Where is the business going?

[Craig Seeman]

[Mick Haensler] “I think we all tend to forget that our only job is to make the client happy and get paid for it. If the client is happy with a mediocre production with mediocre sound and mediocre lighting, than so be it. Make them happy, get paid, move on.”

Yes, and it’s why I’ve brought up McDonald’s as a successful business model. Not that that’s right for everyone. I know many business that went for “killer” and went under. They either were more expensive or they went beyond the client’s needs to the point where it cost them.

We all love to be artists but if it kills your business you’ll be the “starving artist” and you may not even afford the toys you’d like to create with.

[Craig Seeman]

[Mark Suszko] “Sound is tough enough that I always want a dedicated person on that during recording. I would agree that trying to manage sound plus the visuals is…. unwise.”

Remember we are sales people and/or business managers or at least stewards of our on ship.

I’m always careful about how the use of our languages invades the way we think. What is unwise is that we have not convinced (sold) the client to budget for it. Given that maybe it is the client who, for various reasons, is unwilling to pay for it, we, as business people need to make a decision.

The client sees not having the sound person as a savings. You need to present it as a cost and risk. Explain the addition budget needed to fix in post or the risk that it may be unsalvageable.

An analogy, Imagine if the pilot of a passenger jet had to leave the cockpit to serve meals or otherwise take care of passengers, auto-pilot might be just fine but what happens when it doesn’t. Crash? What’s the value of that risk? The airline has to decide to either hire stewards or maybe cut dinner. So the airline (your client) decides to cut dinner.

While they may not be hiring the sound person at least you’ve made the decision their’s so the responsibility and any risk is shifted to them. In other words if you can’t manage doing all the tasks they’ve had to decide to simplify the task rather than you trying to do what you can’t handle.

[Grinner Hester]

While companies and networks scaled back due to economy and had a great push from the writer’s strike to go reality-vibe, they’ll have no reason to go back to huge crews and over spending when the depression lifts… and that won’t be for quite some time yet.
They way we approach business has changed. The amount of video in demand has only grown though. It’s a matter of releasing old school mentailties and looking forward. We all have multiple skills in multiple areas. Ultilizing them all is importent today. We could couild all rest easy specializing in one role 5 years ago. If your specialty isn’t making a finished product today, you aint gonna be making many products.

[Ty Ford]

Mark and Grinner are on the same page as I am.

Mark, for your audio this may help:
https://web.mac.com/tyreeford/Site/Ty_Ford_Audio_Bootcamp_Field_Guide.html

I’m currently working on a new postproduction audio book about what to do with audio once you get it into the system.

It’s been proven that multi-tasking really isn’t better and more productive. I take that pretty seriously. I also really enjoy learning new things and “being creative.” As an audio person who now shoots and edits, I know exactly what you mean. On shoots where I am on sound, a camera and consulting with composition and exposure, I can feel my concentration being pulled into those different areas and away from my “old” audio center (growing pains). Were it not for the technology shift and my curiosity, I’d be out of business as just an audio/sound guy.

I had a conversation with a friend a few years back about the audio studio business. We were talking about the loss of all the mid-tier audio facilities. I offered, as has been offered in this thread, that WE ARE THE NEW MID-TIER. The new playing field is no longer restricted to players who must know as much about the purely technical side of production and/or editing. The gates are open.

I’m making new clients, one at a time, with very small budgets and expectations that I can meet or exceed. Meaning no disrespect to the giants on whose shoulders I stand, I try to maintain a “lemonade stand” business model. And, yes, as someone else mentioned, it’s about how you relate to your clients. That really hasn’t changed. Anyone who remains a technical curmudgeon or elitist is pretty much cooked. (and, btw, if that’s you, read “How to Win Friends And Influence People” and get OVER yourself.)

For me the growth has come from shooter/editors who recognize that (in addition to humping gear) I can make meaningful contributions to composition, lighting, exposure, set design, and, oh yeah, keep the audio from sucking. I do feel sorry for my soundie friends in LA who talk about 12 hour days with six wireless, a mixer and a recorder strapped to their backs for $350. That’s just brutal and they will pay for it with chiropractor bills and premature knee surgery, but they took the job.

Yes, it’s bad for unions now, but at some point when the absorbed abuse crosses a line, coming together and saying, “Hey, let’s not let ourselves be abused like this (whatever “this” is). Let’s all just say, “No.” I KNOW, it’s a communist thought! No one is a bigger fan of the free market than I am. But I’m still looking for the sweet spot between the oppositional forces of “Every Man For Himself” and “All For One And One For All.” Every time I lean to the latter I wonder if I just like the big hats with the feathers and the pantaloons (although I don’t own any), but I do appreciate a sense of connection.

Maybe that why the Cow works so well. Most of us are in different places and not competing for the same job in the same city. The competitional borders don’t exist, or, at least, are a lot lower. That a great thing.

Thanks for all of your thoughts on this.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
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