Meet the Hero Designer Who Publicly Shamed Showtime for Asking Him to Work for Free

When Showtime invited Dan Cassaro to join a design “contest” he felt amounted to milking professionals for free work, he let the network—and the world—know how he felt about it.

The offer, made to a number of designers, involved promoting the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana boxing match on Sept. 13. Those who submitted designs for Showtime’s use “could be eligible for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas and have your artwork displayed in the MGM Grand during fight week!,” the network told Cassaro in an email.

After sending an email response slathered in sarcasm (“I know that boxing matches in Las Vegas are extremely low-budget affairs”), Cassaro then posted the exchange to Twitter.

Here’s the screenshot of the conversation (click to expand):

In the week since, Cassaro’s tweet has become a viral rallying cry for creatives who feel besieged by expectations of free work. It has more than 5,000 retweets and 5,600 favorites, and has become one of the topic’s most electrifying moments since Mike Monteiro’s “Fuck You Pay Me” speech in 2011. 

Showtime issued a response to BuzzFeed, saying the network is “a strong supporter of artists around the world. This contest, like many others, is entirely optional.”

We caught up with Cassaro to ask what it’s been like seeing his frustration go global.

AdFreak: Your tweet just keeps blowing up. A week later, it’s still being retweeted. What’s it been like watching it all unfold?
Dan Cassaro: It’s been pretty unreal. I would have double-checked my grammar if I knew this many people would see it.

Why did you go public with it? Clearly, you were frustrated. But after responding to Showtime, what made you say, “Screw it, I’m going to post this on Twitter”?
Partially I just wanted to do it as a joke. But I also wanted to let people know that while it’s good to say no to this kind of work, it’s even better to explain to everyone why this business model is unacceptable.

Why do you think it struck such a chord with designers and other creatives?
Because they all get these emails. And it’s not just designers. I received a ton of responses from writers, cartoonists, architects and people in other professions who get asked to work for free. I don’t know what it is. Maybe people think that if you went to art school you don’t understand money?

Were you concerned about calling out a brand like Showtime by posting the email? I’m guessing they won’t become a paying client anytime soon.
Who knows? Maybe they admire my pluck? Honestly, people valuing themselves and their work enough to say no to this kind of thing has more long-term value than any one job or one client.

Has Showtime responded directly to you?
They wrote me a short and very polite email. Honestly, it’s less about Showtime and more about these hack crowdsourcing campaigns that certain agencies are selling to them. There are lots of folks doing very cool things with user-generated content, but to ask professionals to compete against each other for potential “exposure” is completely different. It’s demeaning, and it lowers the value of everyone’s work.

Among your peers, clearly a vast majority of the response has been positive. Have any designers criticized you for how you handled it?
The response from designers has pretty much been all positive. Some guy on a boxing enthusiast forum called me a “slimy hipster,” though.

Do you think anything constructive will come out of this, for yourself or the industry?
I hope so. If nothing else, it’s good to get people talking about it.



Lawsuit Claims Woman Was a Victim of Dexter's Creepy Advertising

Dexter usually doesn’t leave his victims alive, but this seems to be an exception.

Ajanaffy Njewadda claims in a lawsuit that she fell, broke her ankle and suffered a concussion last year after being frightened by Grand Central Terminal advertising for the final season of Showtime’s crime series Dexter.

Njewadda claims in a Bronx Supreme Court filing that she was so scared by the “shocking and menacing” image of star Michael C. Hall—shown covered in cellophane, which his character often used to wrap his victims—that she tumbled down some stairs, sustaining her injuries. The ad covered the steps of a stairwell leading to the Grand Central shuttle train. The Manhattan Transportation Authority, Showtime and the City of New York are named in the suit.

Brand takeovers at the historic NYC railroad station have been all the rage in recent years. The latest touts the debut of TNT’s apocalyptic The Last Ship, with menacing gas-mask imagery and huge signs screaming about “6 billion dead” in a global pandemic.

