Steve Wargo
20
COW Coins
4
Premiere Pro Coins
Forum Replies Created
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A few years ago, my accountant started to 1099 non paying clients for money that they did not pay us. We had someone that owed us about $6500 and just couldn’t seem to find the time to write the check.
The accountant 1099d him when the debt was 18 months old. We had written part of the invoice in December and the other half in January. This meant that he had to re-file for two tax years. Mr slow pay got audited. And he sent us a check. There IS more than one way to skin a dead beat.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
I’m with Weenie on this one. It’s way to easy too to let little things nickel you to death.
Raise your rates 10% or more. Offer a 2% discount for net 10 on your usual 30 day accounts.
Offer more perks that look big but cost almost nothing. We’ve started to give away 10 DVD copies of the finished product. This costs me around $20 bucks it’s a big thing to clients and puts them a bit indebted to you.
Put out a monthly newsletter using Constant Contact or another service.
Sell off any older gear that is lying around.
Get a better deal on your insurance.
Announce that you’re going to have a company brainstorming session to increase the bottom line for next year. Give perks to those who come up with great, implementable ideas. because some people are very shy, accept suggestions in private or in writing if necessary.
As insane as this may sound, I pay bonuses for getting the job done earlier and saving the client money. I pass this info on to the client and let them know that “Bob’s” extra effort saved them money. A good client will understand that you are putting their interests ahead of making a few dollars and they will tend to lock you in and send you more work. This has worked amazingly well for us over the years.
When I had an automotive shop, I gave free brake jobs to all of my steady clients. At first, my mechanics thought that I was completely insane but how would you feel if your mechanic did this for your wife or parents? My customers could not wait to send everyone they knew to me and I made a lot more than I gave away. I gave the parts away and my mechanics did the work for free. It’s amazing how much you can honestly find wrong with a car when you’ve got it up on the lift and the wheels are off. The free part included shoes, pads seals and labor. The parts cost about 25 bucks and it look about an hour. That is cheap advertising. Above anything else, it showed that we were ethical in a rip-off industry.
Get rid of any client that is not a positive asset to your company.
We spend $10,000 a year on lunch and dinner for clients. It goes under “catering” and is 100% deductible. It’s funny how you can usually get another hour or two in production or post when the client has had a great lunch.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
I believe you can order the JVC less lens.
The JVC 250, however, has been approved by National Geo for programming.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
Good piece, Nick,
We’ve watched The Wire since episode #1 and it’s great to have an inside peak.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
I wouldn’t touch this dog for anything less than $2500 to $3500 a show. It seems like you and a helper could knock this out in a day. We’ve done cheap shows in the past and they never work out.
That being said, we did 13 shows for Bally Fitness 11 years ago and we built a live switch cart with a cheap switcher and two light posts. We could shoot and live switch a show in about two hours. Back at the studio, we would (tape to tape) make a single pass and add lower thirds and some prebuilt bumpers and have a master tape in about 70 minutes. While we are on location, we would shoot two shows and then edit two shows at a time. I believe we charged $1200 a show.
When people call us on these things, we usually ask them what they want to pay because they set the budget anyway. You can do this but have some sort of starting point. When they say they only have “X”, they are lying. Always start higher and don’t be afraid to send them on their way. I have a couple guys that I send these jobs to who are always bitching about how little they make and they don’t seem to be able to figure out what the problem is. Some people think they’ll never work unless they are the cheapest game in town. Don’t be one of those unless your work is so bad that you’re not worth more.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
I hate sales. I hate sales. I hate sales.
The only thing that saves us is the fact that almost all of our business is referral. You don’t actually have to be a salesman but you have to be able to sell yourself once someone contacts you. When my wife left to start her own company in another field, I took a 40% hit in business. I had to become something I didn’t want to be. I have chosen to ask some others in the field to rep for me and I pay decent commissions.
I hate sales.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
One of the most important things is to set business hours for yourself and schedule yourself like an employee.
Don’t work in your underwear. Dress each day like you’re going to a job.
Don’t fall into the same trap as too many others by saying “I’ll just drop into the edit suite for an hour or so” when you have free time. This will become a terrible habit to break. Some home-office types actually walk out of one door and into another to go to work.
The worst thing is having kids, and you don’t, but how about friends that think that you’re at home so they can drop by to visit, whenever they want, for as long as they want. Get the point across to them quickly, and in no uncertain terms.
Another problem is the people that think that you have all the free time in the world and you can’t possibly be charging them for doing something while you’re at home, doing nothing.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
[D. Scott Dobbie] ” It sounds like all that is against the norm for you, though. Sorry to hear that.”
Oh, please! Give me a break.
Most upper level companies do not want anyone to have a copy of their footage. When we do a job for General Motors, Jenny Craig or Boeing/McDonald Douglas Aircraft, we have to turn over every frame of video or become liable under our vendor contract. The American Cancer Society, on the other hand, appreciates that we are willing to stockpile all of their projects.
We shot a reunion of the band Megadeath several years ago and Capitol Records made us sign a million dollar contract that none of the footage would remain with us. However, we have all of the tapes from the first ten years of the PetSmart corporation.
So, it depends on the client but the bigger companies seem to lean toward keeping a leash on their intellectual property.
Most recently, some have brought their own Firestore units and they check to make sure that we don’t have a tape in the camera.
When we have asked about keeping something for a reel, they’re usually pretty reasonable but that’s about it.
And for you to come across with your condescending attitude was way out of line.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
Chad – I think you’ve walked into a Corvette Club meeting and asked if Corvettes were going to be around for a while. I think you need to take your question to those who are buying the footage, not selling the footage. I’ve been in business for 25 years and have never had a client ask for P-2. Several have had us shoot and transfer their stuff to an external, portable drive, though.
