Notes:
Gig was 03/20/26 in Dallas, TX,
Edits were submitted 03/23/26
Payment was promised “EOW,” 03/25
As well as “tomorrow,” 04/29
Confirmations were all with the same POC.
Date of posting is 05/05/26.
Company I worked for was PlayersTV.
Hey all, as you can see in the title, I have been unpaid for work completed for a company in Dallas. This was my first time working with them so I extended a lot of grace and went above and beyond with hopes to be hired again. So far in my 5 years of freelance, this has paid off.
I had not previously done paid photography, this was supposed to be my first paid gig as a photographer.
When on site I spoke with my POC and he made a subtle note about how they’re backlogged in editing but need it by 03/21 (the following Monday). I mentioned how I could do editing for them if they would like and he took me up on it. I made the mistake of not increasing my rate, again, I want the call back in the long run.
I did make it clear though that in the future I would charge for editing especially on last minute opportunities. But this time I was offering it for free.
I delivered the gallery when I was told I would get paid via Zelle and that my payment information was forwarded to accounts payable. This was 03/21.
April 1st, 9th, and 13th I reached out with no response asking for when payment would come through.
April 14th I finally get a response via text after I sent an email to him and another contact I managed to get. This is when POC communicates that they pay NET30.
April 22nd comes around and I reach out saying that I still have not been paid and need an explanation.
April 29th rolls around and he says:
“Hey Jackson tomorrow is our next payout period and I just received confirmation your payment will go out then. Please expect it tomorrow. Sorry for the delay here.”
I need advice as I continue to go unpaid. What do I do to mitigate this from happening and how would you recommend I proceed to try to get paid for my work?
Mind you, I have screenshots of my work being used on the thumbnail of their YouTube video and, at that time, it had 275,000 views.
What sucks on top of this is that I have been having a hard time getting work so this just felt like a kick in the nuts after being really excited to work even if it was sub $600 total.
Thanks in advance, yall.