Copy, Credit, No Pay
Los Angeles, California | Film Feature
Comedy, Satire
For generations, student film actors have worked for salaries ranging from zero dollars to zero dollars plus a Wendy's frosty (mostly melted). This mockumentary parodies the making of a non-union, no-budget student short film, and the directors who are convinced they can make the next Oscar winner.
Copy, Credit, No Pay
Los Angeles, California | Film Feature
Comedy, Satire
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $3,770 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
48 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
For generations, student film actors have worked for salaries ranging from zero dollars to zero dollars plus a Wendy's frosty (mostly melted). This mockumentary parodies the making of a non-union, no-budget student short film, and the directors who are convinced they can make the next Oscar winner.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
In a world where Barbenheimer blockbusters reign supreme, there's a little corner of the industry where budgets are as low as everyone’s sanity: the student film set. Welcome to 'Copy, Credit, No Pay'—where actors’ salaries are a promised copy of the footage, their name in the credits, and literally nothing else.
Picture this: two overly ambitious wannabe Spielbergs and their underpaid cast and crew who are just one more unpaid gig away from reconsidering their career choices. Through the lens of satire, we're serving up a smorgasbord of behind-the-scenes antics that will have you simultaneously laughing and cringing.
Are you a young artist who never knows how to answer your family friend who asks, “Soooo LA! What’s that been like, what are you up to??”
And you say something like “oh uhh… I just worked on a student short film”, and they say, “Oh, how was that?”, and you say “Fine…” and give no further explanation because you were traumatized from the directors making the experience a nightmare?
From the self-tapes with confusing directions, the callbacks where you can’t tell if the director loves or hates you, being cast and still not knowing whether the director loves or hates you, having to provide your own costumes and then you get critiqued for your outfit choices, and having to write your own lines because the writers never finished a script and then you get critiqued for your words… we're here to shine a spotlight on the absurdity of it all. Young artists, prepare to feel seen. Family friends, prepare to finally understand. And filmmakers, prepare to learn… in this crash course of what not to do on a film set.
We’re on a mission to remind Hollywood that no matter the budget, no matter someone’s union status… artists must be treated like humans, not unpaid interns!
So buckle up and grab your popcorn (or whatever's left of it after the budget cuts), and take a ride through the glorious student film journey all young artists have to take part in, in “Copy, Credit, No Pay”!
In contrast to our characters who can only pay “copy, credit, no pay” to their cast and crew, in real life, we want to create a set in which everyone is treated respectfully and paid for their hard work. Our producers, assistant directors, camera crew, and cast have already poured themselves into this project, and we are blown away by their dedication. We currently have filmed most of Episodes 1 and 2, but the remainder of our episodes require a bigger budget, cast, and crew to bring the story to life. We are currently in pre-production for Episodes 3-9, and our team is hard at work rehearsing, casting additional roles, planning schedules, finding and booking locations, calculating budgets, memorizing lines, and so much more. It takes a village to make a movie, and we want to honor the hard work of our cast and crew, and pay them for all that they do to make our dream come true.
We (Rachel and Jacob) have loved working side by side for six years on comedy sketches, short films, plays, and Zoom parody musicals. When we’re writing together and dying laughing, Jacob has said on multiple occasions, “Rachel, I don’t know what our careers have in store for us, where our futures will look like, but I do know that I just want to keep writing with you forever”. This is our most ambitious collaboration yet. Not only is this our longest script we have ever brought to life, but this is the biggest cast and crew we have hired as well, the greatest amount of filming equipment we’ve worked with, the longest prop list, the most people we have had to feed, and the most hours we’ve put into a single project. While this is our most ambitious project now, we know this is just the beginning of our partnership. We intend to release this as a web series to be viewed online and submitted into web series festivals, as well as editing it into a short film for short film festivals. We are so excited to share this with an audience, to laugh at the absurdity and revel in the joy of making art. With your help, we can make this dream of ours come true, grow as artists, and pave the way for a very exciting creative future together!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Paying Our Crew!
Costs $2,100
Our camera crew, sound crew, assistant directors are all working so hard, and we want to support these artists as best we can!
Paying our actors!
Costs $1,500
We want to ensure that our actors are getting more than just “copy, credit, no pay” for pouring their hearts into this project!
Home Video Camera
Costs $185
We’re using home video cameras to get the vintage look of scrappy homemade filmmaking.
Props
Costs $215
Props to make the world more full and come alive!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Jacob Cherry and Rachel Stubington met in September of 2018 at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television. While they would love to say that it was their love of comedy that brought them together, they initially bonded over being the two least physically coordinated students in ballet. They were both cast in the freshman play, "The Book of Liz," where Rachel played a British peanut and Jacob played a pirate waiter... It was a perfect match. Soon after, Rachel and Jacob became a sketch comedy writing/performing duo. They filmed wherever inspiration struck them, like in their dorm hallways, disrupting several college students trying desperately to study for finals, but they knew it was worth it in the name of comedy. They graduated from YouTube videos to live sketch comedy when they were accepted into the sketch comedy team for Spring Sing, UCLA’s oldest and greatest musical tradition. This show brought in a target audience of 15,000 students and alumni as well as a panel of celebrity judges, including Hans Zimmer and Jim O’Heir. Post-graduation, Jacob and Rachel decided to continue writing and creating together while both pursuing careers in acting. They would excitedly tell each other about their awful auditions and strange student film experiences and soon realized that this could be the next step in their partnership. For the past year and a half, Rachel and Jacob have been annoying Coral Tree Cafe workers by only ordering tea and working for hours on end. But keep in mind the tea was really expensive. They hope that this project will allow them to continue exploring their creative partnership, and trust us, you’re gonna want that too.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
In a world where Barbenheimer blockbusters reign supreme, there's a little corner of the industry where budgets are as low as everyone’s sanity: the student film set. Welcome to 'Copy, Credit, No Pay'—where actors’ salaries are a promised copy of the footage, their name in the credits, and literally nothing else.
