Scenario #3: My assistant editor, whom I hired for Mercer when he was between seasons and hungry for work, was let go after working for public television for 8 years, writing and producing his series. I gave him some of the editing to do, changed his title to associate editor and got him a very good pay raise.
After Mercer was done, there wasn't much work and I had too much going on with The Closer, so I paid him to edit several sequences for the baseball film. It was worth it to me to pay him out of my own pocket so I could keep going on The Closer, but since my rate on the doc is so low, I was hoping the producer would come through, since the original budget called for an assistant. The producer came through and I had him write a check directly to my teammate, who would reimburse me once the check cleared.
He got the check immediately, but kept saying he would bring it over, then was too busy with all the other work that Greg had lined up for him to drop it by. Over a month later: "What's your address? I need to mail you a check and an invitation to my wedding".
I don't mind with him because at least I benefitted form it---he did a great job, and I will probably have him help on the online.
But I just have to ask myself: Is it me??? Am I genetically pre-disposed to being a door mat?
