I've had to turn down quite a few job offers recently simply because they couldn't guarantee that I would be paid for my work. I can understand animation jobs being hesitant to have me working even an unpaid internship, since I have zero connections, would have to move to Burbank, and need to be trained to use software that my computer can't seem to be able to download (although I have tried my absolute hardest to prove my experience in similar cheap/open source software is easily transferrable to the likes of ZBrush, Maya and 3DS Max), but recently a lot of interviewers have seemingly stringed me along into dead-end volunteer (aka "slave") work, even if I made it clear from the start that I need a job to pay the bills and cannot work for free, even if it's a minimum-wage job that most wouldn't even consider outside of getting paid.

Basically what I'm saying is that I need a way to make SOME money while I continue to work on a freelance animation and find a job where the interviewer doesn't forget along the way that I am a 27-year-old grown man with lots of retail/customer service experience in particular and thus can't afford to work at a job that isn't willing to pay me enough for gas, water, electricity, etc.

Until that mythical "job that values your work enough to pay money for your efforts" finally comes along, I will do small, quick 2D art projects for as little as $2:

...or 3D sculpts (in Nomad or Blender, since I'm only allowed to use ZBrushCoreMini for non-commercial practice) for as low as $3:

These prices may seem excessively cheap for some, but the point is that I need ANY money, regardless of amount, to maintain some level of adult independence, and until minimum-wage opportunities stop taking all this time away from my animation and making me prepare for multiple interviews only to pull the "we can't pay you, but we'll give you EXPOSURE" card, even at jobs that I have worked at in the past and have solid proof that I can be trusted to work for a salary, I do need a little extra help to avoid running out of money entirely. Sorry if this seems more like a vent, I just would be EXTREMELY grateful if you take me up on this offer and while I can't do big projects at this time I would work very hard to make these little projects live up to your standards. You would think having worked in some form of retail and customer service for 10 years of my life, most recently at a grocery store until June of this past year, I would have at least a little bit of an easier time finding another minimum-wage job, but for whatever reason so far many of my interviews have been dead-ends simply because the employers want me to do free work and "internships" like they're a gateway to a big-shot studio like Disney or Naughty Dog. Okay, okay, I'm done. Just pay me as little as $2 for some work from me, and I'll at least not be homeless before I finally find a job willing to pay me and be more grateful than you can possibly imagine...