One challenge of being a producer in the television and film industry is finding the right skilled crew for each new project. One solution to that is hiring freelancers for key roles or to supplement an existing team. But like most things, working with freelancers comes with both advantages and disadvantages.
The Pros of Hiring Freelancers
One pro of utilizing freelance talent is the flexibility it provides. Freelancers typically cost less overall than salaried employees when you factor in health benefits, paid time off, tax burdens and other overhead costs. Of course, rates for top freelance pros can be quite high, but the overall model tends to provide more cost control. Overall, less-contracted workers (freelancers) can provide you great production help for less financial stress on your budget.
The freelance workforce represents a vast pool of creative and technical talent with specialized skills and knowledge across all areas of production. Need a seasoned director of photography who's an expert at shooting car chase scenes? An editor who can seamlessly blend intricate VFX? There's a freelancer out there who fits the bill.
The Cons of Working with Freelancers
While giving you flexibility and cost savings, freelancers may have less incentive to be as invested and committed to your project's success as salaried employees do. Some producers feel freelancers tend to put in the minimum viable effort to complete the agreed upon scope of work, but don't go above and beyond like staff members might.
Working with freelancers that you don’t have previous experience with provides the added teaming challenges. Maintaining seamless communication and a cohesive, integrated workflow can be more challenging when working with a loose network of individual freelancers compared to managing an in-house team. There's also the administrative overhead of searching for, hiring, and familiarizing freelancers for each new project.
Best Practices for Hiring Freelancers
If the advantages of utilizing freelance talent outweigh the potential downsides for your production needs, here are some tips for getting the most out of your freelancer relationships:
• Vet candidates thoroughly through industry contacts, online portfolios, and references to find proven professionals you can trust to deliver quality work. Also, you might talk to their former coworkers, bosses, teachers, previous employers, etc. Check those references.
• Clearly define roles, responsibilities and expectations through detailed contracts and agreements. Good communication is crucial.
• Ask freelancers to use your production's workflow and communication tools when possible to cut down on inefficiencies. You should vet their schedule ahead of time to see when they can or can’t help with the production to see the impact hiring them will/won’t bring.
• Pay freelancers promptly and provide performance feedback—the best ones are in high demand.
• Take time to properly integrate freelancers into your team culture and make them feel important to the project's success.
Hiring freelancers comes with its challenges like every other opportunity to find employees. It may cost less money to hire freelancers, but it will cost more for your production if you can’t reach them or rely on them in general. You should be careful when you hire freelancers, and use a very selective process to find the right candidates to make your production a success.
