feel an obligation not to spend (tax-payers) money on things I don't have to, and everything I produce is then offered up for free (or the price of materials) to any U.S. citizen who wants it. There are still usage restrictions on some things, since I don't have the right to reassign licenses for images of specific people, or reassign rights to footage we get from other sources, but I try to make things fair for all involved.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying for things when it's reasonable, but I'll usually ask for things free first, especially if I'm asking an organization that is also paid for with tax dollars, like the military or certain health organizations.

All that said, I think it's ironic that we have a thread like this, when just a few topics down, there's a thread asking where to find free music.