5 WORST AND 5 BEST Business Decisions

[Joseph Hutson]

I am a young filmmaker(17), and have started my own videography business(link to my website).

I went to a business meeting last night, and was told to "ASK QUESTIONS". So here I am. Though you might think your advice is'nt the greatest, I would like to know what some of the best things you did for your business, and the worst.

What would you suggest? FilmSchool? Just make short films on your own? Both? What else?

I think many other people here on RedUser have the same questions, so, thanks for your invaluable advice in advance.

EDIT: I'm now 18, and have learned a lot in the last year and a half, but would still welcome any advice as it would not only be beneficial to me, but for others as well.

 

[Shawn Booth]

Make shorts as you can. But work on set. Get a freebie job and suffer. Work as a PA a few times on paying gigs. Work your way into a dept. Make shorts on the side. Learn. Apply.

Film school provides a foundation. It's great. I went. But I learned more on set. Sets where I was at the bottom and then worked up.

Be patient with yourself and your career. Work hard. Be honest with your clients and yourself.

Hope that helps.

 

[Brian Reisdorf]

Something to keep in mind for small businesses like video production that can be run fairly "casually" in the finance dept:

Don't put equipment purchases on a credit card. It can be tempting, especially when you're new and looking at all the cool gear you need to get started. Do the research, understand and apply for small business loans for those kinds of purchases. The last thing you need as a new business is a $15,000 credit card bill that's charging you $500 a month in finance charges (On top of what you pay toward the balance) when you could have got the whole thing for $350 a month.

 

[Ramesh Jai]

The worst decision I made was starting my own production company (producing and directing mostly TV commercials) right after I left film school.

Yes, I am doing great but I always wished I had joined a bigger advertising company for a year or two.

Not only would I have gained more experience but most important I would have made contacts with all the major companies.

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

2 business modules that always seem to apply (but you still have to take them into consideration, of course, to your situation......don't take them literally hahahaha)

It's not hard to make good business, it's hard to say no to bad business.

It's not the strongest that generally wins, it's the fastest.

Now especially the first will apply for you right now. Also, it's all about contacts. The business is more about who you know then how much. So take your time to figure out how to make those contacts. Usually it means to start in the bottom of the business and work your way up. You would be surprised in how fast that ladder is. The learning curve together with the possibilities to climb up is very steep for the one who's really eager, but it takes dedication, dedication and dedication.

As your doing so you need to make sure your keeping up your own creativity. Your own shorts or test commercials etc is a good way for that.


Fredrik

 

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

5 BEST Scenario:


1. Shoot.

2. Shoot.

3. Shoot.

4. Shoot.

5. Read Filmmaking Tutorials and Forums.


***

5 WORST Scenario:


1. Read Filmmaking Tutorials and Forums.

2. Read Filmmaking Tutorials and Forums.

3. Read Filmmaking Tutorials and Forums.

4. Read Filmmaking Tutorials and Forums.

5. Shoot.


***

:holloween:

 

[spitfire44]

when I check your website I get re-directed to the Mobile Me site of Apple.
good luck,
Eric

 

[Drew Mazanec]

Best:

Get experience with shooting. Volunteer. Make connections. Get a steady stream of income from videography work. THEN buy the equipment.

Worst:

Buy the equipment, then try to make money as a videographer.

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

when I check your website I get re-directed to the Mobile Me site of Apple.
good luck,
Eric

It's because the mac account is down right now - most probably because they're updating it to mobile me.


fredrik

 

[Richard Lackey]

I started down the same road you are, only in 2003. I have not been to a film school, but the past five years have been that for me, and probably every year of the rest of my life.

I was just thinking about this today, what I would have done differently.

Looking back, I think I would tell anyone now that video production won't make you rich, it might just break even but more than not you will even run at a loss. It depends on the size of your market, the demand for the services you are offering and your competition.

