Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

How Do YOU Make Money from Your Red?

Thanks guys! For the record I have a fairly clear sense
for how I will make money with the cameras.

However, I'm curious -- do you guys shoot mostly for
the web or mostly offline stuff?

I know I started a previous thread ... and Graeme and
others chimed in to say that Red compression is actually
great for streaming, compared to other formats.

But still, it seems like for most online clients Red level
and size files might be too much. So I assume you guys
must be doing some TV/DVD stuff as well.

Just curious ... thanks!

Anthony
 
AnthonyFlores said:
Thanks guys! For the record I have a fairly clear sense
for how I will make money with the cameras.

However, I'm curious -- do you guys shoot mostly for
the web or mostly offline stuff?

I know I started a previous thread ... and Graeme and
others chimed in to say that Red compression is actually
great for streaming, compared to other formats.

But still, it seems like for most online clients Red level
and size files might be too much. So I assume you guys
must be doing some TV/DVD stuff as well.

Just curious ... thanks!

Anthony
Click to expand...

More stuff ends up on line these days regardless if it's for a tvc or corporate video. I love red one because the footage is rock-solid. Unlike my 5dm2 which is crap compared to the image quality of the red.
I bought the red one late last year and my business doubled it's turnover. Why? Because owning a red allows me to do productions that I could not do if I just stayed with a 5dm2. Most of my productions end up on the web or cd roms, but it's still good to capture these in the highest possible quality.
I wouldn't bother with a Scarlet if you are planing doing this for a living. Buy an epic or red one, the lease on owning one of these cameras is nothing compared to what you can make. Remember, equipment should make you money - not cost you.
Like you, I was a copywriter in an ad agency, now my clients are those agencies, and most of the creative guys know and expect shoots to be done on the red.
 
I think maybe I am alone here in the way I make my money from video...

I create looped video footage and sell it as HD screensavers for mac/pc (and soon iphone/android). As screen resolution and CPU power increases, the demanding for higher and higher video resolution is increasing.... so RED is the perfect fit.

Debating over Fixed Scarlet or Scarlet S35 for my choice of tool. HDRx™ will really help.
 
Client says "We need ________"
We say "That'll cost _____"
Then we do it and send them an invoice.
Then the client pays us.

Sometimes that needs a camera. Sometimes it doesn't.
 
Gavin Greenwalt said:
Client says "We need ________"
We say "That'll cost _____"
Then we do it and send them an invoice.
Then the client pays us.

Sometimes that needs a camera. Sometimes it doesn't.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

For the times a camera is needed, we point the camera at ______, or anything else related and interesting, <click>.

Then the client pays us.
Click to expand...

Sometimes that part doesn't go as smoothly as planned.
 
Justin Nguyen said:
That's the unfortunate truth and the boat I'm in currently.

It's great when producers tell me they have quotes for Red Ones as low as $400 a weekend though.
Click to expand...

I remember stating 3 years ago that rental equipment rates settle at about 1% a day with a 3 day week, looks like were nearly there.
 
I'd be more than happy to rent my M-X RED for $400 a day. There just ain't a lot of business in the Kansas City area.

As to making money with our RED, well, we're a long, long, long way from doing that. But I've determined I'm really good at losing money with it, though. Maybe I should just stick with doing what I do well.

:-)

Stephen
 
AnthonyFlores said:
I'm going to keep
using my 5D to create successful/profitable projects that generate
profits in the $200,000-$300,000 range over the next 6 months.
Click to expand...

Anthony,

I agree with you that marketing videos will soon be everywhere on the web. I've made quite a few myself, along with just about every type of film from music videos and commercials to broadcast and features.

Basically, it works for me exactly as Gavin describes it; a client rings up, asks for something and I go make it - or make what they really need, rather than what they think they need. Then, I charge 30% more than they want to pay which is about 10% less than they can actually pay - so, every one is happy:)

You can see a small percentage of my recent work by following the link in my signature, can't show much as it's mostly subject to NDAs and copyright.

Also, could you point me to some of your work so that I can see the direction you're so successfully taking marketing video?

Thanks,

Liam.
 
Hi Anthony,

It sounds like you've got a good business going on.

I'm based in Los Angeles (but willing to travel) and am a fast, professional, easy to work with Cinematographer with my primary interest being commercial work.

Like you, I owned a 5D. I used it as a springboard to make over 8 times its cost (I shot the world's first feature on a DSLR in January of 2009) Sold that, and bought two 7D's, made 8 more times their cost, and sold them so that I could afford a Red MX system. Now I'm working with the MX, loving the hell out of it. The main Reason I left Canon is that I feel they don't respond to customers needs in a direct sense. They are responding to numbers (don't get me wrong I'm a capitalist in every sense) BUT they basically ignored me as a pioneer of their technology, and after getting tired of every aspect of the camera system (except for their convenient small size and instant power on) having to be a workaround I moved on.

In any case - if you are looking to work with a Cinematographer with a Red MX package to help bring your productions to fruition and make some cash I might be your collaborator. Let me know!

