Randall Raymond
Forum Replies Created
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[Randall Raymond] “If you’re chasing cable spots, you need your head examined.”
By the way, I meant ‘you’ in the rhetorical sense.
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[Mark Stuart] “Now I’d like some advice on writing a proposal/estimate.”
Keep it simple. ‘Proposal/Project go-ahead’ should require both you signatures, include the invoice for the down stroke. Don’t be verbose on the actual project.
List the fine print of your contract on the back of the ‘Proposal/Project go-ahead’ then call it your standard contract. They are much more likely to sign if your stipulations are ‘standard’ – they assume that all your clients are signing under those terms.
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[Tom Dunn] “Randall, interesting statement. Can you elaborate on your comment?”
Sure. Right now, Google is looking for video producers for their Adwords content network. Video ads. Millions of clients. Thousands in every market. This ain’t the 80’s. If you’re chasing cable spots, you need your head examined.
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[Steve Wargo] “I was young, hungry and did them for $500 apiece. That was a boatload of money in the 80s.”
Well, it ain’t now. And it ain’t much above that. Cable is a losing proposition in my opinion. There is much more opportunity on the internet.
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[Nick Griffin] “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.”
Exactly! I think a Masters in Journalism or English – with a passion for communication on the broad front, read, media in all its flavors – is much more valuable. I suppose that holds up where content is king – which is to say, not everywhere. But if it’s not everywhere else, who needs the advanced degree working amongst techno-idiots? Dummy-down and call it a day.
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[Todd at Fantastic Plastic] “Even the print-heavy agencies, at least around here, know the value of television. They can produce tons of print ads, collateral, outdoor… but often their clients don’t feel “legitimate” until they see themselves on the boob tube. Maybe we are an anomaly, but arm-twisting has never had to come into play.”
I guess my point was that if the idea for client video doesn’t start with the agency – then look out.
We had one project that took up a good half of a 300k ad budget. In the first meeting with the ad agency – they had daggers coming out of their eyes.
Just letting Joel know of the hornet’s nest he could be bumping into…
His real problem is that he will be seen as a competing agent and, trust me, other agencies will not want him in the inner circle. That’s why I suggested he partner up with a local agency, probably only for local clients. Seems to me, he’s in a great position to write his own deal.
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[joel jackson] “I like the idea of hitting up the smaller ones first. I’m gonna give it a try.”
I think you’re going to be disappointed. Here’s why…
Be aware that smaller agencies are usually pitching print.
1. Client has a ad budget of $xxxxx.
2. Agency wants all of it.
3. The agency can mark-up your work – but they would rather mark-up their own and keep their people working.
4. They will not recommend video until their arm is twisted by the client. Really friggin’ twisted! Because there goes the budget! And they know it.The problem is, most video guys are horrible ad-men, but wonderful picture takers. The solution may be to find the right, talented agency and join them as a partner. Improve their quiver sort of thing…
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[joel jackson] “Hey all,
I just read the entire post and her is my 47.5 yen.
Is this really what the COW was designed to do? Please let’s keep it cool. Words can be hard to interpret on the screen. This is the best forum ever created (thanks Ron).
Let’s keep it positive. A lot of stuff sucks (oh hell, I’m a professional an I said sucks) but the people that post here want help in a constructive way. I know that it sometimes means constructive criticism, but, be gentile if possible. We’re all in the same boat and just need a bit of advice
Peace all,
Joel Jackson”
You’re right. I stepped over the line and apologize to everyone, especially to Aaron.
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[Rick Dolishny] “The absolutely best place to put a professional demo reel is Reel Exchange.”
That’s not a very high Flash video encode of your work. Perhaps 250-300kbps. Cable will stream Flash 8 at 700-800kbps without hitching. Transitions and motion visibly fall apart below that. Which is to say, one could encode Flash 8 at 1000-1500kbps for pristine reels with a short loading time for cable (and above) viewers. But no one hosts that for free. If the purpose of an on-line video is to knock their socks off – why settle for something that amounts to a notch above dial-up?
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[David Oulashian] “What is the best place/method/etc. to get a streaming reel online with quality without having to create my own website?”
The problem with any free site for posting video is they are probably going to restrict bandwidth (quality – bit-rate and size) to accommodate all the videos being played at any given moment.
If you have a friend with a website, perhaps he could create a page for you and let you upload a really high quality encode of your reel. Just an idea…