[Mark Suszko]

I detect an underlying assumption that owning a greenscreen studio space is an automatic money machine as in, “build it, and they will come”.

There is no logical reason to believe such a thing will happen, just because you have a space. You’ll still have to market it, and find ways to generate revenue to pay the monthly upkeep and utilities and mortgage. A greenscreen shoot might only take a half-day to a day. What pays the bills the other 28 days a month? Raves and resale markets? Car storage?

Location scouts and directors/producers can be quite fickle as to where they want to work, and, they have numerous logistical concerns that dovetail into their decision-making process. Ideally, what you want to do is locate the facility near some other existing production companies, ones who are doing series TV, so that you have a consortium of nearby customers for several years/seasons at a time.

Based on the kind of questions you’re asking, you’re not IMO ready to go forward with this idea yet. You have a lot more research and planning to do first.

[Mark Suszko]

Wouldn’t it be cool if the next Apple workstation used a modular, plug-together, Lego-like architecture, where you could stack RAIDS, cooling systems, Graphics and memory in multiple combinations? Would make user customization easier while keeping the individual components relatively proprietary.

[Mark Suszko]

Email sent. Brain on stand-by.

[Mark Suszko]

You may want to check in your state: some states have a “prompt payment act” clause in government contracts which says that if you offer an early-payment discount, they MUST take advantage of that discount and put your bill at the front of the line for payment, and the obverse of these laws is that if they are late paying you, they gotta pay interest at the prevailing rate. Terrible if you’re a struggling small business. A lucrative investment akin to a short term bond, if you’re big and rich and have enough working capitol to float them.

[Mark Suszko]

My two cents includes this:

X really seems built around an emphasis on the pre-edit workflow: on detailed logging and careful organization and cataloging of assets. For people used to just hopping on the horse and galloping thru a cut as soon as some clips are imported, this can be frustrating, but I can assure you if you put in the organizational work at the front of the process, it pays off later in a smoother, faster edit if you first saddle the horse:-)

[Mark Suszko]

OK, just test it with someone you know in your family. Ask them what response they get. Or is that too easy?

[Mark Suszko]

For some people, the number of their social contacts is just a game; the more contacts, the more you “win”. Even if they are completely irrelevant.

I keep my connections to people I know, people who I want to help, or people who can help or have helped me in some way, regarding work. All the other junk is for facebook or twitter or whatnot. and LI is just for my business contacts. I got dragged into Linked In by Ron and Kathleen, I don’t know that I’d have done it without their prompting. LI does have some discussion thread boards but not of the quality or spontaneity that the COW has, for me, anyway. Perhaps when my job/career situation changes, I’ll work it harder but until then my page is just coasting.

Don’t feel bad turning down alien contacts who come at you without references or any thing in common… It’s just business.

[Mark Suszko]

https://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/77rreview.phtml

[Mark Suszko]

I think I just read somewhere the island of Kawaii in the Hawaiian chain is now 100 percent solar 24/7. Nights they used to switch to diesel generation but Elon Musk sold them on a bank of Tesla super-batteries which lets them store excess power by day and release it at night. They don’t run out before the sun comes back on. Tesla also showed a line of roof tiles that look like normal roofing but are Solar PV with a variety of shapes and colors to work with any architectural style.

[Mark Suszko]

Hi, Bob, I heard you saw your shadow so there’s another month of complaining about the cheapskate newbies destroying the industry ahead ☺

Actually, I’ve installed (and had to RE-install) enough toilets that I’m now fairly handy with that job, though I’m not as spry crawing around hooking up the feed line anymore. Sharkbite connectors, man; they are the Thunderbolt 3 of plumbing.

I know you’re just having fun as you make your points. I’ll just say this, that I’ve been doing productions on a shoestring for so long, I have no idea what a *real* budget would look like, nor what I’d spend it on. It wasn’t my choice, it’s a niche I fell into of necessity in my job and I fancy myself as a guy that can get a champagne look on a beer budget. I’m also at the age and point in my career where I enjoy playing the shaman to these up-and-comers. Your jokes warning me away are taken in the spirit I know you intended.

One of our favorite COW members has also worked on “Good Eats”, and I wish they would see this thread and drop some general knowledge on what a “real” cooking show costs to make.