Brooklyn’s New Freelancers Hub Offers Relief for Filmmakers’ Woes

NEW YORK—Over 57 million freelancers operate in the United States across various industries, with approximately 400,000 of those working or living in New York City. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. freelancers contribute $1.4 trillion annually to the national economy.

While freelancing can allow workers to be their own boss and enjoy flexible working hours, it can also come with challenges around working conditions and getting fair and on-time pay. The Freelancers Hub opening in Brooklyn on October 17, stands to help freelancers in the media and entertainment sectors negotiate these and other challenges they commonly face.

A Tough Road for Up-and-Coming Filmmakers

Donald Conley, a graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and 10-year freelance filmmaker, said getting paid within a reasonable timeframe and at a reasonable rate were two of the greatest challenges he faced when starting out as an independent filmmaker.

Freelance Filmmaker, Donald Conley courtesy of Donald Conley

Conley’s first gig, in 2009, involved covering a political demonstration in D.C. for the organizer.

“I actually shared a piece of my rate with another shooter. So, I did a subcontract just so I could get as much footage as possible. And I edited that there myself and I delivered that,” Conley said.

“[Back then] I would charge maybe $200 just for everything—it’s a very low rate,” he added.

Conley made his start shortly before the advent of widespread-digital SLR use in commercial filming (which came after 2009) when the cost of filming equipment was drastically more expensive. The cost of a mid-range video camera was around $10,000 then, he said.

Investing that kind of money represented a significant risk for Conley at that early stage of his career. But he’s lucky—it paid off and resulted in increasingly bigger and better-paid contracts, he said.

The expertise and industry contacts he gained led to getting hired as associate producer on the award-winning documentary, “Evolution of a Criminal” in 2016, which was later sold to Netflix.

The reality of media and entertainment freelancing however is that work often comes sporadically and can be beset by various money pitfalls, said Julie Menin, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME).

Because of this “many freelancers take on high levels of debt to get by during work drought,” Menin said.

New Hub Could Ease Freelancing Money Troubles

MOME, along with the Freelancer’s Union and the Independent Filmmakers Project (IFP), have worked in collaboration to develop the Hub.

“An average freelancer faces non-payment or late payment of nearly $6,000 each year,”  Menin said. This represents roughly 10 percent of the average freelancer’s income of $65,431, as reported by freelancer’s and consultant’s web publication, Nation1099.

Money pitfalls like these, along with high equipment purchase and maintenance costs can deter many from advancing their freelance businesses. They are also what the Hub’s business workshops, financial counseling, and tax assistance programs aim to address, said Freelancers Union Executive Director, Caitlin Pearce.

Money matters, such as whether he’d be able to make ends meet were at the forefront of cinematographer, Sebastian Nieves mind when, 10 years ago, he stood poised to take the plunge into the industry.

Nevertheless, the Colombian-born New Yorker, took the plunge, and one year into university, decided to break from the dependability and structure of formal education.

“I was talking to a professor of mine and I said, I feel like I could be getting more experience and advancing my career if I just continue working.’” His professor replied, “I don’t know why you’re not doing that,” recalled Nieves.

Years later, after leaving university and establishing himself in corporate-production work, Nieves had to then decide between the long-term financial security of the work he was doing versus a much shorter-term opportunity for higher-level filmmaking.

Again he took the plunge and in 2017, joined the crew of an upstate New York-feature film production as 1st assistant cameraman. The move payed off by advancing his camera-operation skills and paving the way for more sophisticated and artistically challenging roles as a cinematographer.

“And it’s been amazing. Every little person you meet and the right relationships can propel you to the next place, and I don’t really think about the fear, or whether I’ll fail or not,” said Nieves.

Fittingly, networking will be a big part of the Freelancers Hub, which both Conley and Nieves endorse for that reason.

It will offer opportunities for up-and-coming filmmakers to connect with their more experienced contemporaries through the IFP—a community network for independent filmmakers.

The hub will be located at the Made in NY Media Center, 30 John Street, Brooklyn.