[Nick Griffin]

I’ll chime in with K and say that a dual boot system does make the most sense. After going over to FCP a few years back I was frustrated by its way of doing things and slowed by FCP needing two steps to do things I was used to doing in one on M100. So when I first saw Producer I immediately felt at home again, just with a lot more stuff. (See: https://library.creativecow.net/articles/griffin_nick/wish.php)

In fact, I was so impressed with the new Media 100 that I upgraded from Producer to HDE.

So why keep FCP around at all and why spring for the upgrade to its current version? Because it’s sooooo cheap that it would be nuts to not get the FCP package. Compressor and DVD Studio alone, the two components I use the most, are well worth the money all by themselves. Oh yea, and one of these days I’m going to take the time to learn the “Color” application.(One of these days.) Color used to be $20k and now it’s part of the bundle? Kind of made the $400 upgrade seem like a major duh.

The ability to return to FCP projects as well as older M100-produced jobs also makes a dual boot system highly desirable even if everything created new here is done on M100. Of course another substantial advantage is the fact that M100 can use media digitized by FCP so the system really does offer maximum flexibility.

[Nick Griffin]

[walter biscardi] “If it’s not a work for hire, they don’t owe you anything. you give them the stills.”

Huh?? Isn’t that kind of inverted?

Work for hire means you’re essentially an employee and the employer therefore owns the work product, and by inference the copyright.

When it’s NOT work for hire, by virtue of NOT being spelled out as such, you own the work product and the copyright.

All this said, in this case I’d explain to your contact that you really should be charging for this and would like to be paid for future uses, but for her and especially because of the referral, and for this ONE use you’re happy to waive the fee. Just make sure you have this in writing. In this digital age it’s far to simple for the pic from today’s brochure to end up in tomorrow’s newspaper ad and billboard.

[Nick Griffin]

Todd-

And that is one of the reasons that when I moved over into industrial, technical and B2B I never looked back. I’ve worked with too many car dealers who thought planning and business strategy meant what you would do today and tomorrow. I even had one dealership tell me to pull the spots and think of something new because they’ve already run one day and nothing has happened.

In B2B we almost always work from annual plans, annual goals and annual budgets.

[Nick Griffin]

I’m no lawyer and I don’t play one on TV, but I will say that — in my OPINION — David’s language is what you need, AND, to be a legal and binding contract, you need something called “consideration.”

Start with “In consideration of $000 as payment in full for the videotaping of (_______) on date, all video copies…”

You both should sign and date it, and to make it really legal have a witness also sign it.

Best of luck. Hope you make a zillion.

[Nick Griffin]

[Brendan Coots] “the companies that reeled in all of their marketing and basically took the ostrich approach withered away.”

A recession is anything from a lack of growth to a double digit decline in business activity. The problem comes when business people forget this, panic and start the wholesale cancelation of marketing activities. Brilliant. What a great time to make sure that fewer people know about you and what you offer.

This frequently happens in companies where the top execs came up through positions other than sales, for example engineering, manufacturing or (shudder) accounting. I’ve worked with companies “led” by people with these backgrounds and seen more than one large company destroyed from within by them.

[Steve Wargo] “We then decided to call all of our clients and ask what we could do to help promote their businesses and increase their sales.” Dead on, Steve! Bruce’s cross selling ideas are also very much on target and not just during recessionary times.

Another of our best defenses against the ‘slash all marketing costs’ mentality is to remind clients that during past recessions smart companies have used downturns as a time to go against the grain, promote more and, in doing so, increase market share. In other words, a recession is a good time to do MORE advertising and marketing activities rather than less.

[Nick Griffin]

[Steve Wargo] “Unless … someone can prove that this was a corporate conspiracy as in Enron.”

Funny you should use that analogy. I heard a commentator on the radio call this situation “the Enron of Hollywood.” Having no inside information on this whatsoever, I suspect that the company was living off the float with money coming being used to pay bills coming due. So when the strike cut off the money coming in it’s curtains.

[Nick Griffin]

[Kevin Reiner] “can you expand on what features you liked the most?”

For a lot of discussion, check out the “Game Changer” string starting on October 28, 2007.

MediaBatch is like email in that once you start using it you quickly find it hard to imagine not having it and wonder how you lived without it. In addition to video we use MediaBatch for making very large PDF files available internationally when they’re too big for email. Although similar in principal, it’s a big improvement over FTP for downloading. On videos the ability to mark-up, annotate and create a virtual approval environment is like nothing I’ve seen before.

[Nick Griffin]

First and foremost I need to state that I’m in a different business than most of the people here. We do video production and limited motion graphics for B-2-B sales, training and informational purposes. But we also provide many other services including print advertising, brochures, publicity, a lot of still photography and more for a limited and highly focused set of industrial clients.

