[Mark Suszko]

You are either underpaid or over-worked, apparently doing the job of three guys for half what they paid ONE guy for ONE job. I’d be irked too. If you don;t dare aask for a raise, you might ask to do less of the other two unpaid job, saying something like” you’re paying me to edit, and not to (insert task here).” Yes, that might get you fired. See my other post in the biz forum for another take on this issue.

[Mark Suszko]

There’s more to getting good remuneration for your work than just the money. There’s insurance and health, stock and retirement bennies that often make a big difference when the actual take-home pay is less than you’d like, and these are always good places to start negotiating up from, compared to actual payroll. Due to tricks of accounting, they can often give you more on the bennies side than the take-home cash pay side. You should press on that issue. Some of these benefits offset expenses you’d otherwise have to pay out of the salary, so in a sense, the extra pay it frees up from your current monthly check is effectively “like” a raise.

What about other intangibles, like, you could ask that they pay for you to take some classes or buy some tutorial packages to improve your skills with the software you’re using. They could give you paid leave to go to NAB, or Siggraph, for example. What about a company car or at least a company gas card for your car. They could allow you to, on a limited basis, use their gear after-hours to make your weekend independant projects on, for side-money. Do they pay the entry fee and award shipping fees to enter your work in various contests and awards programs?

Cash is always nice, but it’s not the only way to get paid. A great portfolio of tax-sheltered investments and payroll deductions/ 401K’s and the like can be more meaningful in the long run.

[Mark Suszko]

Been there
Done that
Got the t-shirt

I shoot as well as edit, so when shooting I really try and do things that will make me happy in the edit later. Rule number one is at least six slowly counted seconds of pre and post-roll on shots and moves, which at times is torture to wait for. it really should be even longer, but six is what I default to as manageble for ENG type shooting. For more languid EFP type work, it should be more.

[Mark Suszko]

“I authorize the expenditure of an additional ____ hours of editing time over and above the originally stipulated period, for the purpose of _______________________________________________.”

Something like that?

When I make a deal for editing, they get one revision session for free. That is, I make the show with them there or alone, they screen it for whomever signs the checks, and if there are changes to be made, or errors found, that first re-do is generally free. Any further changes after that are a brand new deal, as if it is a separate job, paying full rates. Of course, the hours for that second fix if called for will likely be way shorter, since it is invariably another massaging of what is already there, and the elements are all still loaded up and ready.

But what if they left, everything seemed okay and approved, and you dumped the drives and started loading up another client’s work when they suddenly come screaming back in with an urgent change?

If it’s something I screwed-up, I eat that.

If it’s another change from the client that can never make up their mind, or they spelled something wrong on a text file they gave me, or got someone’s lower-third title wrong, they can pay full-boat rates including time spent re-loading footage and it’s a toss-up whether I can fit them in or have to make them wait their turn.

[Mark Suszko]

As insurance, you can apply the broadcast safe filters,( and should have those warnings turned on at all times ) but it is always better to make it right from the start than to apply bandages to the problem footage.

[Mark Suszko]

Well, an early step would be to look up the Ohio State Film Office, I’m sure there is one, and check for a city Film office for Dayton or the closest city that’s larger, within reasonable driving range.

Both will have hardbound and likely online production resource guides; you know, a sort of yellow pages just for production-related people and services. Places like New York and LA have their “411” books. In Illinois, (plug, plug) it’s the IFO production guide, which is available in softcover, as a CD, and as a web site. IFO also has demo cds of locations statewide if you are scouting for locations. A google search will probably turn up your local production guidebook, in which you will find broadcast equipment rentals.

These places are not quite as easy as walking into a rent-to-own furniture store or car rental agency. You will have to establish a line of credit first, and probably demonstrate you at least know which end of the camera the light goes into. After a few successful transactions, they tend to ease up as they get to know you and trust you.

The nice thing is, a good broadcast rental place will be glad to take the time to show you everything about how to safely operate the gear before you leave. In fact some shops DEMAND they show you, so you have no excuse for breaking their stuff later. This also protects YOU by making them prove the item is good when it leaves their place. A good rental shop will stand by it’s gear with free emergency replacement or refund if it fails thru no fault of yours. Some incidental fees for driving the spare to you may apply in that case. Every place is a little different regarding terms. You may get charged for expendables like bulbs or gaffer tape. Heck, you get charged for the either way in truth, some places itemize every detail and others just figure expendables into the flat rate. But be wary of a shop that lacks spares for anything mission-critical.

You can often arrange an appointment time to drop-in and get demos on many of their items like lighting gear, dollies, cameras, etc. even if you are not renting at the moment. The shop will have lots of contacts locally and regionally so they can get gear they don’t themselves own and step-rent it to you. Thru their many contacts it becomes a great place to network for gigs of all kinds. Many a time, they’ll get asked at the last minute: “hey, know anybody that can X for Y this weekend?” Usually they suggest someone that’s also rented from them with an established reputation for competence. The flip side of that networking is, if you ever burn them, everybody and their dog is going to know about it very soon, and that’s hard to recover from. It’s a handshake business, still, and a man’s reputation is everything.

