ALERT: Red Cameras & Access. Stolen in Boston

[Andrae Palmer]

Some details of what happened that might help to prevent it happening to someone else.
The equipment was being rented by a new client who called themselves B and H Films although on some of the paperwork it also appeared as Band H films. The names given for the Rental Application were Rich Robinson and his partner Rachel Robinson. *They were in town to do a T-Mobile spot, and they hired 3 locals over Craig's list as Production Assistants. Their insurance certificate was checked and valid. They listed one of the local PA's hired as well as another local Rental House as references. Since both were part of this job, they were able to corroborate a relationship with the client.

All new clients are COD. The Production Assistants came in on Wednesday December 24th to pick up the equipment. Since they are local crew, they were known by the employees. One of them had a check from the company which did not draw any red flags and they left with the equipment and met two other people identifying themselves as Nick and Christina in another town who took possession of the equipment. One of the local crew members had previously met Nick and Christina when he was hired for this spot so still no red flags. He described them as both African American in their Late 20's or early 30's, driving a Red Pontiac Vibe with North Carolina plates.

We were contacted by one of the local Production Assistants on Saturday December 27th. This was the scheduled shoot day and only the local crew members appeared on location. Since then we have been in contact with the police, insurance companies, everyone involved and other local contacts trying to put all the details together. The job was scheduled to return on Monday December 29th and, of course, did not.

Wow these thieves are professionals. They've probably worked at a rental company before. They sure seem to know the rental/production process in and out. This is interesting.

 

[Dominik Muench]

there have been some cheap phones like the fire fly from at&t they were baby phones for kids and parents could go on line and locate the the phone usually in the child's pocket and find the kid in any given situation. that little GPS chip is stuck in the phone to provide that that sevice. hint hint on a new optional feature-is it possible to stick those things in the camera and when ever you want to go on line and locate the thing it gives you the location and eh hopefully an option to disable tha camera from further use until reactivated by the owner??? then sue the donkey-holes that stole it? hmmmmm?

I agree completely, GPS tracking for expensive cars and equipment is definitely on the rise and would be a great feature indeed.

Alternatively, a little bomb that can be activated via a phone call which will blow up the camera would be fun...Dial 1900-YOUR-RED-SERIAL and blow those stealing thieves to the moon....but then...could i really hurt my RED ? :nerd:

 

[Petros Nousias]

In this case a sony executive could dial 1900-(1-5000) and blow up all existing red ones... interesting...

 

[Joe Penna]

Wow these thieves are professionals. They've probably worked at a rental company before. They sure seem to know the rental/production process in and out. This is interesting.

Yeah, I talked to the scammer. He was really knowledgeable on the RED and many aspects of production.

 

[Andrew Ravani]

Craiglsit, others

Craiglsit, others

Sorry to hear about this - and I agree - it sounds like at least a semi - pro attempt at theft with the suspects certainly having some rental house experience. That equipment is almost certainly out of the Northeast by now - probably back below the Mason Dixon.

As for Craigslist, Mandy, et al. ... I have yet to be on a set here in NYC or in LA where at least some facet of the crew didn't come from CL. Yeah, most of the work there is what you get after someone has exhausted their friends and networks - but some of it leads to further networking with great professionals (and others are obviously total bag jobs that you are lucky to not have to tackle the producer and beat your money out of them for). I even got my first hand at a RED through craigslist (guy was posting his rental through a local rental house - a great experience - but they called our broker, checked our references, etc.)

Lets hope these clowns get some new bracelets and a wee domicile sometime in the next few weeks, and the equipment finds its way home without harm.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Yeah, I talked to the scammer. He was really knowledgeable on the RED and many aspects of production.

Just so no one gets confused about Joe's post, he was going to be hired on as a Red DIT for this gig and that's how he had contact with the scammers. Don't want anyone to associate Joe with the scammers.

 

[Leo Ticheli]

Yeah, I talked to the scammer. He was really knowledgeable on the RED and many aspects of production.

