[Timothy J. allen]

Sebastian,
If a technical issue, such as your example of the tape glitch happens, you simply do the best you can. If you did everything you would reasonably do to avoid the glitch, it’s simply a sunk cost.

Be honest with the client and without making excuses, offer a few alternate solutions. Ron gave a great example of how he might salvage missing the wedding kiss with some creating thinking and wisdom in post.

As a client, I’d certainly reject a contract that gave the videographer an out for “reasonable” technical issues, simply because any other professional videographer would take responsibility. That’s what the money is for – accepting responsibility to get the job done… and then getting it done.

If (or when) get into a situation where a technical issue will affect your product, just put yourself in your client’s shoes and figure out what makes it right for them. Sometimes, it’s a combination of a partial refund and some post production magic. Sometimes it’s a full refund along with the best product you can make with what you have. Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do to really “make it right”.

Putting language in a contract that absolves what most of us here agree is “normal” risk and responsibility probably wouldn’t help even if you could get people to sign it. The only time a videographer would need to reference that clause would be if something bad happened, and they couldn’t “eat the cost” of making things right for the client. In that situation, rather than fighting about something beyond their control, they should be focusing on mitigating further damage to their reputation – and that kind of clause doesn’t do that.

[Timothy J. allen]

If the camera malfunctions for a moment, you use a clip from your spare. If that won’t work, you refund your fee.

The only clause I’ve seen related to that issue would be an “acts of God” clause, but that wouldn’t cover things that you should be prepared for, like potential technical glitches.
-TJA

[Timothy J. allen]

It’s hard to know what might be right for you, depending on the size of your business and the level of service you want, but I know a lot of people who swear by “Salesforce”.

Then again, if you don’t need that many features, you probably don’t want to pay a monthly fee. You usually get what you pay for, but I’m not familiar with Sugar CRM. It may just work for you.

[Timothy J. allen]

What no “Bad Santa”?

Just kidding.

“Christmas Vacation” is my all-time favorite. There are so many inside jokes in it that you can watch it ten times and notice different things every time. I used to wish I had an audio system like the neighbor’s had – now it looks SO dated. 😉

My brothers and I used to count down the days each year until our local network aired The “Charlie Brown Christmas” special. By the time the NBC peacock logo came on each year to kick the show off, we were giddy. Wait, maybe that’s my favorite… I’m downloading it from iTunes tonight so my kids can watch it on our upcoming 14-hour drive to visit their grandparents this Christmas. I hope my kids like it as much as I do… because they are probably going to see it several times. 😉

I grew up in rural Tennessee, and around the time the Charlie Brown special aired, the Channel 5 station in Nashville also used to air a short seasonal animated station promo that had kids walk up to a toy store window, wipe off the snow, and peer inside to watch the toys. “Music Box Dancer” was the song that played under the visuals. It was probably only 30 or 60 seconds, but that promo ranks right up there with my most nostalgic child memories.

Thanks for bringing this thread up, Stephen.

[Timothy J. allen]

Moody,
There was a thread a few month back that debated the value of a sales rep versus an administrative assistant.

Opinions vary, but if you bring a sales rep on board, I’d advise that:
A) You make sure they understand your business’ value proposition and what you can and can’t deliver
B) They work on straight commission for a period of time before you enter a longer term agreement.

Most of the seasoned folks on this board would tell you not to spend money on your business unless it’s going to bring more money back. Rent until you can prove that it’s cheaper to own, and ALWAYS get your agreements in writing. Bringing someone in is a lot easier than parting ways, so just make sure expectations are clearly spelled out.

If you aren’t comfortable selling yourself or you figure out that from a financial standpoint your time is better spent doing other things, a professional sales rep just might be the right choice for you.

[Timothy J. allen]

But do you guys usually send some sort of information to the organization that you donated goods and services to that spells out the value of what you donated – of course noting that it was donated so they don’t owe you anything?

Not necessarily an invoice, since you don’t want anyone to get mixed up, but perhaps a letter or something that still sums up the value of the donation (if it had been purchased) for everyone’s records?

