Jim,
You're echoing the sentiments from the video submitted by VideoChick. The reasons working on spec can go down the way it does is because a) potential buyers know they can get away with it, and b) because we content producers accept it. And you're correct, if you tried to pull any of the things you mentioned on your doctor, accountant, lawyer, dentist even you'd get hauled into court and have your wages garnished. Until the system changes and or we producers change, nothing will change.
Unfortunately, the greatest drawback created by the digital revolution is though it allowed many more people to dare make films it didn't come with financing. Yeah, the gear and the software got cheap, but unless you can get everyone involved to work for free, get support gear for free, get lodging and meals for free making movies still costs money. That money has to come from somewhere or somebody and if the filmmaker is not the one holding the purse strings as the system is today you'll have to play by their rules.
Another jacked-up thing is 95% of independent films that get made start out as spec gigs. Movies like, 'I'm Gonna' Git ya' Sucker', 'El Mariachi' and 'Clerks' were all spec gigs paid for by their creators. These movies literally made their creators hollywood players but never would have gotten made traditionally. So the 'bad news/good news' is; if you're not connected into the Hollywood system and you want to get your project made it will assuredly be done on spec. For the last 15-20 years be it films, music or television, the mainstream outfits that do all the distributing of content figured out that it's much cheaper to market 'a finished product' that they didn't have to initally invest in. You the content producer do all the work or 'Cook the meal' and they eat it. If they like it, they 'buy the recipie' (if they don't try to steal it) and if you're savvy enough, they'll bring you along to work on 'your' project that they now own and control.
Most producer's go along with that because curiously, in this business you need only sell one hit to get paid forever. It's weird, but think of how many terrible flicks get made all because they have a name person attached who had one hit. That's why we producers are willing to constantly 'throw our handfulls of darts'. In this business, there's a reasonable possibility one of those suckers will 'stick'. Funny thing is, the 'big boys' do the exact same thing the indy's do. Only diff is, they have the cash and resources to do it.