Did you talk to him in person or via phone?

Can you provide any information that might be helpful?

I'm still surprised that only very basic information has been posted about this and no questions I've put forth have been answered, such as the validity or information on the COD check. Even posting a picture of the signature might jog someone's memory.

Even with thousands out there, Red still makes a splash and the serial numbers might well be noted by every tech, assistant, and operator.

The cameras can't be updated unless a real owner downloads the software; a low rev software Red would really call attention to itself as time goes by.

No rental house can use the camera, so it may well be destined for someone shooting their own material, quite likely something in the adult field.

I guess it could have been stolen by someone thinking they could flip it on eBay or Craig's List, but that could quickly invite scrutiny from the authorities.

Whatever the real story, I remain curious that all available information has not been released by the injured parties.

Hope it all works out!

Best regards,

Leo

 

[Joel Kaye]

No rental house can use the camera, so it may well be destined for someone shooting their own material, quite likely something in the adult field.

I thought the same thing. But it could be any indie filmmaker. They know enough to know it'll be tough to sell. If they own one camera they could get firmware updates.

Hopefully they'll make a mistake somewhere and get caught. RED is a small world.

 

[david farland]

....... We'll put our heads together here and see if there is something meaningful that we can do.
BC

Sounds like microdotting would be good for Red products.

The Hire/Rental Industry Association here are pushing this at the moment. See here...http://www.crimestoppers.com.au/Crime-Stoppers-backs-high-tech-micro-dot-DNA/default.aspx

I own a Subaru and when they decided to microdot their latest models, thefts dropped dramatically overnight.

Here's an example....
http://www.datadothb.com.au/businesskits.html

Cheers,

Dave

 

[Brent J. Craig]

Sounds like microdotting would be good for Red products.

I can't see how ID labels that can only be read by microscope could possibly be useful. What am I missing here?

 

[david farland]

I can't see how ID labels that can only be read by microscope could possibly be useful. What am I missing here?

It's a deterent that tells a thief and buyer that all your kit is traceable. If you try and sell the individual items, it just increases the their risk of being discovered. As long as you own it, use it, hire it, the kit is no longer anonmyous and can be traced if suspected. You're now trading in very identifable parts which increases the risk of the handler being caught or having to return the goods. This reduces the appeal of trading in Red gear.
It's simple really and why when products introduce it, that thiefs dramatically fall. When Subaru introduced it they got a 95% reduction in vehicles stolen by professional thieves. Buyer and seller will be more aware and be less inclined to deal in this equipment.
Dave,

 

[Alexis Vanier]

I love the idea of a very hard to remove micro-label. However, I think we can still see here that deterrence is insufficient. There are about 5000 REDs out there and about 10% of their owners and users internationally know each other on a first name basis as well as 'meet' on a weekly basis (daily for some) online. How much harder can you make it to fence a given piece of gear?!?

Still, it was stolen and very probably sold.

(Who in their right mind buys a stolen RED anyway?!?)

I would tend to agree that RED could implement and market a service for integrated anti theft tracking system and/or remote locking. Something low level, which essentially brick-locks the camera unless unlocked by RED.

I've seen something similar on some HP tape libraries (LTO jukeboxes :shifty: ). If you lost the admin password to your device, the manufacturer had a time of day based rotating code lock that could override security.

Anyway, best of luck with the lawless and insurance. :watsup:

Happy new year as well. :biggrin:

 

[John Redfern]

While I would like to see as much as possible done to minimise or prevent equipment theft, some of the suggestions, like auto blocking, time bombs and auth codes, are just the very things that might malfunction away from base on a shoot and cause mayhem. No one would want that. It's bad enough when software licencing malfunctions at a time when tech support is unavailable.

Renting is no different to selling on credit account. You put into place all the normal checks and you make a valued judgement. It is always easy, after the event for someone else - with 20/20 hindsight - to criticize that judgement.

