[Nick Griffin]

[Greg Ball] “I use World Communications Link”

or you can use Crews Control… BUT I agree with Jeff and would start here on the COW. You want to first post under the COW section “JOBS Offered – Higher Pay” then ask those who reply to detail equipment and show you a reel. This is the kind of screening that World Communications and Crews Control provide in exchange for the higher fee they likely charge than going direct.

I’ve had very good luck here when looking for skilled people. My experiences looking for lower-skilled PAs or Jr. grips has not been good, kind of like a ‘luck of the draw’ with Craig’s List.

[Nick Griffin]

I usually give quotes as three or four overall categories. Each category lumps together the costs within that category. For example:

PRODUCTION
-Director / Cameraman
-Producer
-Grip
-PA / Script Supervisor
-Equipment Rental
-Media
-Actors (Union, On-Camera, Speaking)
-Actors (non-union, non-speaking)
-Stylist / Hair / Makeup
-Props
-Location Fees
-Wardrobe
-Crew Meals / Per Diem
-Travel days
-Airfare
-Hotel
-Vehicle: Rental or Mileage Re-imbursement

This is what I work from. What’s given to the client is the bottom line number only.

Other overall categories are for Pre-Production (Meetings, scouting, and writing), Post-Production, DVD Authoring.

Very few clients want to see each and every cost, in fact those who do are often trouble (in my experience).

[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Suszko] “it won’t remove paint…from the location walls”

Okay, Mark. I agree with everything you said EXCEPT that part. I’ve had gaffer’s tape pull enamel paint off wood surfaces. Other than that, especially things like marking spots on carpet and flooring with no residual marks whatsoever makes it worth $20+ a roll.

[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Suszko] “Follow Nick’s good advice”

But whatever you do DON’T follow Nick’s spelling. Remember, he started out in radio where the careless juxtaposition of sound alike words didn’t matter.

[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Suszko] “You can use “free” actors, and save money over a pro actor, but… will they look as good? Will they take more time to perform the perfect take, and then what did you save?”

It’s my long-held belief that amateurs ALWAYS end up costing more than professionals. And even though I had a recent memory lapse and used a friend rather than a cast professional to get a certain look, I have once again had this adage proven to me.

Amateur talent simply doesn’t know what they don’t know. Whether it’s something simple like repeatability for continuity between takes, or inflection and timing of delivery, or any number of a hundred other things that affect production, PROS are CHEAPER than amateurs EVERY TIME.

[Nick Griffin]

I’ll chime on the same side as Mark & Todd. Dolly & jib are simply competitive extras that these days come in our toolbox of visuals. In my experience, even if the client doesn’t necessarily know why, he or she can see that tools like these make our footage look more elegant, more smooth, more “Hollywood” than that from a fixed position. The same was true with the upgrade to HD about 4 years ago. In fact we still sometimes find that we are competing against (usually individuals) still shooting in SD. I just ask that they compare reels side by side and then bring up the whole “future-proofing” thing.

Whether it’s for the shoot or the post, the clients get what we have. However if they want the look of a Chapman crane descending from sixty feet down to ground level that’s not something we, or anyone we compete with, has. So that’s the cost of the rental, the operator(s) and a modest mark-up. HMIs are in a grey area. If they can be included in the budget, great. If they’re needed, ie.- for something BIG, and the budget is already bursting someone’s seams we’ll eat the rental to preserve the look of our work. That said, it’s rare that I’ll let someone see individual item costs — especially the outrageous amount we charge for gaff tape.

[Nick Griffin]

In my post “board“ should have been “bored.” I truly am the King of Typos. (Must come from starting out in radio.)

[Nick Griffin]

Nice. And especially impressive in the variety and scope of projects. Few suggestions, however.

As we have discussed many times over on the Business & Marketing COW, when you’re going after a type of business THAT should be the focus of your reel. Flowers are pretty, but don’t mean squat to someone wanting a corporate video.

Effective demos don’t have to be short, but they do need to make a point very quickly, ie.- within the first minute, because it’s easy for a viewer to get board and move on. So sell hard in the first minute then provide longer, more complete pieces either later, or better still, as separate shows in their entirety along with your punchy one minute show piece. (BTW- This is all my opinion, others certainly may have differing ideas.)

Lastly, if you are using a camera with auto-focus, like the Canon XL-2 depicted on your Facebook page, learn to live WITHOUT auto-focus. Especially on the Canon as it is prone to “pump” and can also easily have the wrong part of the shot in focus while the subject is a little soft.

All in all, though, congrats on a strong start. Join us over at the Business COW for ideas on getting and keeping jobs, clients and careers.

[Nick Griffin]

OK, now for some actual advice. From both your post and particularly your web site, you are trying to be all things to all people. The net result of this is seldom success. The bride wanting wedding videography could care less that you also do corporate video and commercials. And the same goes for the corporate client if not more so. In fact both might be scared off by the impression that you specialize in or even do the other. Form separate divisions and especially separate websites for separate categories of business.

The other specific advice I will offer up is your website seems especially light on examples of your work for you to be considered a serious contender. (Pun intended because the only video I saw which was identified as your own was the fighter.) Get more stuff up there even if it’s speculative work.

And lastly, for now, your husband, who I assume is the primary cameraman, needs to work on technical skills and developing a style. These are things that you can start to get from a book, but require a great deal of observation as well as study. One of the best places to learn is by assisting other cameraman and working as crew on other people’s projects.

All the best. Keep at it and hard work pays off… eventually.

[Nick Griffin]

First and foremost, Shameka, welcome to the Business & Marketing pasture at the Creative Cow and congratulations on your first post.

There are hundreds if not thousands of posts here and in the archive links below which will provide a wealth of information and ideas on selling and getting started. I highly recommend you take as much time as you possibly can to read down through the ten years of material. Taken as a whole it’s better than just about any book you could find or course you could take on the subject. Start there.