” Worth It Anymore”??

[Grinner Hester]

It may not be worth it for you anymore, Andy. Burnout is a mighty thing. You and I are the same age and started in the industry the same year. As I climbed my way through the ranks over the years, I was always thankful. I was thankful for the interships that paid me a little to learn a lot more than when I was paying a lot to learn a little in school, I was thankful for every five figure raise I gave myself by moving my family to a bigger market every other year, and thankful when I was able to start my production company 10 years ago. Yes, the economy tanked and because gear is so cheap, every client’s kid and their dog totes a DSLR and a macbook pro. Does it make it hard to compete? Well yeah, but no harder than when I had to prove myself as a young buck in a network of veteran editors, no harder than getting and keeping that first client, and no harder than any other goal I’ve set then grabbed. Do I make a couple hundred grand less now than when things were booming? well, yeah, I sure do… but I am thankful that I still get to make little movies for a living rather than get a joe job I have no passion for like so many drones do. That passion, my friend, is what will always make it “worth it.” Without that, man you may as well clip on a tie and do what upper management says under flourescent lights that cook away all creativity.
At the risk of sounding harsh, man there are too many kids eager to take your seat for you to be whining while sitting in it. Cheer up or make room for new blood.

[Andy Jackson]

“Burnout”

Just checked it out on the internet.

I think you may be right grinner. Seems like I may have the symptons.

Better pull myself together and start thinking like i did in my younger days.

I still have hell of alot to offer.

Chin up eh!

[Aaron Cadieux]

I don’t have much tolerance for the “but the student with the cheap camera and the PC can do it for less” complaint. Amateur is amateur and professional is professional. If someone needs a professionally produced video, they will seek a professional. If someone is looking for a professional video from an amateur or a student, then that client wouldn’t have been worth your time in the first place. Even if a student or amateur were to own a DSLR and a robust NLE, it still doesn’t mean that they will match the quality of a professional. Look at it this way, a kid can spend $300 on a baseball bat, but it won’t make them a good hitter. If you do quality work and put in the time, you will see results no matter how many low-end video producers are out there.

Aaron

[Andy Jackson]

Update on my recent position within the industry.

I`ve quit!
Had enough!
Thrown in the towel!

So much competition who are doing projects for next to nothing.

Clients are no longer interested in real professionalism and quality anymore.
There is also no loyalty.

Information i have recieved from some companies i have contacted say the following.

“We have purchased a HD camera for £300 and editing software for £60.00 and a couple of work lights for £15.00 each and some mics and stands for £50.00 . Maximum of around £500.00”

We can do loads of video with this setup and it will payfor itself on the first video.

They have then gone on sites like youtube, vimeo etc to get information on lighting, sound and editing tutorials.

Also it seems that the universities are also doing videos for free for showreels etc. Poor guys don`t realise that when they get into the real world they will have a reality check.

Another company i spoke to expected a 2 day shoot with travel and my equipment and editing, with an authored dvd and mpeg4 copy for website for a total of £350.00.
I mean come on.
When i take out my fuel, cost of tapes,food, tax, ni, equipment costs, around 5 days work in total I would probably earn around £5.00 hr if that….Less than the minimum wage!!!!

They told me that there are so many people doing videos nowadays that they can pick and choose which one they want to go with. They also stated that they know most video companies or one man bands are struggling to survive and will probably take anything.

I will now probably get some other professional video producer saying that all clients do not want or will do this but in reality this is what is happening.

Anyone else having the same problems…. I would love to know.

Cheers Andy

[Mark Suszko]

That’s cold, but, well….

[Andy Jackson]

Hi Mark.

Your answer was not very helpful.
Could you please elaborate.

Due to the lack of response to my thread I`m beginning to think that everyone else is in the same situation.

I could do with some honest true answers to the following.

How many of you are doing this full time and earning a guaranteed descent wage or salary and never having to worry where the next penny is coming from.

Or are you doing it part time and also have another full time job.

Please be honest to me and yourself.

Cheers Andy

[Eric Addison]

[Andy jackson] “How many of you are doing this full time and earning a guaranteed descent wage or salary and never having to worry where the next penny is coming from.”

Well, I’m doing it full time, and doing fine – getting all the bills paid, and keeping a roof over our heads. Am I getting rich? Not really, but I’ve been blessed with some steady clients who provide me with a lot of work.

When you work for yourself, there’s always that fear about what if the work dries up, but you can’t focus on that. If you have work, just focus on that and do the best you can. Use down time to sharpen your skills and network. I’ll often reach out during slow times to other production people here locally and see if they have any projects they need help with, even if it means taking a small cut in pay – work is work, and you never know what it’ll lead to.