The shops are often used as a meeting point for get-togethers by the local production community, to demo new products and try to make some sales. Some large shops put on annual mini-conventions of their own, handy to attend if you missed NAB. God, I miss the ones Swiderski’s used to throw in the Chicago suburbs. Now the closest one to me is in the Quad Cities, five hours away.

The rental shop can also supply extra crew for a fee. Sometimes for the more expensive stuff, they’ll insist you hire a tech operator from their place to accompany and work the gear. He or she will babysit it for security’s sake as well as operate and calibrate it properly. Again, the longer your relationship with a company, the more flexible and fluid these situatitons can become. Expect to pay most or all in advance until your account is well-established.

You can arrange to have the stuff delivered, or pick it up and drop it off yourself, depending on budget and schedule. Terms are usually “portal to portal”, i.e. the money clock starts ticking as soon as the gear leaves their door and stops when it again crosses their threshold, traffic delay in between is your own problem.

Renting over a weekend usually costs less than renting on buisness days Mon-Fri. The shop typically discounts rentals longer than three days, i.e. rent for three days, get charged for two, rent for five days, pay for three, etc. Weekends can be anything from regular rate to half-price, but if you wind up needing an emergency call to get someone over to fix or tweak something for you on a Saturday, that may cost you double for the overtime, so it pays to learn at their place before you leave.

You will need some kind of insurance, or they will add on insurance to your rental bill. Typically, at least my experience was, they’d hold out a portion of your credit card limit, then add on repair or replacement charges to that credit card bill if you came back with more or fewer pieces than you left with.

Processing the paperwork to establish an account can take days or weeks, so it pays to set your account up in advance before you get into an emergency situation when the unexpected production opportunity arises.

[Mark Suszko]

My understanding is most affiliates get their packages from the head office so all the stations keep a tight brand identity. The locals then may or may not play with adding some variations to stress the local angle, but they all work from a supplied template from the network for on-air identity. So making the overall packages is probably not an easy thing for you to break into, the studios that make those are very high-end with high prices and they have that end of the market pretty well locked-up.

However, what IS perhaps a better path may be the fact the nightly local news, particularly for sweeps, weather, or special events, needs custom graphics work done that national-level headquarters or boutique shops can’t provide. For things like sweeps month pieces and “special reports”, you could definitely make some headway. These kinds of gigs come suddenly and need extremely rapid turn-around on often impossible schedules. Stuff like creating maps after an airplane crash, election-night graphics, local consumer report or medical update things, stuff like that. That’s the kind of thing I would imagine you could put on a demo reel and sell to local news directors and producers with the idea that you can turn something around and get it delivered to the station by internet in jig time, as the event unfolds.

[Mark Suszko]

What Doug said. Rent the specific gear for the specific job. THAT is professional. If you don’t have an account relationship established with a rental house or two, this is the time to do that, when you are not under the gun. Rent the new camera you have your eye on and try it out for a day or weekend to evaluate it, and pay for it out of an actual assignment. That’s the best of all possible situations.

Don’t make the newbie/dilettante’s mistake of fetishizing the camera as an object: it is only a tool, a means to the true end. If it sits on a shelf depreciating five or more days a week, you are impressing no one and throwing working capital away. If you can put it to work at least 4 days a week, every week, then yes, it makes sense to own it.

You have a respectable amount of entry-level gear already. My advice is always to only buy the “evergreens” in the biz, stuff that never gets outdated and that you’d be renting every time no matter the gig.

Adding specific lights to your kit is one such area, for example a joker-bug HMI or 2 for sunny CEO offices and board rooms with huge windows or outdoor work, and these can do double-duty in your event work. A great tripod and head is another to pursue. Excellent mics is another, you ALWAYS need good audio. If you think the boom will get used often, maybe that’s a go, but I’ll offer that for corporate work I almost exclusively run lavs, both wired and wireless. And add good grip gear/accessories to make these items as flexible to use as possible. All of these kinds of purchases retain a good amount of resale value over time as well, should you decide to go another way later. Cameras depreciate as fast as cars, maybe faster; you’ll likely always take a bath re-selling those.

What I would NOT do is sink money into owning another camera besides the working one you already have. Preserve your working capital, invest it.

I think good NLEs are now so inexpensive they make sense to buy outright: if you are billing properly they are paid for after just a couple of jobs, and you need to spend a lot of time on them to get good at using them. If the IO REALLY saves you productive time or improves your quality, get it, but if it’s just a cool-looking toy or adds some convenience, maybe it doesn’t make a convincing business case, and you could go with a similar but cheaper solution.

