Filmmaker recruits scriptwriter and only pays him 30% of his fee, faces payback when he gets a new job: 'I realized I had been taken for a ride'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Feb 16, 2025 1:00 PM EST

Anyone who works for themselves will tell you that there can be significant downsides to this arrangement. The freelance world can be cutthroat, and there is no shortage of people who want the services of freelancers but do not necessarily want to deal with the price tag attached. Even the savviest of individuals can get scammed or left holding invoices that remain mysteriously unpaid despite giving their all when it comes to the work. Not only is it a great disappointment, it can also make or break their finances.

It is especially disheartening for a self-employed person to experience this behavior from somebody they consider a peer. It is easy to think that this will make them more amenable to work with, but sometimes that couldn't be further from the truth. Sadly, professionalism can be something that is in short supply, and the creative industries are notoriously bad with this.

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    Cheezburger Image 10468348160
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This is something that one content writer had the misfortune of dealing with after he agreed to help a former colleague write a script for a corporate film that he was making. Despite making him do endless revisions, he eventually ghosted the writer and only paid him a small proportion of his promised fee when he was chased down.

    Unsurprisingly, this led to him wanting revenge which he pulled off seamlessly a couple of months later. All he needed was the help of some specific social media tools.

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    Not in the US. This was way back in 2010 when Facebook was the de facto social media. I am a content writer and was in between jobs. An ex colleague reached out to me and said he was making a corporate film and needed a script writer. I jumped at the offer, although I regret that we did only an oral agreement on the payment amount.
    via Every_Blueberry_6898
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    Submitted the first draft. He pointed 1000 reasons why he didn't like it, so did a second, then third draft. He kept rejecting, even though magically the text had already been translated into our native language and was being used in production. So, I put my foot down and said, nope first pay me full amount for any more revisions. He stopped communicating after that and I realised I had been taken for a ride. His film was complete. I sent him a long text bashing him for breaking my trust. So, ou
    via Every_Blueberry_6898
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    A few months later, I got a job at a big corporation that used to hire production houses to make documentaries about its philanthropic work. I had absolutely nothing to do with that department, but I decided to use it as a carrot. I put up a Facebook post about it. I had around 50 friends IIRC, and manually hid the post from 49 so it was visible only to him. Lol.
    via Every_Blueberry_6898
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    He took the bait and messaged me asking how to apply. Then I gave him a piece of my mind and said he had no integrity and I would not work with him. He promptly transferred the remaining amount. So, I played along. The department in fact did hire companies annually, but it would always happen in the month of April, and we were in December at that time. So, I fished out the form, and sent to him to fill it. I told him the process is long and tedious and he wouldn't hear back before April. I never
    via Every_Blueberry_6898
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    Commenters applauded the execution of this revenge.

    Active_Collar_8124 Well done. "sorry we had several applications and you were not selected" Technically true!
    via Active_Collar_8124
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    chickengelato The best kind of true!
    via chickengelato
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    andronicuspark I dig how he only paid you in full after he saw you as someone to schmooze to get his foot in the door.
    via andronicuspark
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    CoderJoe1 He may have been short on integrity, but made up for it with greed.
    via CoderJoe1
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    ZumboPrime This is absolutely brilliant. Played the full role to sell it too!
    via ZumboPrime
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    canyoudigitnow Lovely
    via canyoudigitnow
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    emilydoooom 'I decided to only show them 30% of your application'
    via emilydooom
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    asphodel67 Everyone is a potential client or collaborator.
    via asphodel67
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    Lumpy_Marsupial_1559 So don't step on them.
    via Lumpy_Marsupial_1559
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    BridgeUpper2436 I once had a "friend" ask me to submit a quote on window treatments for a building, the whole 3 story building, which was something I did at that time. It's a lot of time-consuming work to give a precise quote, as every windiw must be measured, nothing should be assumed, this was to be the final quote, and thus the $ amount could not be increased if measurements were off. You also have to be careful not to be too high, so again, assumptions could prove to be costly. Went on to di
    via BridgeUpper2436
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    Fast forward a few years, knew a guy up in Albany, a 4 hour ride, who had just ordered a huge job from a local contractor. But it was not installed yet, and would not be for a few weeks. Told him my story, and expressed i wish I could send this guy up there to "give a quote." Guy tells me, sure, it's always good to have a few, to cover your a, so send him up. I casually mention the job to others, when this "friend" just happened to be there, and how sick I was that I could not go up to bid, ther
    via BridgeUpper2436
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    viktrololo Reading this gave me a surprising amount of inner peace. Today will be a good day.
    via viktrololo
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    Mach5Driver you should have pointed out ways to "improve" the application (including changing it back) and had him resubmit many times
    via Mach5Driver
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    gademmet Not even really all that petty, tbh. You deserved to get paid the proper amount, and I'm glad you got it. And he deserved to get strung along for a job he didn't have the integrity for, and I'm glad he got strung along. That was a good opportunity and I'm glad you took it.
    via gademmet
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    Software Maintenance Revenge is a dish best served cold
    via SoftwareMaitenance

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