I think that the video production landscape, much as you pointed out in your first post, has changed a lot over the last 5 years…really over the last 10, but the last 5 as seen things change a lot faster in my opinion. The ability to buy a decent HD camera at a very low price point coupled with editing software that is both powerful and inexpensive has created to huge flood of cheap talent. That shouldn’t really be that big of a surprise…didn’t this all happen when desktop publishing came along back in the 80’s and 90’s?

I wish I had some great advice to pass along, something that could help you. But all I can say is that there is work out there. If it’s not your area, maybe you need to move. The key to surviving in this new production world is being able to be flexible and to adapt. You’re right in that the competition can be cheaper – much cheaper in some cases. But I’ve found that experience and quality still matter. Clients who don’t want to pay a lot are often clients not worth having.

That being said, I took a job once from a client that wanted to pay next to nothing for an editing job. I reluctantly took it (it was Christmas time and I was feeling generous), and now 2 years later, they are one of my best clients and they pay me a much higher rate then that first job. I treated that first low paying edit as I would any other edit paying my normal rate, and they were impressed with the final product. They wanted me to do more for them…I told them only if they pay my normal rates. You never know what things will lead to – don’t be afraid to take that low paying job every once and awhile.

—Eric
Owner | 100 ACRE FILMS
https://www.100acrefilms.com

[Andy Jackson]

Hi All..

After 27 years I have now made the move and joined the lowballer association.

Had no choice…
Sorry fellow shooters, who are now going to ridicule me.

Reason: Can`t make a full time salary anymore in the business!
Always being undercut!
Competeting with part timers who just want quick cash!

Can`t beat them so may as well join them.

I would like to congratulate Eric who has a few fish helping him keep the sharks happy.
The fish will dry up though and then the fishing will have to start again.

As Eric also said there is work out there..
I agree there is, but it does not mean you will get any descent pay for it.

Anyone can be busy working for nothing!
And this is what is happening!!

Too many people now in video production.
More competition will bring down the costs… Buyers market.

So got my myself a proper job with a guaranteed salary and now doing this on the side.

Upsetting but had no choice.

This is the reality of the business.

[Juris Eksts]

Sorry I’m very late to this discussion, but Andy, can I quote you from your very first post:
“Obviously I worked for free with the first company for 6 months”
I think there is no difference between that and the newcomers now doing it for a very low price, so who can you blame?

[Andy Jackson]

Hi Juris.

You are correct I did work for free for six months only.

I worked for a reputable production company who was giving me some training in-house, but I was not going out with their equipment doing jobs for free or next to nothing and the company wasn`t either.

My training was short term (6 months with no pay) but the problem now is that most will keep doing jobs for free or just for beer money.

This is where it is getting out of hand.
How can this industry stay an industry. It is not sustainable.

I know of 13 video professionals who have been in the broadcast industry for more than 15 years and have all moved on to other professions saying that video (like the music business before it) is now rock bottom and has no future for growth.

The only winners are the equipment and software manufacturers praying on the vunerable wannabee Speilbergs.

I never upgraded my camera equipment in the last 14 years. I just rented cameras as they were required.
I still have the first model canon XL1 camera which has served me well with regular service.

It has been used on broadcast, commercial, corporate and been encoded for video on the web.
I know its SD 4:3 and not 16:9 but i was not going to spend another penny just to get the wide screen look for internet video use and I was not going to go HD to then down convert to web video sizes.. Just does not make any sense to me.

I could of gone ahead and purchased a new HD camera with all the bells and whistles with todays technology. “BUT WHY”.. Just another overhead that needs to be payed off.
Also how can i pay it off if no one wants to pay for my services anymore.
They will probably go for the free or beer money student using university equipment which I/WE paid for through our taxes.

I`m lucky that I was able to save some cash in the early years when times were good and paid off my morgage and now I`m debt free.

YOU MAY NOW ASK … Maybe you could go out and do things for beer money and just for the fun of it due to your situation.

Maybe I could. But I`m not going too. I need to live.

What the newbies have got to realise that doing videos for free or pin money will not be good for your future.
How are you going to bring up a family, have a roof over your head, feed yourself, clothes, holidays etc etc etc.. need i go on.

The only winners are the clients and they dont give a S**T about your financial situation only their own.
They know its a buyers market and will screw you as deep into the wooden plank as they possibly can until we drop out the other end achieving nothing.

Something has got to change soon and hopefully for the better. I can`t see it but hey…… WHO KNOWS!!