[Ned Miller]

Helps to be up in the alphabet, hence my name is BIZ Video. Many listings are alphabetical. How about AAAA Video?

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Hmmm….round here a Green Sky means a tornado in a few minutes!

Too many Northern Sky out there.

Monster in the name doesn’t sound like a pro.

People don’t like bots because they collect email addresses for spamming.

S2 is good, so is Keylight.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

I have been freelance 30 years and run into this once or twice a year, usually from agencies. The first question I have is are you incorporated? If so, then just call their AP department and then there should be No Problem, but you will have to prove you are incorporated so therefore you can’t be an employee.

But what’s at play here are two things:

1) They don’t want to be what’s designated as the “Employer of Record” which means that if you are a sole proprietor and were injured on the job they aren’t responsible, the staffing service is.

2) States are desperate for tax revenue, they HATE the designation “Freelance” because they can’t collect the maximum amount of taxes. By using a payroll service your client isn’t designated the Employer of Record so by using the payroll service they protect themselves from the IRS and their state coming after them.

However, the BS about “we can’t pay you until we get paid”, well, they should have mentioned that upfront. I will usually give a small producer or struggling production company or agency slack if I don’t need the money. I like to be known as “flexible”. But if they go past 60 or 90 then I go up a DefCon level. If I see Lexuses or BMWs in the parking lot the gloves are off. Even though the end client is large, if your immediate client is small they will often have such tight cash flow they can’t pay you until they get paid, but they should have told you up front.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Although Shane has a great answer I have found clients want to know a range if not a bottom line cost, so they probably won’t want to go into post with a blank check. They will want a figure or at least a ball park.

Here’s an alternative I have often used that has helped me to not shoot myself in the foot. I am referring to NOT giving them a figure below what they have in mind. Here’s the technique:

“May I ask what you wanted to keep the editing costs under?”

There is a good chance, if they are a decent size or profitable company, that they may give you a figure that is way above what you were considering, especially since you’re a noobie. So figure out what you feel you need to do a good job and be profitable, ask them the question and keep from showing your enthusiasm when they give a higher number than what you had in mind.

And if they give a lower figure than you wanted, you can just walk away from the gig.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Gosh, I didn’t think about Bob Zelin. Is there software to block him?

I guess it all goes back to the old adage: “It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep“. I think a lot of us in CS (Creative Services) are free spirits, never took a business course. Typical creative types. As small business owners we always kept pumping the profits back into the biz, but when you hit the big 5-0 you have to say: Wait a minute…” There is not as much time to save or come back from market crashes to our savings as we recently learned.

And happy birthday and kudos to Rich Rubash, I’m envious you own your building, I should have done that years ago. In terms of real estate for guys my age, I think we were sold a bill of goods from the residential real estate industry that “Your home is your biggest investment”. Yeah, right… That’s a couple extra hundred thousand I was counting on for retirement, evaporated.

And now that I look back I think I did not realize the difference, until lately, between Needs and Wants when it comes to buying gear. Like many of us here I was always fascinated by the “latest” doo-dads with blinking lights. But my savings are back on track. It’s just the 4% Rule that has me up tight. I have two tips:

1) Do NOT go to your 40th high school reunion. Everyone looks scary old, many people you knew are now six feet under and everyone seems super rich.

2) Don’t get any medical tests. Over 50 they will inevitably find something and that’s when you start looking at your retirement funds more closely, so stay away from doctors! Trust me on this.

Best,

Ned

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Had an idea….Ask a younger, highly experienced, DSLR DP, who grew up on only small everything, someone who is a friend or freelancer you use, give him a clipboard and a beer and ask him to go through your studio and write a list of what he thinks you should put on Ebay and Craigslist. I suggest this because it is very hard for you to part with items that that made a lot of profit in the past, have strong positive memories of shoots and good times, items you worked hard to save for, and maybe, just maybe you may need sometime. The young DP who came up in the biz lean with high ISO will look around and see museum pieces.

I know this will work because I married a woman who never wants to get rid of stuff because she may need it. Plus the longer you keep old gear the less you can get for it. I have gotten rid of anything I haven’t used in a couple of years. It helped that we downsized our house when we became empty nesters, like the downsizing of my van, the garage space forced me to miniaturize.

