[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Lindsay,

CS6 for a permanent license, but as you say won’t be up to date. Or CC as a subscription is your options with Adobe.

You can subscribe on a month by month basis without being tied into a long-term plan. This could work out more expensive, or if you charge it back to the client as part of your fees, a better way of managing your costs.

Depending on the work you do, you could consider doing an annual plan for Photoshop, and monthly for the rest.

However, if you are charging your clients, then you should build the cost of CC into those charges.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Leonard,

I have never seen your short, so I don’t know.

However, what I do know is as follows:
A large majority of short films are not made for the purpose of making money. Most often they are a calling card for the Director, Producer, Actor and show-reel material for the rest of them + experience for anyone else working on the production.

If you made the short to make money, then $100 is far too low.

If you made the short to get noticed, then $100 for being introduced by a named actor, is far too much.

My advice:
Ask whether instead of the $100, that the actor can do a short interview at their studio; with you talking about the short, and most importantly: your next project!
Even if not, you win by getting some free display advertising for your skills.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Todd,

That is a surprise as I think that Adobe had a clever way of doing the XML, just needed to do more work on the speech recognition and editing/export tool for the text file – but overall, I have used the tool and would use it again.

Maybe like Avid, Adobe should consider getting a third party to develop it?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey John,

Let me add to Mark and Todd’s excellent advice.

As a one man band you are in a excellent position to make money. Once you grow, so will your expenses and stress levels – even worse, if you enter the mid-range of the market, you will be squeezed by other freelancers and bigger companies.

It is not clear where you are placed on rates? And how much equipment you carry for the freelance work that you do?

However, here goes:
The wedding video trailer (3rd August 2014) on your Facebook page looks great – it is well shot. Although as a potential client I would be really concerned about Youtube muting the music sue to copyright issues.

In general, if you are using Facebook as a connector, you should post at least one or two updates a week (I got the link from your Cow profile).

Your LinedIn page needs some work – this is normally my first point of call, and yours appears to be frozen and not putting your freelance work at the top.

Talking of freelance work – would I as a corporate company hire a Videographer to produce my video? No.
You need to brand yourself as production outfit, rather than that of an individual freelancer. Print some cards, do a show-reel and then hit the business networks where you are placed. Don’t forget that there are many companies who would look for strategic relationships – such as web designers looking to add videos to client sites etc.

You mentioned that you have already done some small corporate videos – have you asked those clients that you worked for, for a reference? Or even better, if they can make introductions to other companies looking for videos?

Finally: I can see that you work for QVC. I am not suggesting that you compete with your one and only employer. But it does give you a unique insight into making product promotional videos – I am sure that there is a very large market of garage businesses who have products to sell, but cant afford, or are not large enough to play with the big networks. But that won’t stop them from having a product demonstration video produced.

Hope this helps?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Arun,

[Arun Shamala] “What type deal will be attractive for the tv network?”

Money, Money and Money – Top TV Networks does not do strategic partnerships unless you are willing to let a shareholding of your business go to them?

No different to your idea:

[Arun Shamala] “I have Mini MBA course in online, we charge $2,000 dollars to learn the course in few months, In future we want to provide investment for the talented entrepreneurs in return of few % equity of their company.”

Your proposition is:
[Arun Shamala] “If my show get into this big tv channel in my country, my company will receive a lot of benefits.”

This is effectively product placement, so even if the TV Company wants to work with you, they maybe have an issue with regulations in your country for what is advertising and what is factual content.

Don’t give up, just make sure to manage your pitch to the broadcaster with the view of presenting a win-win solution.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Emio,

[emio tomeoni] ” I do work with a Viral Video agency, folks who usually act as the middle man in these situations. Unfortunately my rep and the ad agency did not play nice, and the whole deal fell apart – something about terms – but they never even got to the $ talk.”

First off – be careful that what-ever you do next, does not violate the agreement with the Viral Video Agency. Also, not that agents have a habit of talking with one another, and if do one of them wrong, you will get “black-listed”. Or find yourself paying a higher percentage for future agreements.

