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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Is shooting RED being a good American?

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Dustyn_G

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Last night President Obama's State of the Union address got me thinking, "Is shooting with RED being a good American?"* Of all my camera options, i.e., Sony, Panasonic, Arri, etc..., are any other cameras developed and/or manufactured in the United States? Is the RED camera even manufactured in the United States?

*I am using "Good American" to mean: buying or using American made goods and services when equal in quality or value to foreign ones.
 
I was once told that the RED Ones were made in Singapore (where I live at the moment :) ) but I have no idea whether that is true or not.
 
The best way to be a good American is to take the best tools available and make an incredible film without borders.
 
REDs made in sunny Singapore...check the bottom of the RED and it says so...
Not alot to do here in Singapore after you've lived there for so long so felt like a nice day to give the camera a nice look over without cables :)
 
:001_tt1:with a name like RED? surreptitious commie pinko plot for ideological domination...affordable digital cinema for the proletariat, comrade!:001_tt1:

not that anyone cares about evil commie plots anymore, there are too many shoe bombers and illegal border crossings to focus on....always something, innit?
 
Dustyn_G said:
Last night President Obama's State of the Union address got me thinking, "Is shooting with RED being a good American?"* Of all my camera options, i.e., Sony, Panasonic, Arri, etc..., are any other cameras developed and/or manufactured in the United States? Is the RED camera even manufactured in the United States?

*I am using "Good American" to mean: buying or using American made goods and services when equal in quality or value to foreign ones.
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Well, I try very hard to buy locally, even on the little things. When I need to buy paint or drywall for a home improvement project, I buy from the hardware store down the street instead of Home Depot a few miles away. Home Depot has a much better selection, but the Sales Tax from the hardware store down the street goes to the schools and roads in my town - not in another town. But even on a small purchase like that, if I look carefully, it's just as likely that those nails are made in Malaysia or Mexico as opposed to the USA.

But with big-ticket items, especially when it comes to technology, Friedman is right. The World is Flat. There is almost no such thing anymore as a technology product that is designed and manufactured exclusively in one country. It touches many countries and many economies.

But you can look at it this way... RED's largest base of operations and largest group of employees is in Lake Forest. So by buying RED, you are certainly contributing to keeping those people at work, thereby helping to stabilize and increase jobs domestically and allowing those employees to spend more discretionary income domestically, etc.

Lucas

"All Politics is Local." - Tip O'Neill
 
Interestingly, it might also contribute to being a good human.

Rather than disposing of all of the extra components (I/O, battery, EVF, etc) of cameras, the modular system allows us to switch out only the brains when new technology emerges. I can only imagine this prevents a lot of nasty stuff from going back into landfills.
 
I voiced my concerns about the location of manufacture previously. I'm not sure what the profit margin impact for Red would be if they were to build the camera in the US. But I'm sure it would be very significant. I'd be willing to pay more to have the camera made in the US. And what about disney, apple, Dell, Microsoft? I mean who is going to buy anything here if were all unemployed? There was a time when 'built in the USA' really meant quality. We did it before, we can do it again.
 
Made in the USA, kind of.

Made in the USA, kind of.

Zakaree Sandberg said:
nothing is made in the US anymore
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Mostly true. The small company I work for makes a consumer product with final assembly in the US (components come from many places, including Asia). But as companies grow, they inevitably outsource production because the economics demands it. If you don't, your competition which does go overseas will eat your lunch, sad to say. As far as I know, it is just about as simple as that.

But realistically, you can almost never say a consumer tech product is 100% any country. The design, the component manufacturing, the subassemblies, and final assembly is usually in different locations.
 
When America dumps surpluss chicken on Africa, undercutting local farmers and inadvertantly putting them out of business, calling it aid are they being good Earthlings?
 
christopher witzke said:
I'm outsourcing my thread response this very moment to a 12 year old pakistani girl named Stacey... She's up earlier and can spell better than me.
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This is the best (and most American) answer yet.

P.S. Just checked out your motion reel, Chris. You really do nice work. I especially like the spot for the Kentucky Human Society. Is it all shot on RED?
 
Lucas Wilson said:
I buy from the hardware store down the street instead of Home Depot a few miles away. Home Depot has a much better selection,
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Oh man don't get me started on Home Depot. They hire guys like Bob Nardelli and give him a $210 million severance package when he screws up and they have to fire him, the people working there are almost always pissy and know less than I do about home improvement, and their wood is warped.

I bet local hardware stores would have a much better selection if Home Depots didn't exist.
 
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