Cheers

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Wow, I used to sit all day riding Elemack dollies but I don’t think I’ve seen one for 15 years, or an O’Connor 100 for that matter. I come from the days of low ASA and grew up with big ass lights but now the brightest fresnels I take are 650s unless I think I will be throwing background patterns. Also, even though you have the C300 which will be great in low light, there is such a demand from clients for a more natural look, our training of highly stylized production lighting is now outdated, so you are right to pare down. Unless you are creating moon light on a night exterior I can’t imagine even needing junior stands and what they support. It’s a shame you can’t just drive into your space because the unloading after a long day is such a drag and crew are often in OT. Perhaps that’s where you start, downsize the truck, I imagine you’re in a 4 ton? Go to a cargo van with a rack and don’t accept passengers.

From what I gather you are more into spots and that’s an end of the biz unfortunately where clients expect a lot of gear for any contingency. I used to have full size Chevy cargo vans, then went to an Astro, then a Suburban and now I am in a minivan (that holds more than a Tahoe or Pilot). Also, I drive alone and use the cargo rack sometimes. I never thought I could squeeze into something so small but it is configured as a puzzle and if necessary I will have crew members meet me at my place and put some gear in their car. Reducing the size of my vehicles, (and when the airlines cracked down on weight and excess baggage), that’s what got me started. My point is, necessity is the Mother of Invention so a smaller vehicle makes you adapt, like RVing. I will query the client a lot about what to expect and that way I don’t have to “load for bear” like I was trained to do.

I am older than you so I have made a fetish over miniaturization and reduced weight. For instance, although I have C-Stands I only bring them out if I know there will be situations that require their unique characteristics, otherwise I just throw loose arms and gobo heads in the stand bags and make instant C-Stands on location. I have a dozen shot bags but usually now bring just one or two for safety, their needs are met by using heavy tool bags, etc. as ballast. I no longer bring lots of rolls of gels and such, instead I have pre-cut squares. I used to pack large Pelican cases and now I have moved to tight fitting cloth cases to save space (the crew knows better than to drop or throw my gear) and I use Pelicans only for air travel. My dolly is 12 pounds and sets up on PVC pipe in 30 seconds, better than the sliders. So there are a zillion ways to save space and weight. Another weight loss trick: I use a Kino Flo Diva light with interchangeable daylight bulbs for all my talking heads so…NO MORE HMIS FOR INTERVIEWS! I have a zillion more… Nowadays I like to think of myself as a lean and super efficient operator, I can work quicker. By being lean and mean I give the editor a LOT more set ups and focal lengths than they are used to which makes them and the clients happy. So you reducing size and weight will really help in other ways besides saving your back.

My two cents: Besides my on camera LED I am not a fan of them so far, except they last longer on batteries…

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Wow! What a great thread. There are few places on this interweb thingy that Al Gore invented where I can find people I relate to, who are in the same professional situation as I am, although the bulk of my revenue is as a DP. My wife says my most animated conversations are when I am among other freelance DPs and indie producers. But the posters replying to your inquiry, I can relate to all of them, they spoke the truth, some may give it more of a positive spin while others are Midwestern blunt, like myself, but thus far they all were spot on. A few things:

First, as someone who raised a daughter, enjoy the time NOW, because when she is about 14 there’s a 75% chance that she won’t want to talk and be with you all that much until after college, although I have seen some exceptions (the other 25%). If I recall that gives you 4 years. You get an inkling around 13 if she will be part of the 75 or 25 percentile, you can’t tell at 10. Also, remove her photo from your post, too dangerous.

Now let me get to the meat of the matter. After re-reading all your posts I feel I have a good handle on you, not personally, but I’ve known quite a few dozen guys like yourself who were in, or trying to get into our biz. You summed it up responding to Bob with:

“I find that my personal values and goals in life differ greatly from almost anyone I have ever talked to in the business world, where financial success seems to be the point of life.”