[emio tomeoni] “So, I emailed the guy at the ad agency and he is still willing to work with me. But now I’m basically representing myself. He is asking me to give him a rough quote for a 12 month license and I have no idea where to start. One more detail – this if for an ad in Brazil”

As Mark says, anyone can copy your video. However, if they copy your video after having asked to buy it, this could cause major embarrassment for the end-client – the cell phone company. So they won’t likely be doing that.

The question is: Is your clip central to the commercial? And what networks (eyeballs) will it be shown across? (Online, Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial, Cinema etc.)

Will the client be looking for an exclusive deal?
If not, Getty Images are a good place to start calculating prices for regional advertising – I did a quick test, and got prices ranging from £2,350 – £4,750 using their “Calculate a price” service.

However, this is where a good agent becomes a must, and sometimes like with your current one, it is a good idea to walk away from a bad deal. However, a good agent can secure you a per-pr-showing deal. So if your video is shown 20,000 times over a 12 month period, at say even a meager £5 a showing you may regret not having an agent. If you go by your production costs x 2, rather than commercial rates you should be happy, but not adequately compensated.

Do keep in mind that the agency wants to use your video to make big sales with – not for a casual advert in your local paper.

Hope this helps.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Mark is right, but he forgot one essential piece of advice:

Doing a whole project for free!!! Without agreeing any kind of compensation, are you out of your mind? – client will most definitely be happy, but you are likely to work for that same fee on the next job.

You may not need the money, but do have some respect for your skills and other people doing it for a living.
How would the situation be for you if “out of work” local video producers went to your classroom and offered English lessons for free?

Not withstanding that you are exposing yourself to all sorts of trouble if you go on location without a suitable insurance cover.

Anyway, I think that it is brilliant that you have made a video for a client and that you want to do more. Follow Mark’s excellent advice and you will do just fine.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Jason,

[Jason Newstedt] “please don’t say to put my expensive camera & tripod on some chairs!”

I am tempted 🙂

There are a reason for why tripod’s don’t reach above a certain height, which I am guessing is to do with the weight of the legs -v- that of them not breaking, and your camera falling to the ground. Doing a quick search, the highest that I’ve found is 67″ from Vinten.

However, of quick solutions, that is dependent on the environment you are shooting in:
1) ENG Dolly – easy to transport and may buy you that extra inch.
2) Pop-up stage (modular and transportable – might not be stable enough for operator.
3) Jib arm/crane – will need space + maybe second operator.
4) Scaffolding platform.

Check with your insurance before taking either option 2, 3 and/or 4 out on the road…

The cheaper version of the above is to seek out the high ground to film from, or strategically place your production staff so people can’t walk in front of the camera.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

As a family, we are on Google calendar too, except my wife can edit my calendar – where as I can’t edit hers – sounds normal 🙂

However, if you are looking to put it in a public place, I do believe that you can setup a separate Google calendar that only shows your work engagements, and shows them without putting a title on them – i.e. just blocks out the time.

Haven’t done it myself, but have seen it done.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

[Mane Feka] “I’m investing long hours into learning Adobe Premiere Pro, and other Adobe software, do you guys think it’s safe to assume that Adobe software will continue to be widely-used for many years to come?”

Yes, would be my answer. This is based on the observation that a number of larger organisations are moving to the Adobe CC platform. Do keep in mind that Adobe CC is soo much more than just Premiere Pro.

[Mane Feka] “Are there other competitors to keep an eye out for besides Avid and Final Cut pro?”

Several, but what is your plan? Owner/operator or employee?

[Mane Feka] “If my hope is to be an outstanding candidate for jobs, which software (along with non-adobe programs) should I invest in?”

Software (& hardware) will not make you a better editor, compositor, graphics designer, web developer or anything else that you can think of doing with the Adobe CC or similar packages. Certification in using Adobe is certainly a good place to start.

However, you need a show-reel/portfolio of good work to show, rather than certificates in order to proceed in the media business.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk