SWEET AND SOUR CHARITY
Thank you allmediascotland.com for the mention. So I’m a ‘provocative’ writer on Scottish film? Call me naïve, but either there’s not much else happening in the world of film or you’re looking to bait your readership with a storm in a teacup controversy.
Folk may take offence at my piece on the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust, but let me assure you it’s nothing personal. As readers of this blog know very well, I regularly expose anyone looking to fleece filmmakers. What’s personal is the level of debt run up by students only to come out the other end and be faced with ‘opportunities’ like ZTCT’s competition. Every day I read about so-called training, sub minimum wage jobs, rights-stealers and massive amounts of public money being poured into schemes that profit no-one but administrators.
What I didn’t say in my last blog is that it’s all very well to invite people to compete for a slot at the Filmhouse. It’s even okay to use other people’s films to promote your cause. What’s not okay is to pay nothing, not even expenses for the labour that goes into them, just as it’s really not okay to charge the cinema-going public to watch films that cost next-to-nothing to make. Like most cinemas, the Filmhouse charges around 6 quid a ticket. I’m sure by the time they take their cut and the rest goes to charity, the filmmakers will get zip for their effort.
Like I say, the ZTCT could have played this one better. Think of the positive publicity they’d attract by offering even a small amount of money to help a hard-up student or a recent graduate. Or get an established but unemployed actor or filmmaker to make a promotional film – judging by the lack of film production in Scotland right now I’m sure a lot of them are kicking their heels. That way, the good people at allmediascotland might have something else to write about.
Thanks for the plug.
posted by Leanne Smith at 9:23 AM
2 Comments:
did you not think that the ZT lot are as penniless as most charities are, check your information before you start flinging mud at a woman's org that has done a lot to stop violence against women you sad misplaced girl.
Dear Ms Ketti,
So the 'sparkling champagne reception' held by ZT at the Glasgow Radisson recently was meant to be a demonstration of how skint they are?
In no way am I slagging the charity. In fact I agree they do great work. But to mislead filmmakers into thinking they're going to gain useful exposure - at their own expense - is still economic violence in my book.
And enough of the insults. The posting on SP was a thoughtless and bad call on the part of ZT, simple as that.
L.
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