So my sage advice is: You need to, have to, have no other choice but to, work for a NON-PROFIT, preferably with a religious bent. I can tell you’re a religious guy. It can be on staff or as your main freelance client, but guys like you need to have that “meaning” to make the grind and sacrifices worthwhile. Someone like me (and Bob) on the other hand, we’re highly paid mercenaries. I look at my prime earning years (28-62?) as the time to gain financial security and I do meaningful videos as side projects. I always have some worthy charity I am doing something for yet am keen at making sure they don’t take advantage or too much of my time. I am not a street whore, I am a gorgeous, highly paid escort…

I am looking forward to my retirement years for using my super powers for the good, instead of creating TV entertainment and selling cheese, jetliners, machinery and various services like I do, whereas you want to do that in your prime years. Fortunately I am a production junkie so it really doesn’t matter what I shoot or produce, I just like the “act” of production in all it’s aspects and I have figured out a way to make a good living at it which is rare. You like making voices for your animated children’s videos and that is great, but there’s the old expression, “Ain’t no money in it”. As a dad and husband and someone who does not come from family money I have always felt it was my responsibility to come home with the bacon: for college costs, mortgage, vacations, health insurance, car payments, you name it. So suffering through inane subject matter, biting my tongue, putting up with crap, that’s what you have to do if you’re in the freelance/self employment pool, it’s being The Dad, the guy who brings home the bacon, or what you seem to be deriseveley calling “financial success”. In the freelance pool you really do swim with sharks and are prostituting yourself by offering your talents for money to whoever comes along.

Since you have clearly stated you can’t do that I strongly suggest you ensconse yourself within a religious non-profit, or some worthy cause organization such as Lions, Rotary, etc. I know this with 100% certaintude because I do a LOT of fundraising docs for orgs like that and I see how they operate and the kind of production folks they have. Most don’t have in-house production people, rather they have “communication” or “development” execs, the later being a fancy term for fund raising, and that’s usually the department you produce the videos for. They are all driven with a higher mission and that seems to be the kind of person you are, so go after that. However, I have found the inside politics of non-profits worse than corporations, mainly because they tend to “committee” every production decision to death, especially in post, so if you go this route you need to deal with that plus you’re still in a cubicle working long hours.

Lastly, speaking of hours, when you’re working for yourself it’s easier to put up with these long hours because you see a direct correlation between that and your reward (the “financial success” you eschew), whereas if you are on a flat salary it is just a grind. You said you can do it when you’re daughter is there but often, and in the near future, she won’t be there. I don’t know how old you are but as one ages in this biz the excitement fades and the money does become the primary goal because it’s not like we here are doing it for the fine arts, self expression aspect of video. We are in BIZNESS. This forum is named for that. Not only does it take a lot of money to maintain your family and secure it’s future but you need to bring in the Benjamins to run your business. That’s why in my previous post I said to make two spreadsheets, named Personal and Business.

So Chris, that’s my tip. Do NOT go on your own, you’re not the type that can make it because of your mindset, which is an admirable one but does not lend itself to freelance survival. You will miss recitals, Daddy/Daughter dances, soccer games, etc. while making deadlines, like the situation Bob is presently in which you find to be like a “death sentence”. Look for a mega church or worthy (large) charity that has an AV department. Or perhaps go for a Masters Degree and teach at the college level.

All the best,

Ned

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

Bob is correct except for one very important thing he has wrong:

Never buy your kid a new car. Goes to their head and makes their friends jealous.

Go with CarMax.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com

[Ned Miller]

You don’t need 6 months savings, that would take forever to accumulate, three months should do. Often when you’re freelancing you need to dip into your savings, even when you’re very busy, because some jobs go on for so long it takes awhile to get paid. Many companies can’t give you upfront money, especially if you’re a new vendor. Everyone has an excuse why your check is held up. Your line of credit may be your lowest rate credit card.

First, make two spread sheets, one personal the other business and figure out exactly, and realistically, what your nut will be. Avoid fixed expenses. I am constantly going over my two budgets. Don’t be too optimistic, remember Hope is not a business strategy.

Secondly, you should NEVER TURN DOWN WORK, even if you’re too busy to do it yourself. What I mean is find a friendly competitor, someone you can trust (which is difficult to find) and pass the work onto him or her for a percentage. Then when you do take the step you will have some clients who have been “taken care of” by your associate. This way you can be busy at your staff gig yet have a revenue stream, even if it’s just 5-10%, and be collecting clients. I have done this both ways: sometimes I farm the work out, other times it is farmed out to me, including from allies with staff gigs. So never turn down work, just turn it over to someone competent you can trust.

Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com