To Work Unpaid or Not To Work Unpaid...That Is The Question

In some cases, I believe working for free or pro-bono is a great start for the novice with the blank sheet resume. So, my answer to this common question that I am asked by fellow artists, musicians, filmmakers and actors - Yes! Do it if you feel it's the right project at the right time. As an actor for example, many people pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for acting workshops in the metro-Detroit area being taught by a teacher that no one is Los Angeles or New York knows of or will ever know of. The interesting thing is that these same people then tell me they don't work for free. Put it in perspective, it can't be any worse than paying someone else for a similar experience. Working on a student film project for example is a great way to network and study your craft. Maybe your not getting paid, but your not paying anyone else either. On top of that you can possibly get material for the ever so honored "demo reel"; However like anything else in this world, don't do it if you don't want to do it...if your prior experiences with a particular process has shown to be less materialized in results, then switch your process. If you want to do this business and your not a $20 million dollar actor then get out there and do this business. Hopefully you have a side job that can pay the bills while you work yourself up. Life is participation, so participate.