Right, where to start? I guess a few disclaimers: first off, as you know I'm not freelance but know plenty of friends/people who are. Secondly, as far as possible I'm going to keep specific names out of this, I don't want to upset anyone. Much.
How did you get your job? If you work in an office, presumably a standard interview where you try to make yourself seem like the office version of Superman, it's a whirlwind of bullshit but if you do get the job, it's based on the skills and qualities you possess. If you do well in that job, you might get promoted or a salary increase, or you may move on to a better job elsewhere. The fact of your continued employment is vindication of your efforts and achievements. It would seem churlish, or possibly downright sexist, to suggest that the only reason people continue to employ you is because you're mates with the boss. Or perhaps you slept your way to the top. Or maybe you have some dirt on your boss, so he has to keep you happy. Hopefully if someone did say this, you'd tell them where to stick it but I doubt anyone actually would be so idiotic.
Why then does it seem acceptable to make accusations like this against freelancers? This blog was inspired by seeing someone on Facebook stating as fact that a writer for multiple television series WAS DEFINITELY SHIT. To them this was as set in stone as the laws of gravity, and the only way this person continued to be employed, by various people, was that they were his 'mate' or (flippantly) that he had pictures of them naked. Yeah, because if you're in control of a major television series, you definitely don't want to make the best television possible, you just want to surround yourself with your mates, no matter the quality of their writing. And you'd definitely do this year, on year, on year. What this person failed to grasp is that said writer could be easy to deal with, might never be late, or their scripts might be let down by production issues. Or most likely he's a great writer who one idiot has decided is rubbish, as is the way with the internet.
It reminded me of my friend, who also a writer, a bloody good and hard working one at that. He was once accused online of only getting commissions by sleeping with people. Seriously? How fucking demeaning, if you don't like something, well done- that is your prerogative but it is merely your opinion. As many, if not more, might love it. That aside, this person had worked their ass off to produce something, and to dismiss it as the product of some sleazy backdoor commission is just insulting and wrong.
Freelancers work hard, if they continually get commissions, they are talented, easy to work with and deserve everything they get. If you disagree with that, you're a jealous tool. Maybe go and sleep with someone and see what it does for your own career prospects.
