I got an email solicitation the other day from a composer looking for work. At present, I have no need for music composition, but I filed his email away in a folder marked “contractors”, thanked him for contacting us and let him know that I would keep him in mind should we need his services in the future. He responded with a very gracious email: ” You know, I’ve been throwing out ‘lifelines’ the past couple days and it’s surprising how many people don’t take the time to respond. Really makes me appreciate the nice people that do.”
Every week, we get at least two or three solicitation letters from new journalism and film grads, voice-over actors, composers, and designers seeking full time, part-time, freelance or intern work. In most cases, at the time of their email, we are not in the market for their service. But I always send them a reply and keep their email on file. When I do need to hire someone, I give their website or resume fair consideration. I do it because I want the same for myself. I want people to offer me fair consideration and just let me know whether they have a need for my services or not. Receiving a “no” or “not now” is so much better than having my earnest outreach be quickly overlooked and trashed. We’re all artists trying to survive in a challenging economic climate, so we need to be kind and human to each other. And sometimes, even just a 2 minute email makes one of us feel a little less alone. So my mini manifesto today is about being kind to other artists. Mentor someone new to the field, offer feedback to a peer, give them a pat on the back when they succeed, and encourage them when the fail. If not for the support of other artists, we’d never create.