As a purchaser/hirer I've often been most grateful to the company who has trusted me at face value for an urgent transaction rather than the delay full checks might have taken. It is a business decision and a risk that all businesses are aware of. There has to be an element of trust in all dealings.

Mind you, I am trusting and in a great many years in business, I've never been seriously caught out. Having said that, if someone steals 2772 (I don't even let anyone else touch it let alone hire it) I will certainly call in the Red heavies

John

 

[Vladimir Eugene]

insurance/ check questions

insurance/ check questions

the insurance cleared? Does that mean that the equipment is covered and insurance will reimburse you? Or was that part ultimately fake as well?

A check was involved? Was it a check from a real bank? A forgery, or complete photoshop type?

Sorry to hear about your theft, sending a familiar face with legit appearing paperwork, for a good sounding job would have probably fooled a lot of us.

 

[Peter Majtan]

Here's a (compromise) proposal:

RED could built-in a firmware "time-lock" that can be ACTIVATED/DEACTIVATED by the user with complex SW key on a dedicated SD (not CF) card, that would disable the camera. Here is how it could work:

1. Unless the owner activates it - business as usual (and camera is UNPROTECTED). This is for those paranoid that this could fail during crucial shoot...
2. Inserting the dedicated SD card before booting will add to the UI an option to ACTIVATE/DEACTIVATE the "time-lock"
3. Owner can in the UI select the time period (or # of boots, etc...) after which the camera will lock - unless the dedicated SD card is inserted.
4. There could also be an option that the camera will simply not boot without a "key" SD card in place (I haven't seen anyone using the SD slot anyway).

The key for this to work will be to make sure the owner takes the SD card out of the slot after each shoot and stores it away from the camera gear (in a wallet for example - or in that RED bling Jim has rendered recently ).

When You renting to someone You know and trust - You can simply give them the SD card (along with appropriate handling instructions), or set a conservative # of boots (or time period).

When You renting to a "new face" - You keep the SD card and set less conservative # of boots (or time period).

The time period will highly depend on the RED's ability to include an internal clock. When reset (by removing the dedicated "watch" battery, etc...) - it activates the camera lock until the SD card is inserted. A "low-battery" warning for the "watch" battery will also prevent an accidental lock due to discharge of the battery. Canon's cameras have this built-in.

When combined with an "ID code" embedded in the RAW files (and the SW solution I was proposing earlier) along with the geo-tagging GPS chip - it will make the camera pretty much worthless for steeling.

Just one more thing: The SD card will be generated by each individual owner on his PC (therefore one could easily generate a new one if the SD card is lost). The PC SW will also allow a completely new SD security card to be generated once the camera is unlocked after the SD card loss - this would prevent anyone who "find" the old SD card to use it with the camera...

Off course RED could have a (highly secured) MASTER SD card SW - that could generate a master SD card for each individual camera based on its serial number, that would unlock the camera in case that the owner has lost both his SD card and the PC...

Just my two pesos...

Peter

 

[Peter Majtan]

PS: You could call the SD card "RED Key" as the camera won't start without it...

 

[Kwan Khan]

Humm Nice

 

[Curran Giddens]

PS: You could call the SD card "RED Key" as the camera won't start without it...

Brilliant! :sorcerer:

 

[Peter Majtan]

Here is a sample BOOT SEQUENCE:

Feel free to comment on this - we can improve it together...

Brent - of course I give my full permission for this to be used FOC by RED...

Peter

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Very interesting Peter. My guess is you will get some resistance based on people being paranoid. They will be nervous about number of boots, especially if that camera has any of the boot issues that have been known to happen. But I think your overall concept is good, and I do think anything that can be done to deter theft without potentially hurting the honest clients is a good thing.

I remember way back in the days when I did valet parking, there was a pro athlete who used to come in with a Viper and it had a special key that looked like a mini credit card. That had to be inserted for the car to start. He told me once that if I lost the card, he'd have to take me out back and kick my ass. I never did lose the card.