The Summer of Flakes

[Cüneyt Kaya]

First off, Summer's not over.. but...

I don't like to bitch like this but thought I would..

Anyone else in Los Angeles experiencing what I've been going through these past 4 weeks?

Flaky, full of shit clients? Not all of them... but a select few I've had the pleasure of dealing with this past month..

It seems like every client now has a "best friend" that owns a Red camera who will undercut your ass like a Samurai. Theres no room for negotiation anymore. People want the cheapest of the cheap and they want it cheap.. Who gives a shit about talent and expertise.. Lets just get the camera for pennies and worry later..

Maybe its my mindset... Maybe its the smog... Maybe its the Red camera creeping into every home of every producer in this city.. or maybe its something bigger.. Like this recession we're in...

I'm going to go drop kick a wall..

I'm only complaining because I woke up this morning, having lost 3 potential jobs that were on the verge of closing to "a friend of the directors who owns a Red camera" :spidy:

maybe scarlet will break red one`s rental backbone?----
the guys who can afford will rent an epic.
the rest will buy a scarlet or will rent one for 200 Dollars a day.

just guessing, the future will tell the truth

---some more guessing/fortune telling
in one year after scarlets release ( i would build a 1500 dollars adaptor for pl lenses if i were red, but i am not, and what do i know?)....the guys who made money will upgrade to red, some will keep it, but a lot will sell the body for exactly 17500 dollars (if red says its ok to trade in a second hand red) and will move to scarlet...
we will see a lot of dirt cheap assecoires in one year.

[Rick Darge]

I began writing an article on my blog about a topic very similar to what you are describing Richard, but I stopped writing it because it was starting to go down a road that I didn't want to go down. Like any industry you are going to have the people you love working with and the people that you may not want to be in the same room with. I've always based my business practices on some simple principles - honesty and integrity. It can be very difficult when you work with people who don't practice those same principles. It can discourage you and make you wonder why you even bothered to get into this in the first place. But then you'll have a client come along who is a dream to work with and you forget all about those things that discouraged you.

If you stick to who you are and are in this field for all of the right reasons, then these troublesome business dealings will just be speed bumps. Your passion for what you do will allow you to get over them.

When I was writing the article that day I was in a similar mindset to yours. The past few days I have had some really great conversations about projects and I'm back to having faith in my fellow filmmaking community.

Thank you Steve. That was a great response. Very true..

[Greg M]

From my experience those clients that pay the least demand the most and those that pay the most demand the least...moral of the story is dont deal with the clients that pay the least. Put a fair price on your service and stick to it...why work twice as hard for 1/2 the money?

[Friedrich Moser]

Digitalfx,

I can only second that. Right now I am suffering exactly this kind of project - it hurts twice as much, if, as in my case, you have to deal with someone you never thought of would behave like this.

Conclusion: no more projects on a regional scale. For my RedOne: no rental. Just my own projects. And the pricing never based on the cam alone: this is digital 35mm and you need skilled personal to do the shooting well. So my budgeting will always be cam+accessories+dp+dit+ac. I will always make a finished trailer first. This allows the clients to judge the quality they get - and to understand the pricing. Pricing always superior to HDCam.

Just my two €-cents.

Fritz

[Michael "Dorkman" Scott]

From my experience those clients that pay the least demand the most and those that pay the most demand the least...moral of the story is dont deal with the clients that pay the least. Put a fair price on your service and stick to it...why work twice as hard for 1/2 the money?

SO true.

Just had a recent client that was going to rent, then went with someone else who undercut my rate (and I'd already given them a 50% reduction as a student project)...then came back when that camera stopped working in the middle of the first day's shoot.

[I Bloom]

Greg has it right:

Seek clients you want to pay the right price for an excellent product. Not the lowest price for a mediocre product.

That's a treadmill you don't want to be on.

IBloom

[Harry Clark]

Richard, I certainly have experienced this. But Ian is right. Avoid the race to the bottom.
I've had MANY "fishing expedition" phone calls since getting my Red. I'll send a quote, pencil in the dates, only to have the client call back and say that there's a kid somewhere who can do it for less than half. And that's fine. I simply will not slide that far.
Most of my regular clients see that the value added by a "pro" level package and support is worth it. That's why the Arri and Panavision products still race out the door at rental houses. I suspect the Sony F35 will too.
That leads me to wonder about the horse-and-cart question: Are they regular clients of mine because they are professional and willing to spend the right money, or are they willing to spend the money because they have regularly rented from me and are in a comfort zone?
Being in the rental business always means a little Delancey Street type negotiating. And that's fine; I actually enjoy it. However, if there is too little money, it becomes the film HOBBY, not the film BUSINESS. And that's OK if you're making little art films. If you're making commercials, corporates, or any kind of for-profit venture, it's a waste of time to not get paid the right money.
K. Berlin, I do hope that Epic lives up to a higher standard and that it will become the rental camera of choice, leaving all the lower budget stuff to the Red One and Scarlet. There will certainly be a value added component with Epic that will benefit those of us in the pro arena.
Cheers,
Harry