At the video level, everyone and thier brother and dog thinks they are film makers. Paying gigs will be mostly corporates and margins are extremely thin. You must have something that sets you apart from everyone else you will be pitching against for jobs.

For me this was 3D animation, compositing and VFX that I could add to a foundation of video production and offer people something different. I worked my ass off (literally, I have no ass, but that's also down to not making enough money to eat properly), think seriously overworked and underpaid.

This is the honest truth. God only knows how I am still solvent after five years.

I agree about the debt. Don't get into debt, it can kill you quicker than you think. I wouldn't bother buying anything other than an edit suite to begin with. Cameras and all the other gear you can rent, it's way better to begin with.

First and foremost you need to be a good producer, get to grips with finances, build contacts, be good to people and they will be good to you.

The best thing that has happened to me is the Red One. It has opened more doors than I ever could have imagined. Goodbye video production, hello films and commercials, just like that.

 

[taleslate]

Pick a market where you would like to live and work and start out working your way up there. If that market is where you live now, great, but don't think you can get experience and contacts in one market and then move to another market and just continue your climb. It's rarely possible to do this easily. More often than not changing markets means going back to square one. You'll still have your knowledge and experience, but without contacts in the new market, you will have to prove yourself all over again. It can be very frustrating to watch people with less knowledge/talent move right past you because they have better contacts than you do. It may seem early to be thinking about this when you're only 17, but believe me, before you know it you will be 10 years into your career and making the leap at that point will be 10 times harder. There is a direct relationship between who you know and where you go, so the contacts you make early on can have a far-reaching impact. Work hard, keep a good attitude, learn set etiquette (lack of which has stunted more than one career) and have fun (after all, you got into the biz because you didn't want to get a "real job":biggrin: )!

 

[Noah Kadner]

I'd recommend the DV Rebel's Guide- that's probably one of the better how-to books out there:

http://rebelsguide.com/

-Noah

 

[David Mullen ASC]

As far as learning goes, my technique was:
Watch movies, read about movies that I watched, shoot movies and try out what I learned by reading and watching movies, repeat as often as possible.

Or to put it another way, you need periods of activity and reflectivity, so you can absorb the lessons learned while being active. Generally though you don't have to plan for the periods between work, they just happen naturally!

But as far as a career goes, when I started out, I asked every successful DP how they got there start and I never heard the same story twice. Of course, this was in the 1980's and the DP's I talked to got their start in the 1950's and 60's before film schools were as popular and commonplace. But the lesson learned was that everyone forges their own path through the jungle, there are no roads.

The main advantage to film school was meeting students that would later hire me or connect me to other work after graduation. I got two or three features that way and that got the ball rolling, since one job leads to the next.

But my advice is in regards to becoming a DP for hire, not setting up a production company.

 

[Richard Lackey]

But my advice is in regards to becoming a DP for hire, not setting up a production company.

Yep, don't do it. If you want to run a successful production company, get yourself an MBA and hire the creative staff you need, stay in the office and make the numbers work. If you want to make movies, don't start a production company (unless you also have an MBA and are independently wealthy, or have some other major financial backing, and perhaps don't need sleep).

 

[Joseph Hutson]

But my advice is in regards to becoming a DP for hire, not setting up a production company.

So because I want to make movies, and not necessarily be an "event videographer" for the next 10 years, you would suggest me to stop my current business ALTOGETHER?

 

[Kevin Wild]

Joseph-I think what people are saying, is that being a great craftsman at film & video production is very different from starting and running a full production business. I suggest you get the book "The E-Myth" and the "The E-Myth Revisited" which talk about this extensively. The basic premise of these very educational books is "just because you can bake a great pie, does not mean you can run a business selling great pies."

I've done both (creative side and running a business) and it is not easy and can add a lot of grey hair jumping from left brain to right brain, etc. There are many days I edit for 15 hours and then do 2 hours of billing, invoicing, payroll, etc. Jumping from creative brain to the numbers and back is not as easy as you may think.