Picture this: two overly ambitious wannabe Spielbergs and their underpaid cast and crew who are just one more unpaid gig away from reconsidering their career choices. Through the lens of satire, we're serving up a smorgasbord of behind-the-scenes antics that will have you simultaneously laughing and cringing.
Are you a young artist who never knows how to answer your family friend who asks, “Soooo LA! What’s that been like, what are you up to??”
And you say something like “oh uhh… I just worked on a student short film”, and they say, “Oh, how was that?”, and you say “Fine…” and give no further explanation because you were traumatized from the directors making the experience a nightmare?
From the self-tapes with confusing directions, the callbacks where you can’t tell if the director loves or hates you, being cast and still not knowing whether the director loves or hates you, having to provide your own costumes and then you get critiqued for your outfit choices, and having to write your own lines because the writers never finished a script and then you get critiqued for your words… we're here to shine a spotlight on the absurdity of it all. Young artists, prepare to feel seen. Family friends, prepare to finally understand. And filmmakers, prepare to learn… in this crash course of what not to do on a film set.
We’re on a mission to remind Hollywood that no matter the budget, no matter someone’s union status… artists must be treated like humans, not unpaid interns!
So buckle up and grab your popcorn (or whatever's left of it after the budget cuts), and take a ride through the glorious student film journey all young artists have to take part in, in “Copy, Credit, No Pay”!
In contrast to our characters who can only pay “copy, credit, no pay” to their cast and crew, in real life, we want to create a set in which everyone is treated respectfully and paid for their hard work. Our producers, assistant directors, camera crew, and cast have already poured themselves into this project, and we are blown away by their dedication. We currently have filmed most of Episodes 1 and 2, but the remainder of our episodes require a bigger budget, cast, and crew to bring the story to life. We are currently in pre-production for Episodes 3-9, and our team is hard at work rehearsing, casting additional roles, planning schedules, finding and booking locations, calculating budgets, memorizing lines, and so much more. It takes a village to make a movie, and we want to honor the hard work of our cast and crew, and pay them for all that they do to make our dream come true.
We (Rachel and Jacob) have loved working side by side for six years on comedy sketches, short films, plays, and Zoom parody musicals. When we’re writing together and dying laughing, Jacob has said on multiple occasions, “Rachel, I don’t know what our careers have in store for us, where our futures will look like, but I do know that I just want to keep writing with you forever”. This is our most ambitious collaboration yet. Not only is this our longest script we have ever brought to life, but this is the biggest cast and crew we have hired as well, the greatest amount of filming equipment we’ve worked with, the longest prop list, the most people we have had to feed, and the most hours we’ve put into a single project. While this is our most ambitious project now, we know this is just the beginning of our partnership. We intend to release this as a web series to be viewed online and submitted into web series festivals, as well as editing it into a short film for short film festivals. We are so excited to share this with an audience, to laugh at the absurdity and revel in the joy of making art. With your help, we can make this dream of ours come true, grow as artists, and pave the way for a very exciting creative future together!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Paying Our Crew!
Costs $2,100
Our camera crew, sound crew, assistant directors are all working so hard, and we want to support these artists as best we can!
Paying our actors!
Costs $1,500
We want to ensure that our actors are getting more than just “copy, credit, no pay” for pouring their hearts into this project!
Home Video Camera
Costs $185
We’re using home video cameras to get the vintage look of scrappy homemade filmmaking.
Props
Costs $215
Props to make the world more full and come alive!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Jacob Cherry and Rachel Stubington met in September of 2018 at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television. While they would love to say that it was their love of comedy that brought them together, they initially bonded over being the two least physically coordinated students in ballet. They were both cast in the freshman play, "The Book of Liz," where Rachel played a British peanut and Jacob played a pirate waiter... It was a perfect match. Soon after, Rachel and Jacob became a sketch comedy writing/performing duo. They filmed wherever inspiration struck them, like in their dorm hallways, disrupting several college students trying desperately to study for finals, but they knew it was worth it in the name of comedy. They graduated from YouTube videos to live sketch comedy when they were accepted into the sketch comedy team for Spring Sing, UCLA’s oldest and greatest musical tradition. This show brought in a target audience of 15,000 students and alumni as well as a panel of celebrity judges, including Hans Zimmer and Jim O’Heir. Post-graduation, Jacob and Rachel decided to continue writing and creating together while both pursuing careers in acting. They would excitedly tell each other about their awful auditions and strange student film experiences and soon realized that this could be the next step in their partnership. For the past year and a half, Rachel and Jacob have been annoying Coral Tree Cafe workers by only ordering tea and working for hours on end. But keep in mind the tea was really expensive. They hope that this project will allow them to continue exploring their creative partnership, and trust us, you’re gonna want that too.