Same with the feeder deck you are considering. Make a business case for it: does it make or save you any money? How many ways can you put it to work? Will you use it often enough to justify purchase over rental?

My experience of rentals has been the item, whatever it is, rents out for a basic rate of about 10 percent of it’s full MSRP price, give or take. If you find yourself renting an item more than five times in a year, it is time to re-evaluate if purchase will be cheaper. Ten rentals = you might as well purchase. For stuff like steadicams, unless you do a LOT of Warren Miller type stuff, probably rental is better. Same for fancy dollies and jibs, I use them maybe once a year. IMO, don’t buy a high-def flavor of the month camera that may get obsoleted by the very next NAB. I fear that’s what’s in store for the HDV cams. The P-2 cameras are great but the card storage is still too funky, awkward, and expensive IMO, everybody seems to be bypassing the P-2 cards and going with external hard drive packs like firestor for now. I am more than willing to wait out the storm and see what formats and form factors survive, so I don’t get stuck with orphan tech. That’s another reason rentals are great; you avoid that trap.

[Mark Suszko]

There are broadcast engineering consultants available in the baack of/online marketplace of TV Technology Magazine every month. Such consulting engineers are usually found or referenced from large rental shops as well, if you are in a big town. Or maybe you need to refine your net search terms. Maybe start by looking up the state or city Film Office in the largest market near you. They’ll often have a resource site on the web. Look for “broadcast engineering consultants” in various combinations as well. As a last resort, contatc the engineering department at your locat TV station and ask the Chief Engineer there who he recommends locally for this kind of work.

[Mark Suszko]

Don’t be too hasty. There seems to be more going on here than just a quick surface impression suggests.

I assume this worker was pretty good up to now or in this competitive market they wouldn’t have got the job to start with or kept it this long. Managers will tell you it is easier and often cheaper to fix a problem employee having a rough patch than to go get a brand new one. Something has gone sour with this one over time, and whether you fire this guy or not it would probably profit you in any case to figure out what that was or is, or you may keep repeating the conditions that lead to the problem.

Even if the deceased person was not too close, death in the family, or any major change, like retirement of a co-worker, etc. has a tendency to make people re-assess their life and the progress they are making. The rant about overwork: have you looked into that? What was his basis for the remark about not pulling weight evenly? Did he see the CEO breaking a rule and getting away with it or otherwise cheating? That could be a very corrosive thing for morale.

I have been in situations over the course of my career where I was overworked and thrived on it, and overworked and hated it. The difference was how emotionally and creatively invested I was in what I was doing, and if I was recognized for it; it could be like the runner’s high, just knowing you are operating at a peak performance level and are unbeatable in that moment, throwing off art in all directions like bolts from the hand of Zeus. I think this is where you get the axiom: “if you want something to get done fast, give it to an already-busy man”.

Or it could be like digging ditches at the edge of the beach, watching each scoop fill back in as soon as it was dug, working to a cookie-cutter list of someone else’s decisions like some kind of robot, and knowing I would not be getting any recognition for my contributions. Or only blame for someone else’s failings.

It also may be that they feel overwhelemed because of a lot of recent changes in the home life apart from work have taken up mental space that used to be free for work problems.

When an employee cries out something drastic like that about the boss, you can bet whatever is behind it has been festering for a long time, and the person has gotten so desperate or disgusted, they are a hat-drop away from quitting and feel there’s nothing left to lose. You have daily meetings, but are you sure you are getting all the issues aired at some point, or are they all one-way “this is your list of tasks for the day, kthnxbye”? Do you ever talk about longer-term strategy or direction, about ultimate goals? Daily meetings can be really frustrating for a grunt if you have something to talk about that never makes it to the agenda.

Maybe he IS a flake and this is a single-person aberration. It happens. Or… It could be this guy is the canary in the coal mine and you have a LOT more morale problems in-house than you really knew, perhaps the whole crew is about to mutiny. Sit down and evaluate exactly what the supposed problem of the moment is with this guy, perhaps a little communication will straighten out some misunderstanding he has talked himself into. Put this guy on a quarterly evaluation schedule, also have a weekly ten minute one on one to go over status, and STICK TO IT. If you have those meetings for the first 3 weeks then drop them, you’re just going to re-create the problem. They can be informal, say, the time it takes to start and finish a can of soda and bag of chips in a break room. Or a walk around the block, outside the office, on “smoke break”. That is very effective because people will often talk more freely about the work if they are not in the building. We often have our best strategy meetings with co-workers in the car on long drives to and from gigs with nothing better to do but look at the road and think and talk. It’s a comfortable, neutral space.

It is worth it to retain a good worker and make them re-invest themselves in the work from time to time. Particularly the longer they have worked for you, because people have a tendency to take folks for granted the longer they’ve been around, and that’s a shame.

That works for family as well as co-workers, btw: when’s the last time you had that kind of talk with your S.O. or kids? If you can’t recall, it’s been too long.

Now go take on the day!:-)