[Nick Griffin]

First, I think Brian could have a co-producer arrangement with the agency provided it came with a solid contract that, among other things, stipulated that he owned aspects of the production and the concepts.

But… the only way this would make sense would be if there were a SUBSTANTIAL upside potential and not just the chance to get a little more work. It’s all risk/reward ratios guys. If you want me to take a risk or accept a lower rate then there must be a pretty BIG and fairly likely payoff in the future. Otherwise it’s just another way of getting “ground,” (ie.- what a Grinder does).

[Chris Blair] “They even submitted the campaign in the local Addy awards and listed the cable company as the production company! You guessed it. It won in it’s category.”

Chris –
I thoroughly dislike litigation. It can be an enormous waste of time and especially of mental and emotional energy. However in your case I would have sued or found some other way to let your entire ad community know that this agency is sleaze and that the Addy was won falsely. Also going forward I assume that you no longer give out scenes that weren’t used in the finished production. To state the obvious, it’s just an invitation to get screwed.

[Nick Griffin]

[Ty Ford] “PS: the cmc641 would not have been my choice for this application”

Jeez, you mean there’s ONE thing that it’s not perfect for? (Just kidding, bud.)

[Nick Griffin]

Grin-
The camera that got dropped so hard it broke the deck was in the huge coffin-sized shipping case that it came with from Sony. So since then I’ve ALWAYS hand carried. But, for what I do, traveling without sticks and lights is simply not an option. That and I don’t mind checking a bag with clothes.

T2 –
I almost always FedEx lights, stands, tripod & grip equipment ahead. The problem becomes multiple location shoots where we’ve had to check stuff with the airlines in order to keep up with a multi-city schedule. Last year was the worst one yet going from home to Chicago, Chicago to Oakland, Oakland to Seattle, Seattle to LA for five shoot days in a row. (Lesson learned: don’t let the client set the schedule.)

I’m also under some pricing pressure these days where I’ve been getting grief about several hundred dollars of FedEx, even when it’s 3 day Economy. On this next gig I’m doing stills as well so there’s that camera, still tripod, strobe heads and powerpacks in addition.

And just for everyone’s FYI, my insurance carrier wrote our policy to include gear “in transit” so we’re covered and don’t have to pay FedEx’s far more expensive insurance fees.

Oh, well. Thanks to all of your for your comments. Still interested in anything else anyone has to contribute.

[Nick Griffin]

Thanks for the informed update, Tim.

Kind of makes me glad that I’m not a sports shooter. While the long lens stuff will likely be OK, the really great shots in 3D will be those shot very close to the action. Wouldn’t want to be the guy getting up close and personal with pro football games. Should be quite the dramatic development for those overhead wire-based cams though.

[Nick Griffin]

[David Roth Weiss] “make certain the company names you as an insured on their insurance policy”

AND… this kind of work should pay MUCH better than both feet on the ground shooting. I have little doubt that this company charges a premium for “working at height” so you should too.

As to use of a helmet-cam, they work well in sky diving because you are able to “fly” toward, away and beside your fellow sky divers. It’s basically just a wide shot that you control with your proximity to the subject. While this may work for one or more scenes in your video it’s unlikely to be sufficient for the complete narrative. And because you’re not sky diving you probably don’t want to be “flying” to and from your subject.

[Nick Griffin]

[Bob Zelin] “I WILL SUCCEED, even if I die in the process ( and everyone else around me dies in the process).”

Bob-
Here’s a tip: the coffee pot with the green handle is usually decaf. You should try it sometime.

[Nick Griffin]

Short & Sweet:
IMHO, the primary cause of burn-out, whether it be small, mid-sized or even big business, is un-realized expectations and un-met goals. And the rah-rah business cheerleader in me says that the most likely cause of not meeting goals is not setting them in the first place.

[Nick Griffin]

Jeff-

Most of us have pricing templates which help us arrive at an estimated cost in a logical and predictable manner. The template is also helpful in remembering everything — for example, we don’t often need someone for hair & make-up, but its on my estimating sheet so I don’t forget to budget for it when we do.

I’ve seen several variants of estimating templates in spreadsheet form. The big question is when, how and whether to share them with your clients. For me I typically want to “black box” the estimate to avoid having a client try to pick them apart. For example, “Hey, I see that you’re charging us $7 each for 50 DVDs. We’ll take just one and duplicate the rest ourselves.”

So rather than sharing the spreadsheet with all of its individual costs my estimate will be divided into categories. For example, for a 5 minute finished show:

Pre-Production & Field Production
– Scriptwriting (based on existing printed materials)
– Location set-up & site coordination
– 1 Day shoot incl. Director/Cameraman incl. all lighting and support equipment,
– Producer, Grip, Recording Media

Post Production
– AFTRA voiceover actor & union fees,
– Voice-over recording session,
– Licensed Production music,
– Scene transfer & shot logging,
– Non- linear editing (Suite & Editor/Director),
– Off-line EFX & titling (Opens/Closes/etc),
– Master to QT Files
– Downsample & Compress for web delivery

DVD Authoring
– Compression / Mastering,
– Title Design,
– Messenger/ FedEx to Dupe House,
– 50 DVD duplicates with printed label

Total Cost:
$X,XXX.00 (plus TBD travel expenses)

This is showing the client that there’s more to the production than they typically have thought of and helps create the impression that there’s sound reasoning behind the final cost.

What’s the exception? It’s really a play it by ear thing, but on occasion there are clients who fancy themselves as the producer and feel the need to be involved in all of the cost decisions. Many times it’s also useful to have the spreadsheet available as a way to demonstrate how changes the client makes will affect the final cost.

Now as to charging for going out of town. It’s a given that you always need to have your actual costs of travel reimbursed (if not fronted). But as to charging for the time you spend traveling, I think that has to be on a case by case basis. If the argument can be made that money can be saved by hiring a local crew rather than flying me across the country I’m likely to waive the cost of a travel day. However if I have specific expertise in the subject matter and am functioning as my own producer then building in compensation for all of my time is easily justified.

Hope this helps. Best of luck on your project, Jeff.

“Some people say that I’m superficial. But that’s just on the surface.”

[Nick Griffin]

Walter –
That’s wonderful advice. Thank you for giving the thread such a positive and helpful twist.

[Nick Griffin]

Wick-
Once upon a time didn’t you tell me that HD-SDI Input 2/B on the Kona 3 is not supported by Media 100 — just 1/A? Isn’t that what’s going on here?