The approach that I’ve taken over the past 20+ years is not to be in the “X” (video, advertising, PR) business rather we’re in the CLIENT business. Because we take a great deal of time understanding them, their customers and their marketplace we’re in a better position to help them with a broader range of their communications needs. Our clients never have to explain their product to the guys writing their video and then turn around to explain it all over again to the guys writing their brochures or planning their trade shows. Frequently we’re providing them with information about their competitors and other happenings in their marketplace, rather than having the flow of information only go in a single direction.

We take a “jack of many trades, master of some” approach and it’s proven to be nicely profitable. What we do is not for everyone and not something too many others would want to do, which Is why I point it out up front.

[Daniel Rodriguez] “Where do you find the people you hire?

Again, mostly networking. People I’ve met through past jobs or who have come recommended by friends. I’ve used the COW with great success when looking for grips and other resources in cities where we haven’t worked before. I believe that this sort of personal referral works for so many of us because with it comes a level of accountability to the person making the referral and to the person being referred. Craig’s List isn’t embarrassed if the new hire breaks the camera or steals the petty cash, nor will Craig’s List stop being the friend of the referred individual.

What credentials/experience does the person need to get hired for this entry level position.

Aside from the proven ability to do the job, a sense of personal style if its a creative position. If it’s a non-creative task, saying gripping, then it’s all about attitude, timeliness and reliability. Is the person positive to have around, eager to help and anticipating needs or just sitting back waiting to be told what to do next?

What is your best/worst experience with employees.

See the part above about breaking the camera and stealing the petty cash for the worst. And see the part above about being positive and anticipating needs for the best.

How did you get hired on your last job?

Our last several clients have come about through word of mouth backed up by our industry reputation. I’m sorry to say Daniel that these are not things that can come about overnight. Years ago (OK, decades ago) I was hired for one of my earliest jobs because I’d managed months before to secure an un-paid intern position. That was done by appearing to be bright, helpful, highly motivated and willing to learn. (Boy did I have them fooled — especially the bright part.)

What are your strengths/weakness professionally?

I try too hard to make sure that clients are happy and always get more than they pay for. Hah!! What a Miss America answer. Seriously though, I believe that my personal strengths are a fairly broad yet competent skill set and a high degree of comfort dealing with top level executives in client companies.

Weaknesses? Ask my wife. She could go on for days. OK, again seriously, I don’t suffer fools gladly — which in a client/sales situation can be important. When someone is being an idiot I am far too quick to point it out when I should just shut up.

Any other tips or information you could give me”

Learn as much as you can about as many things as you can. And especially concentrate on writing skills. There’s an old prep school school saying that goes along the lines of “people who can write clearly can think clearly and people who can think clearly can write clearly.” Especially in this day of sloppy web postings and monosyllabic Blackberry communications you can stand out in the crowd if you can clearly and eloquently express yourself. (Or at least that’s what Ron Lindeboom gives me as the reason why no one gets paid for writing these long and involved forum posts.)

[Nick Griffin]

[Jonathan Pitzer] “If you ask around, you will find out that most people do not really value a Master’s Degree all that much”

Yes and no, Jonathan. It all depends on the environment in which you work and the TYPE of Masters. I could easily see that a Masters degree in editing, sound design or some other production skill wouldn’t mean much in a job where how good your chops are is a lot more than the piece of paper you have. In this case you’re much better off working in an apprentice capacity somewhere you can learn from others and build those chops. Second best would be to spend as much time as you can studying the work of others and trying to learn from it. Of course COW tutorials like those from Aharon Rabinowitz and others are worth their weight in gold.

The environment where a Masters degree WILL mean something is in bigger corporations. For better or worse many HR people will regard someone with an advanced degree as being more desirable to the organization than someone without one. If HR is doing the hiring rather than someone who knows the appropriate skill set and degree of chops the degree wins out.

Now as to the type, consider a Masters in something besides the kinds of things a Full Sail teaches. An MBA degree (even one from night courses which you can take over a number of years) will improve your chances of advancement in many companies, especially larger ones. A few years down the line the guy with a financial skill set, in addition to his editing skills, is more likely to be offered the chance to manage a department than is someone who is just an editor.

But then, what do I know? While some of my friends were getting their MBAs several years back I was just using a lot of nights and weekends doing the same kind of production work I was doing 9 to 5.

[Nick Griffin]

[Rick Dolishny] ”
Interesting because I always bill for encoding.”

I’ll chime in with a me too on this one. But we don’t list it as encoding on the invoices. It’s all part of the DVD authoring process.

As to rendering, the stuff we’re doing in After Effects is usually so simple that the renders can be churned out during breaks or during short breaks created for the purpose of getting a few quick renders done so stuff can be added to the NLE.

BTW, if you do anything at all with After Effects your life will be GREATLY improved by adding the Nucleo Pro plug-in. Not only does it make renders faster, it does background renders and background previews so while you’re working the part of the timeline you’re not changing is rendering. An unbelievable timesaver that can easily pay for itself in a session or two, making getting it essentially a no brainer.