Why am I a Composer?: Fake IMDB Credits ...


AFX Industrial (film scores)

IMDB Credits, everyone wants one but are all of them for real?

A long list of IMDB credits looks impressive and I used to think IMDB credits were really important. I know that a lot of directors and producers tend to use them like a CV when they're deciding who to give a job to. It can be a useful way to see what someone's worked on, but like anything on the internet they need to be taken with a rather large pinch of salt. I'd like to share a story with you, about a director with a rather strange hobby ...

In 2009 I was invited to an interview for a film scoring job in a church hall, in inner city London. It was a little strange to have a meeting in a church hall, as I usually get together with the director in my comfortable studio or we may meet up in a coffee shop.

I arrived on time but was kept waiting in the kitchen until Mr. Smith* (*this is a pseudonym ...) was ready to see me, hmm curious. Finally I was allowed to enter the enormous 1970s type hall and directed to an empty desk slap-bang in the middle of it with Mr. Smith on one side and me on the other ... job interview style. I'd brought my laptop (as I usually do when I have a meeting about a film) so we could go over a few ideas, you know, normal stuff. But, unfortunately all of the plug sockets were 6 meters away, behind the plastic chairs that were stacked haphazardly around the sides of the hall. And my power supply lead was only 1.5 meters long. It wasn't a great start and felt more like an interview the local benefits office might force a long-term unemployed person to attend.

I do remember Mr. Smith had set up the wooden table in such a way that the sun streamed through the plate glass windows behind him. This slightly dazzled me, and as it was such a sunny day I could only see Mr. Smith in silhouette ... I needed my shades.

And people think meeting with me will be formal?

I couldn't really gauge how the rather stilted interview was going, and after a few uncomfortable questions Mr. Smith finally asked me what sort of music I would write for a film about the Church. I didn't need to think about it, "I'd probably use the Church Modes", I replied. These really exist by the way, they are simply scales used by the early Church, but I'm sure he thought I was being facetious. It seemed he wanted to keep this formal and 'interview' like so I suggested that, having studied for my music degree in a theological college and minored in theology itself, I may be just the man for the job. But I'm sure he thought I was being facetious again. It was painful, and I could tell Mr. Smith was not interested.

It's just, well, if you're looking for a composer for a film about theological dilemmas and you don't want a composer who knows anything about music or theology then maybe your advert should read:

'Composer wanted for theologically based Feature Film - would be helpful if you didn't know anything about music or theology.'

The film has still not been made (and presumably hasn't been scored either), although Mr. Smith did advertise the same composing job a few more times. He also advertised again some weeks later for a cameraman ... I guess all the cameramen who turned up with previous experience of operating a camera were unsuitable too ;0)

So I moved on to the next project.

Pretending to make films.

However, Mr. Smith's name kept cropping up. Months passed and I began to notice a curious pattern to his online adverts. He would advertise for various unpaid crew, cameramen and personnel for a film one week. And then the next week he would advertise for unpaid crew for a different film but use the same plot description, as if he'd just copy-pasted it from the previous week. Again, a couple of weeks would go by and then Mr. Smith would be looking for a composer for yet another different film with a different title but use the same copy-pasted plot description. Curiouser and curiouser!

It was very intriguing ... almost like watching someone unravel mentally. Mr. Smith had seemingly become addicted to creating fake movies to work on, but the most baffling thing about it was the identical plot line for each film. I know that if I was preparing adverts to display the fact that I'd lost my mind I'd at least put a bit of thought into the storyline of each one.

A year went by, then out of the blue Mr. Smith sent me some test footage to pitch to ... It wasn't for the main feature film I had been interviewed for, but it was for a short film using the same plot description I had seen on all the other adverts. Another new film with the same plot? I decided to do the pitch and this time, I got the job - but he balked at paying me so I moved on.

You all know how long it takes to make a film, especially if there is zero budget. But by now Mr. Smith was juggling at least a dozen different projects with no funding, no crew and no music. But still, there was something quite compelling about the whole situation with Mr. Smith - his name even turned up on a few film making forums in the 'avoid' posts. At least it wasn't just me who had noticed. Meanwhile the adverts became more demanding, Mr. Smith even changed his name to disguise himself (and created some fake 'employees') - but the same plot line he cited for all of his films was a slight giveaway.

One advert read something like: 'composer to create 40 minute violin concerto in style of Mozart for short film - no pay.' Mozart spent his entire life perfecting his concertos. A violin concerto is not something composers generally rattle off in an afternoon (for free!) for some stranger on the internet.

But now, rather than leaving 'Mr. Smith' as his contact name he was asking the respondents to contact 'Anna' or 'Denise' and this time he was offering an IMDB credit as payment. This piqued my interest so I checked Mr. Smith's IMDB page ...

Film makers all know how long it can take to make a film, especially if you have no money at all, but Mr. Smith had miraculously managed to complete at least a dozen in the space of six months! And he had 'future' credits for films due to be completed in 2014, 2015 etc. And, you know, the funniest thing of all was that a lot of the personnel and crew had the same names as the pseudonyms he had used to try and attract unpaid crew 'anonymously'.

I even clicked on some of these bogus crew members on the IMDB website and the only films they had worked on before were Mr. Smith's films and that was only in the last six months. So, it seemed rather than actually making films, Mr. Smith had spent the last six months creating not only bogus film credits for himself but also IMDB pages for all of the fake crew he required.

You'll often see the same names cropping up continually in film making, but I was damned if I could find any external info for any of his crew ...

The film industry is small, and if you've somehow annoyed people to such an extent that your name is appearing in the 'avoid' forums, then you need to work hard to put that right - or quit. I've seen the IMDB forms required to register film releases and believe me, filling them in takes a considerable amount of time and effort ... Falsifying IMDB credits will ensure you are never taken seriously again.

I have my own IMDB page and even films I've scored with known actors haven't appeared in my credit list yet, mainly because like any crew member, I'm reliant on other people to submit the data for the film. I'm sure its not impossible to figure out a way of getting past the IMDB checks and fooling their system into thinking fake films are real ... But the burning question is why would people go to all this effort?

I had that question answered shortly afterwards by an industry guru from the 'old school'. We were chatting over coffee in London one day - I wanted to know why one of my competitors 'Johnny X' had been given a job over me. Even the industry guru admitted my scoring abilities were far superior to Johnny's ...

"Well then why?" I asked. "Well dear boy" the guru croaked "He's got an IMDB list as long as your arm!"

Your comments are always welcome.

- David.