You certainly don’t want to be tacky, but it seems that a “paper trail” might still be useful for a number of reasons – even if no fee is charged, exchanged or owed.

Thoughts?

[Timothy J. allen]

I agree that if it’s just a talking head interview, local shooters usually offer better prices, but you have to weigh it against some risk. I’ve never been burned by a local shooter that couldn’t deliver, but having a videographer that is well versed in the subject matter can really help speed things along if you also gather b-roll to support your story.

For instance, I travel quite a bit working on stories that illustrate the value of partnerships between small businesses and NASA. After interviews, we typically gather footage of the technology either in use or being manufactured.

As a producer, I can direct the videographer as to what to shoot, but we don’t always have the luxury to connect a monitor while we run and gun – so it’s much easier if they already have an idea of what the story is about, what makes the technology unique, and the style and purpose of the show. Using a consistent crew means I don’t have to explain all those things from scratch every time.

With the experienced videographer, I have the luxury of focusing on the content rather than spending my time (=money) to “teach” the local guy.

Just another perspective. I really do enjoy working with local crews when we are not on such a tight schedule.

[Timothy J. allen]

Chris,
Without any more details I can probably guess why they would want 26 separate videos instead of two longer ones…

1. The internet (including corporate sites and YouTube)
2. Presentation software that supports embedded videos, such as PowerPoint
3. Understanding that time is valuable and that it’s easier to get people to watch three or four short relevant videos than it is to get them to watch an equal amount or more video (which may not all be relevant)in one sitting.
4. Modular pieces are easier to repurpose without having to go out to a professional Editor to have them recut and updated. (Longer shelf life = more value)

Those reasons may or may not be valid, but it’s likely those items were selling points in the back room discussion about this production.

-Tim

[Timothy J. allen]

When I started taking karate back in eighth grade, the sensei told me that anyone teaching martial arts who had less than ten years experience was probably not worth the tuition.

Now that I’ve been in the video business more than a decade, I can see how that rule of thumb applies to our industry. Even though the equipment is completely different than what I was using back in 1998, that background I got from arguing whether non-linear editing was ever going to take the place of tape-to-tape does make me appreciate the changes that happen over a longer “season”.

After a decade, you learn that things are never as bad – or as good – as they might first seem, you don’t get ruffled quite so fast, and you learn that while it’s noble to take a position on a particular technology, you reserve the right to be proven wrong.

I’ve gone through several separate “learning curves” during the last decade. The “technical knowledge” learning curve eased up after about three years – now it’s rare that I get stumped on a particular technical issue for too long. At least I’ve learned where to look for help. (… and Creative Cow is still the first place for that!)

The “artistic” learning curve arced longer. Once I gained some technical skills, it took longer to learn the discipline of when not to pull out the magic bag of flashy tricks.

Learning how to manage people has been the longest curve so far. I feel more comfortable in management roles than I used to be, but I realize that leading people is an area with distinctive and unique long range challenges. With technical questions, you usually find out if you were “right” within minutes. With management challenges, it might be months or even years before you know if you made a good decision.

Even ten years sometimes seems like the first phase.

[Timothy J. allen]

So… Did the McCain campaign make an agreement (with consideration) to get the rights? If not, I don’t see it as much of a case. If musicians aren’t paid for their work, that creates more than a chilling effect – it puts them out of business. If the rights were paid for, then Jackson Brown has no case.

Sure it’s simplistic, but if I were a judge, I’d simply ask for the documentation. The politics of the players doesn’t matter to me. It’s certainly not a chilling effect for political speech if McCain campaign didn’t have an agreement for the rights.

If the judge says that’s the case, why not have every amateur video editor claim they ought to be able to use Van Halen music and Barbie and GI Joe dolls in their cheesy car commercials. Charging a million dollars for those rights “puts a chilling effect” on my ability to compete with those agencies that can afford to pay that amount for those rights. 😉
(Hope I don’t have too much of an accent with my tongue this far in my cheek.)