Ah, look at young Mike, eager to make a name for himself in the entertainment hosting world. This was a photoshoot I did for WCCT-TV in Hartford, Connecticut. At the time, I was doing entertainment and “around town” content for them.
If only I knew then what I know now…
At that point I had no idea that I wouldn’t get paid for 95% of the national TV I did. I did freelance music correspondent work for Viacom properties, Inside Edition, Fuse, HLN, etc - all pro bono. “But it’ll be great for your brand!” 🙄
And signing a CONTRACT?! Big deal, right? Nope. Signing contracts or resigning them are usually nothing to brag about. Most of the time it just protects the company and does nothing for you. It’s the illusion of security, when it reality, every time I was fired, I was under contract. No real reasoning necessary, no payout required, just a lovely non-compete to leave with. ✌🏻
That being said, I am thankful to have had a few great contracts as well. There are exceptions, but you truly have to fight for them, and they are far from the “standard”. And without representation, it’s VERY hard to get the outcome you’re hoping for after negotiations.
Now, interviews… man, I thought I was gonna conduct late night talk show-esque interviews - long form interviews, fun questions, games, the works. Eh, not so much. I mean with budding stars, sure, but the bigger the celeb is, the less you can do. And when you get to that Taylor Swift level, forget it, you’re practically handed the script. It takes the fun out of it. What’s the point? Might as well just have them cut their answers and I’ll dub myself in.
But here’s the kicker… if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I didn’t know what anything would or wouldn’t be like. My naïveté fueled my motivation in a way that knowledge wouldn’t have.
- Mike Adam
@mikeadamonair
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