I have no boss
I'm a freelancer, working in film and TV, and reading through some of these stories, in spite of financial insecurities and tax nightmares, don't regret it for a second!!

My story is an incredible example of bad management that I'll try to keep brief.

Basically I was contracted to make films for a one man company, worked well for three years, made some good stuff and was well paid.

That all changed when he had the not-so-bright idea of shooting a feature film in Mexico.

He had a fairly good story and secured a million quid to go out and do it.

We put a UK team of 15 people together, the rest of the crew would be Mexican.

So we all fly out to Cancun, meet our new team of 80 people who we would be spending the next 4 months with, and after a few weeks we start shooting.

Not one of the actors spoke English. The producer who I'd worked for developed a taste for tequila meaning he wouldn't show up for shoots. The director he had picked from the UK was so crap he'd put us back by 2 weeks within the first month, so he was fired and drunken producer announced he would direct it, despite knowing nothing about directing.

He then got into a nasty habit of paying young girls to suck him off - bear in mind he was 50, fat and ugly.

This was never on set, but common knowledge that when he called a wrap, some poor kid would be wrapping her lips around him for a few dollars, which didn't endear him to the local crew ( who were an ace bunch of lads).

He'd yell at the young runners for the most trivial of stuff, ignored his UK tech crew even though they were advising him with the benefit of experience shooting films for years, and before long all the money was gone, so he fled back to the UK without paying people and went back to his wife and kids, sacked everyone, and pretended he had enough material to make his movie. He didn't.

Fast forward 5 years, he's changed his company name 4 times, been evicted from his house, blacklisted in the industry, and still owes £30,000 to the crew.

I did alright, he overpaid me by £10k and I got to keep £2k worth of equipment from the shoot, but if there were ever a case of worse management I have yet to see it.

Length? About 60 minutes short of a 90 minute movie.
(randomkaraoke is seeking mong-wobble-gif mongering on, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 9:41, 6 replies)

On the bright side,
At least you got paid..
(danniekavanagh did nothing constructive on, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 14:32, closed)

I had to blackmail him to get my money.

He decided that £10k wasn't losing his marriage over, his missus would not have been too chuffed to learn about the tequila and whoring...
(randomkaraoke is seeking mong-wobble-gif mongering on, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 16:37, closed)

You managed to find £2k worth of equipment on a film shoot that wasn't leased/rented/somebody else's? Impressive work.
(Benzyl, Sat 12 Jun 2010, 21:24, closed)

Yeah, I kept the flight cases and a laptop that he got me for production.
(randomkaraoke is seeking mong-wobble-gif mongering on, Thu 17 Jun 2010, 13:47, closed)

He isn't
a fat cunt with the initials PH is he?
(Rsoles, Mon 14 Jun 2010, 15:05, closed)

He is a fat cunt, but not with those initials...
(randomkaraoke is seeking mong-wobble-gif mongering on, Thu 17 Jun 2010, 13:48, closed)