Sometimes as composers, we can sometimes be so fixated on getting work that we can put ourselves in uncomfortable working situations and collaborations because we want a job- any job! But it's always worth thinking about the people/person you'll be working with, and checking this will be a safe environment for you to work in, personally (without being belittled/mocked/in personal danger/assigned ridiculous deadlines or rewrites) and professionally (without compromising your talent/the music you write/legal difficulties).
Has anyone got any experiences of red flags that have made them walk away from a composing gig?
I had one a couple of weeks ago that sparked the idea for this post. I was talking with a game dev about scoring his game, and I could just tell something was off and that this would be a difficult working relationship. He was hard to talk to and didn't answer questions directly. He also had a bit of an ego. He offered me the job, but he also said there would be two soundalikes in the game (for those who don't know, very, very close mimics of existing tracks, reworked just enough to (usually) avoid legal trouble), and, he unilaterally decided I would be co-composing with a man I'd never met before. It didn't feel like there'd be much freedom to actually develop a soundworld for the game.
I avoid soundalikes. Legally it's just not worth the risk. And even if the other composer wrote the soundalike, I wouldn't put my name on the game knowing there was a soundalike in it, because if something has your name on it, you're liable for it. And as much as the other composer was probably lovely, I also don't want to be pushed into collaborations with strangers when I haven't had a chance to at least speak to them and see if we can potentially compliment the other's workflow, and as a woman, to check this will be a safe working environment for me.
I (very nicely) said no to the job. The dev instantly deleted all his messages and blocked me on Discord and Twitter, which has never happened before. I'm pretty sure I dodged a particularly nasty bullet!
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Not so different as what happened to me in Aug of 2015 - the only time voluntarily worked off a crew. This would have been my first feature. There were a couple of flags:
1. It was a multi segment film about different aspects of cancer patients. Aside from the screenwriter whose screenplay was based on a novel, everyone else in the cast & crew worked for free. I came onto crew with the understanding I would get paid. However, the filmmaker/producer never offered me anything. I had also made an agreement up front I would write end title music which he could also use for trailers but I would get paid based on the minutes written if I didn't end up scoring the film. In reality it was a about $1,200 or so and when I left but I felt bad (shouldn't have) and let him off the hook. Here was that 5 min 18 sec track I had written before I left ( https://soundcloud.com/joelirwin/joy ).
2. While not getting paid which was my expectation joining crew was my primary reason for leaving, I was also told by the producer that there would be multiple composers assigned to different scenes. I will not score a film if the audience has no way of telling which music is mine or if the quality and 'sound' of my music is judged by other's music of which I have no control. Interestingly, the IMDB entry lists no composers other than one in music dept. for "additional music'.
3. This is one that had bothered me the most. I sent an email asking the director (also executive producer) for a slot to have a spotting session with him and anyone else having interest. He proposed a time slot that I knew wouldn't work since it overlapped another meeting in my day job. I responded it conflicted with my day job and asked for another time. I unfortunately, made a mistake and did a 'reply all' which went to all the other producers. He insisted on the slot so I went. It turned out he had no intention to spot but just wanted to show the draft film to cast and crew. He asked me to come outside along with two of the other producers and 'ambushed me' - they told me my reply all was totally inappropriate and if I ever did that again, I would be fired and blacklisted from working in Houston. To this day, I never understood what was so severe that got them so angry. As you have noted, that was point that I decided the working environment was toxic not to mention lack of pay and multiple music creation sources.
To this day there are a couple of non-tangibles for me:
1. I will not score a feature unless I get paid (at a minimum up front if the arrangement is delayed/deferred).
2. If I start scoring for any reason before a payment agreement is in place, at a minimum there must be an agreement for payment (by the minutes or fractions scored) should there be a decision to not use my music in the film. My contract also included that in the payment section as well.
3. I am OK with commercial vocal tracks be used in the film. That is common practice. I am not OK at this point in my career with supplementing my music with music from other composers - both to that film specific or using composing / music libraries. I take pride in creating a customized score which exactly fits the scenes and hit points that is also 'my sound'. That is no possible imho with 'parallel and equal composers'. Perhaps later on in my career for a large music budget where I am a 'department head' with composers working under me - but not at this point in my career.
Definitely some parallels there Joel. Good for you for putting your foot down, that feature sounds like it would have been a really toxic environment. Interesting that we both encountered difficulties with the higher ups and being ambushed with joining a team of composers; neither of those things seem to be very common, but clearly are hallmarks of bad environments.
Oooooohhh, you're talking about the "level up" phase of being a professional creative. I don't have experience with that as a composer, but I TOTALLY get being a bit more selective with your projects after the initial burn of one's career. Saying "no" is an important level of graduation, for sure!
Ooh I've never heard that phrase before Kay! That's interesting, didn't realise it had a proper name or was a stage of being a professional creative. Totally agree, learning to say no (and to realise when you're being taken advantage of) is a crucial skill.
Your comment has made me think about whether I would have taken that project (and other similar projects that have recently come up) on earlier in my career; you're right, I probably would have been in the "yes" phase and gone for it. It's a shame that sometimes we have to put ourselves in harms way and potentially in toxic working environments just to get credits.