Editing Estimate

[Christopher Kinsman]

Sounds like we’ve walked the same path with our clients. Best wishes for you in 2010!

Kind Regards,

Chris

[David Bogie]

[Christopher Kinsman] “Tell your client about the production triangle –

a) Good Quality
b) Fast turnaround
c) Cheap price
– then tell them they can pick any two.
If it’s good and fast, it’s not cheap.
If it’s fast and cheap, it’s not good.
Get the picture?
“

I’m working with a new version of that old paradigm: Pick one.

bogiesan

[David Roth weiss]

[Christopher Kinsman] “Tell your client about the production triangle –
a) Good Quality
b) Fast turnaround
c) Cheap price

– then tell them they can pick any two. “

This just goes to show how low the standards of the industry have dropped, because the original paradigm used the terms: “faster, cheaper, better.” There’s a huge difference between the two sets of adjectives.

For example: a “cheap video” and a “cheaper video” are two completely different things. A 35-million dollar project, that has $1000 lopped off the budget, is cheaper, while a $500 video is simply cheap video. Notice a slight difference?

A movie with music by Mark Isham is “better” than one with music by your cousin’s seventeen year old kid, while a project with synthesized midi tracks might be considered “good,” at least by someone.

And, a year-long project delivered a week early is “faster,” but it’s not the same as “fast turnaround,” which tends to sound like you’re flipping repossessed homes rather than creating a television or video production.

So Christopher, be careful of what you offer your clients… Among “good, fast turnaround, and cheap,” none is actually a good thing to offer a client, and asking them to pick two is even worse. Certainly, never offer all three…

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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