When P-2 first showed up at NAB, I told my long time (20 years) Panasonic rep that I thought that the P-2 format was the best thing ever for news and I still feel that way. I also said that if they make the cards cheap enough, they will never be able to make cameras fast enough. However, there is no justification for the price of the cards. The SD cards cost what they cost and the housing they sit in should cost a hundred bucks or so and the users should be able to swap out the SD cards as they grow in size. The rip off price of the cards is chillingly similar to the $1 a minute that we paid for BetaSP years ago. Funny how Beta fell from grace and the tape went down 65% in cost. When the VX-1000 came out, 60 minute tapes were $28 each. Who would pay that today? Not the people who cry about having to pay $7 for a Panny MQ tape.
A lot of recording media has been named as the end all – MII, BetaSP, D-9, Hi-8, DV, BetaSX and many more. The speed of technology being what it is today tells us that a format is good for about 3-4 years before it gets bested by something new.
If P-2 cards were a couple hundred bucks, producers would carry their own cards to shoots. Most of the time, when we shoot HDCAM, the producers bring their own tapes and leave with their own tapes. Some ask us to provide tape stock but less than half do so.
This all being said, we have a couple Sony EX-1s coming and they shoot to S+S cards. The Sony camera with the snap on card recorder might just be the answer. A camera body with a tape drive and a snap on card recorder.
So, I guess that my overall answer is to buy what will make tons of money for 4-5 years and then sell it off because it will be old technology. The HVX200 has been out for how long? It has a tremendous following but as soon as something better comes along, it will go away fast. The DVX100 cameras were the best thing in town and we still recommend them to new shooters who do not want to deal with technology that requires technological knowledge. The P-2 workflow is over their head and tape is easy to deal with. If Panasonic does away with tape, I think that they are overestimating the brain power of a lot of people. Some people can’t get past the dial on the back of the DVX and will never know what 29.97 means. They want to push a button and record and then plug the camera into the computer and download footage. When they shoot their project, they want to have a box of tapes to put on the shelf. We shot a feature on the DVX in 2002 and there is a box of 34 tapes in the storeroom that might never be opened again but it’s there for whatever reason.
So, as for your question about P-2 being the future, I wouldn’t bet too much money on it and neither will the veterans in the industry. It’s great for today but today ends at midnight.
And, to the people who are going to rip into me over this, let’s see what you’re shooting on in 5 years. When we bought our HDCAM camera in 2002, (5 years ago) HDCAM was the format of the future. And where is it now?
The Super Bowl is coming here in two months and HDCAM is the required format, for this year. Who knows what next year will bring?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
Chad – I think you’ve walked into a Corvette Club meeting and asked if Corvettes were going to be around for a while. I think you need to take your question to those who are buying the footage, not selling the footage. I’ve been in business for 25 years and have never had a client ask for P-2. Several have had us shoot and transfer their stuff to an external, portable drive, though.
When P-2 first showed up at NAB, I told my long time (20 years) Panasonic rep that I thought that the P-2 format was the best thing ever for news and I still feel that way. I also said that if they make the cards cheap enough, they will never be able to make cameras fast enough. However, there is no justification for the price of the cards. The SD cards cost what they cost and the housing they sit in should cost a hundred bucks or so and the users should be able to swap out the SD cards as they grow in size. The rip off price of the cards is chillingly similar to the $1 a minute that we paid for BetaSP years ago. Funny how Beta fell from grace and the tape went down 65% in cost. When the VX-1000 came out, 60 minute tapes were $28 each. Who would pay that today? Not the people who cry about having to pay $7 for a Panny MQ tape.
A lot of recording media has been named as the end all – MII, BetaSP, D-9, Hi-8, DV, BetaSX and many more. The speed of technology being what it is today tells us that a format is good for about 3-4 years before it gets bested by something new.
If P-2 cards were a couple hundred bucks, producers would carry their own cards to shoots. Most of the time, when we shoot HDCAM, the producers bring their own tapes and leave with their own tapes. Some ask us to provide tape stock but less than half do so.
This all being said, we have a couple Sony EX-1s coming and they shoot to S+S cards. The Sony camera with the snap on card recorder might just be the answer. A camera body with a tape drive and a snap on card recorder.
So, I guess that my overall answer is to buy what will make tons of money for 4-5 years and then sell it off because it will be old technology. The HVX200 has been out for how long? It has a tremendous following but as soon as something better comes along, it will go away fast. The DVX100 cameras were the best thing in town and we still recommend them to new shooters who do not want to deal with technology that requires technological knowledge. The P-2 workflow is over their head and tape is easy to deal with. If Panasonic does away with tape, I think that they are overestimating the brain power of a lot of people. Some people can’t get past the dial on the back of the DVX and will never know what 29.97 means. They want to push a button and record and then plug the camera into the computer and download footage. When they shoot their project, they want to have a box of tapes to put on the shelf. We shot a feature on the DVX in 2002 and there is a box of 34 tapes in the storeroom that might never be opened again but it’s there for whatever reason.
So, as for your question about P-2 being the future, I wouldn’t bet too much money on it and neither will the veterans in the industry. It’s great for today but today ends at midnight.
And, to the people who are going to rip into me over this, let’s see what you’re shooting on in 5 years. When we bought our HDCAM camera in 2002, (5 years ago) HDCAM was the format of the future. And where is it now?
The Super Bowl is coming here in two months and HDCAM is the required format, for this year. Who knows what next year will bring?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way.