Art Isn’t Free

It seems like an easy concept, but not everyone gets it.

Art isn’t free. You can’t go into a supermarket and expect to walk out with a cart filled with food without paying, right? Why should you expect to walk up to an artist and get their work for free?

Whether you’re a painter or a sculptor or a filmmaker or a writer… Whatever you do… It is worth something. And people need to respect that.

Now, of course there are exceptions… Just learning how to do what you do and just want to get the experience/credits? Close friends with other artists and want to collaborate with each other? Go for it… but if someone does YOU a favor and works for you for free? You better as hell do them a favor if/when the time comes.

We at NBF are filmmakers of all different kinds… We are writers and producers and actors and sound recordists/designers and editors and musicians and directors and cinematographers, etc. Those are not simple jobs.

Since we started, we’ve regularly been approached by people we barely now who expect us to leap at the chance to either work on their projects for free or… even worse… Pay for their projects to get made.

Not everyone understands how much work goes into making art… I can tell you: It takes a lot. It’s not cheap. And it isn’t as easy as some people assume. It’s with that in mind that we will provide a list of how to work with artists.

1) NEVER assume an artist wants or has to work with you on your project. Artists have their own projects that they want to work on.

2) It is okay to reach out to artists and ask if they want to collaborate.

3) Don’t ask someone you barely know to produce your project for them… and NEVER EVER ask them to pay for your project.

4) It is okay to inquire how much an artists’ services may cost. NEVER assume that the art will be cheap or free.

And that’s pretty much that. Now, go do art!