A new (rental) low?

[Randy Che]

hey randy
glad to hear this. as i mentioned in my earlier post. i contacted these guys through criags list but no reply. however here is the link
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pho/900475458.html

Hi,
thank you for your reply, I'll look into this.

Sincerely
R. Che
Cinematographer
Image Flare Films
604.505.2588

 

[Adrian Sims]

Businesses are free to charge what they like - it's always a balancing act between what the customer is willing to pay and what you think you're worth.

With Red, I think people should be putting a price on themsleves rather than the emphasis being on the "camera". I put a price on my time and skillset way before the kit I take to a shoot. So you are hiring $30,000 plus worth of equipment - in its simplest sense, it's like hiring a car - you can shop around for your percieved balance of price to quality. If you are a competent driver and don't need a chauffeur you'll find yourself a good deal.

With Red rentals, the price should reflect the experience and skills of the DIT who'll be on set with the camera, much more than the kit itself. How much experience have they had with the camera, do they understand the workflow and getting the job from the glass to the screen, be it a TV or cinema? Can they guide the client on whether to shoot 4K, 3K or 2K and at what FPS and shutter angle? If the client wants to see a laptop playback minutes after a take, can the DIT make it happen before the crew move to the next set-up.

Most movie-goers and clients don't give a toss about the pipeline, they mainly care about what spits out the end. Put a price on your people first, gear second.

 

[NormLi]

Woah what the hell?!?! This is basically my package here minus the the MB20. It's an exact copy/paste of my equipment list from Cineworks.ca.

Who the heck is this advertising my gear like this? No one in town owns the PUP500 dolly except me. I charge a LOT more than this obviously. My rates are standard industry rates.

This must be a scammer but I would love to find out who this is...

 

[Bal Deo]

Woah what the hell?!?! This is basically my package here minus the the MB20. It's an exact copy/paste of my equipment list from Cineworks.ca.

Who the heck is this advertising my gear like this? No one in town owns the PUP500 dolly except me. I charge a LOT more than this obviously. My rates are standard industry rates.

This must be a scammer but I would love to find out who this is...

Hey Norm
I'm assuming your back. Hope your shoot went well.
Yeah! Saw this on criagslist. I didn't think, just saw your cineworks ad and it is the same.
There are few other also advertsing on criagslist but non of them returned my emails?

 

[Shawn Nelson]

Maybe this was done by a nefarious producer to use it to low-ball someone else? "You wanna rent me Red for what? Well on Craigslist there's this ad where I can get XYZ for only..."

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Maybe this was done by a nefarious producer to use it to low-ball someone else? "You wanna rent me Red for what? Well on Craigslist there's this ad where I can get XYZ for only..."

Wouldn't surprise me. In fact, I've had some real sleaze in my area trying all sorts of things like that. I gave out a quote in good faith to someone a couple weeks back. I never hear from them again. Then I learn that they used my quote to barter a better rate on an HD camera rental using the "why should I rent a Varicam package for $XXX, when I can do a full RED setup for $YYY". The rental house both took the bait from this guy, letting him rent for next to nothing. Seems he also doctored my quote too, lowering the day rate by $500.

There have been a few ads on CL for RED rentals here in town at $500/day or less, including a tech. Scary stuff, I'm thinking most of those are scammers looking for someone to pre-pay a few $$$ and then they disappear. A few weeks back there was a RED Rental posting on Mandy that I called on. Just got some dude's home answering machine. Called again later, dude answers, ask if he has a RED camera for rent. He says yeah, but as soon as I start asking questions and getting technical, he just hangs up on me. Most likely a scam artist too, but at $750/day for a basic kit and no human included, I thought he might be legit and just desperate to pay for the camera.

 

[Stephen Williams]

Hi,

I think a no of Red owners will throw in their camera to get work, a large no of people seem to work for nothing in any case, so lo balling is nothing new.

Stephen

 

[e h jones]

Maybe this was done by a nefarious producer to use it to low-ball someone else? "You wanna rent me Red for what? Well on Craigslist there's this ad where I can get XYZ for only..."

scary....