I’m surprised that no one filed suit against those Hammer Pants Dancers who invaded Grand Central and other locations a while back to hype the too-legit MC’s short-lived reality show. Gold-lamé parachute slacks, ’90s dance-floor moves—and the 5:15 to Stamford running 30 minutes late. Now, that sounds like a pretty compelling case of emotional distress.



Showtime Orders Hedge Fund Pilot Called ‘Billions’

The drama was co-written by Andrew Ross Sorkin, whose nonfiction book “Too Big to Fail” was turned into a movie for HBO.

    



For TV Fans, Cramming In Sunday’s Best

Decades ago, families gathered around the only set in the house on Sunday nights because networks scheduled their best programming then. Today, even with DVRs and on-demand program selection, the phenomenon continues.

    



Netflix to Add ‘Dexter’ in Deal With CBS Corp.

The deal is not exclusive, but for Netflix it represents access to a show that had been only available to Showtime subscribers.

    



Showtime Renews ‘Homeland’ and ‘Masters of Sex’

Once a critics’ darling, “Homeland” has been receiving some critical mockery. But lately its ratings have been rising.

    



O logo de “Masters of Sex”, nova série do Showtime

“Masters of Sex” é uma nova série do Showtime – do qual agora eu tenho sérias restrições depois do horroroso final “Dexter” – que conta a história dos pesquisadores William Masters e Virgínia Johnson. Ambos romperam tabus na década de 1950, com diversas teorias pioneiras sobre sexo nos EUA.

A comunicação visual do programa é baseada em um esperto logo tipográfico, com a letra “E” virada para cima e formando as linhas de uma mulher nua. A marca ainda é flexível para os lugares em que as pessoas possam se sentir incomodadas com o desenho (sim, isso é possível, aparentemente). Donald Buckley, vice-presidente de marketing do Showtime, revelou que alguns materiais foram impressos com o “E” na posição normal.

Segundo o canal, o design foi ideia de um freelancer. Espero que o nome dele seja Abdallah Ahizoune, que publicou um trabalho quase idêntico no Dribble no começo do ano passado.

“Masters do Sex” estreou no dia 29 de setembro, e aqui no Brasil é exibida pela HBO.

Masters of Sex

Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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The TV Watch: The Old Guard Keeps Its Grip

Despite all the fear and anxiety, Netflix didn’t steal Emmy night in the end as established series like AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” on ABC took top awards.

    



Roman Polanski Lends Voice to Documentary About Him

“Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out,” a 2012 documentary about Mr. Polanski’s effort to avoid extradition to the United States to face a sexual assault charge, will have its debut on Showtime on Sept. 27.

    



The Kill Room: Um acervo das vítimas mais notórias de Dexter

Embora a última temporada de Dexter tenha sido um fracasso na opinião de muitos fãs (me enquadro nisso), sobrou uma pontinha de esperança para que a próxima coloque novamente a locomotiva no trilho. Afinal, uma série que proporcionou momentos épicos (como o final da segunda, terceira e quarta temporada) não pode simplesmente ficar ruim da noite pro dia e “pronto”.

A Showtime (provavelmente ciente da cagada que foi essa última temporada) tem movimentado com frequência a página da série no Facebook, lançando hotsites e outras coisas bacanas. Um exemplo é o The Kill Room: onde você pode relembrar todos os detalhes das vítimas mais notórias do serial killer. Diversão garantida para os apreciadores da “obra” do psicopata.

Entre as últimas frases das vítimas, encontrei uma das minhas prediletas. Confere lá! :)

You little f**k, you think I’m done with you? You think this ends here, it doesn’t.

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Receita de Guacamole, por PES

O Showtime – que você conhece como o canal do “Dexter” – estreou a segunda temporada de sua série online “SHORT stories”. São vários curtas criativos, que inclui a participação de Don Hertzfeldt, Bill Plympton, Cyriak e até do Mystery Guitar Man.

O PES, que já participou no ano passado com o ótimo “The Deep”, apresenta dessa vez uma inovadora receita de guacamole. Os ingredientes são bem simples, mas o resultado é incrível.

Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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