Jobs through Mandy.com

[Henchman]

Originally Posted by soundboy

Has anyone here ever been contacted for a potential job through Mandy.com? I have been submitting for a while, and never heard back from any submissions. I'm beginning to wonder if the submissions even go through. I'm using the free version, so I wonder if that makes a difference in how my applications are sent?

I know what you mean. When I was trying to pick up some extra work when things were slow, I contacted I don't know how many Mandy ads. I think I got one or two responses, in spit of my credits.
So, I stopped.

[FullFrequency]

I got a job off there when I was trying to get more experience (about 5 years ago). Needless to say I didn't get paid much. Mandy is just as bad as Craigslist IMHO.

[Whitecat]

I've gotten work through Mandy. In fact, my largest client put an ad up on Mandy and I responded, and since then I've done an absolute tonne of work for them.

Speaking as someone who has also had to hire people in and do subcontracting occasionally, I can tell you that the number of applications you get for any job is ridiculous, and you get everyone from completely unqualified maybe not even students yet to even a handful of guys at Hench's level, and in multiples. The trick is to get your application in early, because in the first ten or twelve I'm likely to find the person I need. If the job has been live for more than a day it's probably already been filled.

The reality of it is it that filmmaking pursuits are oversubscribed professions...

[FullFrequency]

Originally Posted by Whitecat

I've gotten work through Mandy. In fact, my largest client put an ad up on Mandy and I responded, and since then I've done an absolute tonne of work for them.

Speaking as someone who has also had to hire people in and do subcontracting occasionally, I can tell you that the number of applications you get for any job is ridiculous, and you get everyone from completely unqualified maybe not even students yet to even a handful of guys at Hench's level, and in multiples. The trick is to get your application in early, because in the first ten or twelve I'm likely to find the person I need. If the job has been live for more than a day it's probably already been filled.

The reality of it is it that filmmaking pursuits are oversubscribed professions...

Good insider knowledge. thanks for that

PS This is the type of ad that I was talking about REF Craigslist

I am looking for a Sound Editor to record dialogue, add foley and mix down with music on a short animatic titled 'Tunstall'. Set in 1809 in Staffordshire, England, it is the story about a young man recovering from the loss of his mother as he makes the pilgrimage from the Church of England to the Primitive Methodist Church. Most of the dialogue has been recorded already, but there are still a few more characters that need recording.

The team consists of ********* as storyboard artist and ********* as composer. Hugh Bourne is played by *******. William Clowes is played by *********. Frances Sherwin is played by ********* and Frances D'Arblay is played by ********.

This is an expenses only collaboration as it is self-funded, but you will be rewarded with an Imdb credit. Email your c.v. and covering letter for consideration. Only applicants who are available to attend an interview need apply.

**********
Production Manager

[JustinW]

Originally Posted by FullFrequency

PS This is the type of ad that I was talking about REF Craigslist

I am looking for a Sound Editor to record dialogue, add foley and mix down with music on a short animatic titled 'Tunstall'. Set in 1809 in Staffordshire, England, it is the story about a young man recovering from the loss of his mother as he makes the pilgrimage from the Church of England to the Primitive Methodist Church. Most of the dialogue has been recorded already, but there are still a few more characters that need recording.

The team consists of ********* as storyboard artist and ********* as composer. Hugh Bourne is played by *******. William Clowes is played by *********. Frances Sherwin is played by ********* and Frances D'Arblay is played by ********.

This is an expenses only collaboration as it is self-funded, but you will be rewarded with an Imdb credit. Email your c.v. and covering letter for consideration. Only applicants who are available to attend an interview need apply.

**********
Production Manager

Well, the biggest problem with that ad is that 'sound' people actually agree to those terms, right?

One of my colleagues has obtained work through Mandy, which ended up being very fruitful. I think ymmv a great deal on sites like mandy and cl as you are probably one in 50-100 responding. I once needed a graphic artist and posted on CL and we were paying; I must have gotten 100 responses in one night, it was mental.

[soundboy]

Well, that explains it. I only apply for the 'paid' jobs. I've been doing this too long to work for 'credit'. Thanks for the replies.

[matt82aust]

I think Mandy is one step above Craigslist... There seems to be a heap of junk on there, but during my time in London I ended up working for a very prominent and large company that had listed through there. Even caught me by surprise.

[celticrogues]

I've had the same experience - have applied to tons of jobs through Mandy but I think only once I got a reply. I've had a lot better luck through Craigslist.

-Mike

[thermisonic]

Seems like there might be a UK/US split on the quality of jobs on mandy. I am another UK person who has had the odd bit of serious work from it.

Rob Walker AMPS

[JWalkerPostAudio]

I did a test on CL last year to see what kind of responses these credit/copy jobs get and made a fake job posting. I glittered it up with all the usual claims of "passion project", "submitting to festival", "name actors involved", you know the hooks. Surprisingly, I only received 3 responses, all of them insulting the job posting. It was quickly removed after being flagged for removal.

I've gone job hunting on CL and Mandy before and I've never gotten bites from contacting posts from either. About once a year I get a call from someone that stumbles across my profile/resume on Mandy, but the budgets are always unreasonably low. I've found one of my better clients through a job posting on the DUC forum, which people rarely post jobs on, but I get regular work from him now. Linkedin has also worked once for me, but I wouldn't count on that happening ever again.

-Justin

[Vytis]

I have done some decent work through Mandy while I was based in London. Don't have any complaints regarding pay or conditions, but as others have said - the trick is to submit on the same day the ad is posted.

A company in Soho that I used to work for once put up an ad for a temporary work experience / expenses only position and in about 4 hours the inbox was exploding. Insane! I think they 'hired' someone in a day. Check this out - a couple of days later somebody calls the office and asks whether they can speak to Mandy. So you can imagine the variety of folks applying. From illiterate recent graduates to those without any understanding of what they're doing.

Anyway, my experience was pretty good. But London isn't as big as it seems so I guess in the US it's a different story.

[Brian B]

My experience has been the same as most of the people on here, very low response rates. I'd imagine 1% is probably a good estimate. Also, many of the people posting there are working on the fringes of the biz, can barely pay, and tend to be unreliable. Get at least half of your fee in advance and don't turn over the finals until they have paid in full (there's plenty of horror stories out there).

You can also find hidden gems, talented people and great contacts that will stay with you for years. I replied to a $100 music editing job on craigslist on a slow day a few years back that led me to working on some TV projects produced by a very well-known director.

[jhg]

I needed to hire a sound person for a project my wife was producing, and placed an ad on Mandy. I literally got 250 replies within hours. The VAST majority of people didn't actually read my post. I got replies from DPs, from people offering to work on my whole season(?!) students with no equipment or clue, a lot of really overqualified, super experienced people working for way less than they should as well; kind of sad. I hired the first applicable person who emailed me, within minutes of posting; just needed to get it taken care of.