To me, the most important advice I could give is to figure out where your passion lies (Sorry for the Oprah-like moment). If it is in filmmaking, do that and do it well...business will come naturally. However, if your ultimate goal is to start a production company, you might consider partnering with someone that knows business...and let them do that side of things.

Just my $.02

Kevin

 

[Joe Carney]

If you start a production company, get a great entertainment lawyer. Ask around for one that is trustworthy. If all you want to do is create a company for the express purpose of making a movie, even just one, get a great entertainment lawyer. Worth the cost.

 

[Ed Blythe]

So because I want to make movies, and not necessarily be an "event videographer" for the next 10 years, you would suggest me to stop my current business ALTOGETHER?

You should keep that business if you want to do the things that it does: sports, weddings, TV commercials, LIVE stuff. If you don't want to do those things (and want to make movies) then you should not keep that business. (Unless perhaps you want to spend a few years getting your head around the equipment and meeting a few people, which is not a terrible goal).

One thing I might add to what others have said is that there's no rush, man. You're 17? Cool. How bloody lucky for you that you know what you want to do - but you don't NEED to do it before you're 20. There's a prestigious school in Paris called La Femis. Part of their curriculum requires the students to go out and do an internship at a courthouse, hospital, abattoir, anywhere BUT a film set or a classroom. (See Mullen's comment about action and reflection). I believe the phrase "life experience" is often used at this point.

You wanna make movies = you wanna tell stories. Go get some, from lots of different places, from the mouths of lots of different people (not from the 'net or the media or other movies - get 'em fresh and sticky). Tend a bar, do a season on a fishing boat, earn some dough and travel... Whatever, anything that gets you away from where you are and what you know. Then take that stuff and put it back into your stories. No matter what your interest (DP, director, producer, 2nd 2nd AD) you need to do that, and it will serve you really well on and off set.

I'm lucky enough to be at one of the better schools in the US at the moment and had a lot of different lives before I got here. People who go from high school to college (cinema studies) to a grad degree often struggle a little bit to write about things other than ... movies. Cuz that's what they know. But the more I work on sets (i.e. the more time I am active) the harder I find it to write or pitch or outline. The well runs dry (because I have not spent enough time reflecting, on my experiences or other source material that comes my way).

Anyway, longer more mushy post than I started out writing. And just my 2 cents, man. You know yourself better than we do. Welcome to it 'n' good luck.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

So because I want to make movies, and not necessarily be an "event videographer" for the next 10 years, you would suggest me to stop my current business ALTOGETHER?

I said that my experience was in regards to becoming a freelance cinematographer, not setting up a production company NOR becoming a feature filmmaker, so I'm not sure what exactly you are responding to...

I have no useful advice to give whatsoever on the merits or pitfalls of setting up your own company because I've never done it. Nor have I ever made a feature film as a director, I've only shot them as a cinematographer for hire. And all I was doing was relating my own particular path to becoming a DP. As I said in my post, the only thing I've learned is that everyone finds their own way.

Everyone has to find a way of supporting themselves but ideally, eventually how they support themselves starts to be by doing what they always wanted to do. If not, then they find another way of doing what they want to do... while supporting themselves by other means. Whether or not you can make movies while running a production company that does event videography, I have no idea, but I don't see particularly why not. You should talk to someone who has done it.

Unless you were responding to Richard's post, not mine. I can't tell, but I never said "don't set up a production company." How would I know whether that was a good idea or not? I've never done it.

 

[Joseph Hutson]

One thing I might add to what others have said is that there's no rush, man. You're 17? Cool. How bloody lucky for you that you know what you want to do - but you don't NEED to do it before you're 20.

When did you start? I figured, if I was gonna climb a ladder, better learn how to take the first step.:w00t:

Really, I love the opportunities that I have, and RedUser is so amazing, where all of these experienced individuals can collaborate, and help young filmmakers such as myself.

Thanks again guys for all the posts, and the ones yet to be posted.