Dan Kanes
Los Angeles
Three Two Three Four Four Five Zero Nine Nine Nine
info (AT) dankanes (dot) com
 
AnthonyFlores said:
Hi Terry,

Sorry I'm a writer so sometimes I get carried away! But I don't
want it to be so long it makes it hard for people to read and
respond as that would be a shame -- I think this is an important
subject.

By the way, I know you are one of the most avid posters on these
boards ... what kind of work do you do?

Anthony
Click to expand...

Anthony -

I am relatively new to the area of professional video but, as you may be able to tell from my picture, I am not new to the work force or to the world of business. :smilewinkgrin: In the last couple of years, as I have transitioned my career from something of a marketing strategist to a writer/cinematographer/editor, I have dabbled in various ways to "monetize" my activity.

But, I must say, the numbers you throw out are somewhat surprising. Boiling down what you said, you suggest you can make about $35K to $50K per month in PROFIT based on the use of your 5D package? I have looked at those numbers every which way and it is either unbelievable or quite impressive. Are we indeed talking PROFITS as opposed to revenue? If so, what kind of cost/risk exposure do you have going in? Overhead? Employees or contractor costs? If these numbers are based on the fee plus 5% royalty structure you mention, it would suggest that the product sales you generate are somewhere between (at least) $300K and $700K for each one-month project, on average. Looked at another way, you are consistently earning something on average of $200-300 per hour for full time work, or around $2000/day, for 5 days each week. Of course, businesses do take in this kind of revenue but rarely based on one man's work alone and/or without significant overhead and risk. And, in my experience, not so much in the world of corporate video production. I can't help but wonder how much of your success is based upon your unique skills are a marketer/copywriter as opposed to the video production aspects of your business.

Maybe I have set my sets too low. :crying: Or perhaps I am just a lousy businessman! You would certainly be forgiven if you didn't want to share the specifics of how you have gone about building such a lucrative enterprise, but any hints you would be willing to share would certainly be of interest! :thumbup1:
 
Hi Terry,

It's rarely that cut and dry, partly the numbers I gave a combination of recent projects
but also projections. And you are right -- this revenue is certainly not for just "shooting"
or editing. It's largely because of the other marketing/writing elements (which I mastermind)
that go into a project.

This month I will receive something in the neighborhood of $75,000, though that will actually
be for close to 10 weeks of work. Not one month.

I can't really show or share explicit details about projects that just went live, but I
can speak generally about something coming up so you understand the model ...

One of my client's partners has a financial product that teaches people how to
trade ETF's. I'm going to NY next month to shoot footage that will be used in an
online product launch. My role is fairly extensive.

- I learn the product
- Learn the market
- Script almost the entire thing
- Help him plan content for a short workshop
- Plan the videos/marketing strategy that will be used in web launch
- Writing the marketing emails used
- Help him plan content that will be used in short seminar/workshop that we film
- Go to NY and shoot short clips of ... him on the street, in taxis, the trading
floors, in front of his trading setup, interviews, a short one-hour workshop, etc
- This will all be done over about 3 days and is manageable for one person
- The client covers all these costs
- Then I go back home and edit it all into 1-2 hours of HD web content
- The content is broken up into an exciting series of four or five 15-20 minute
videos that gets people's attention, gets them excited/interested in the product
(which costs $2500), educates them, provides proof via statistics and case studies
of students, and then encourages them to join
- The client has another person on the team who gets companies with email lists in
the same industry to send promotional emails about this product launch (this way
we are able to reach hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of prospects)
- A percentage of people on the lists view the video content and then purchase
- The more effective it is, the more sales are made
- It's not uncommon for these "launches" to make $500,000-$1,000,000 ...
sometimes much more -- in a single month
- Of course, like any business there can often be delays, setbacks, etc

That's why I generally get $10,000-15,000 upfront -- in case things go wrong!

And now that I think about it, it's certainly POSSIBLE for a project to be done
from beginning to end in a single month ... however, it rarely works out that
way. 6 weeks is more realistic ... which translates more into about 8 per year.

And to answer your question -- my overhead is almost nothing -- unless I require
another shooter or perhaps editor. I'm just beginning though, and I've only needed
that once so far.

But I think as we grow, I may be able to contract more of the daily work out
and actually get more projects done per year.

I'm probably doing it backwards, by spending all this time learning Red,
technology, shooting, editing, etc since I'll never be as good as others in those
areas. And it's taking time away from what I do best, which is marketing
strategy and writing.

However, since I'm wanting to move into film/video/production full time,
I feel like I really need to know more about all the technology and logistics
of the process ... just like most really good directors have working knowledge
of all these things.

Also, I'm switching over to Red One. I'm very lucky in that main owner of the
company has a partner who was something like #1079 on Red One, and he is
letting me borrow his $50,000 setup for the next 3-4 months in exchange for
help with his business. I'm actually going to Toronto next week to pick it up!

If things go well when using the Red One, once stage 3 opens I will give him
the money to replace his camera and the $10,000 upgrade to the Epic, and
hopefully we'll be pretty high on the Stage 3 list. And then he'll transfer
ownership over to me :-)

I know this is long, sorry, but hope that explains things more. That's kind of
why I first opened this post. I know many Red users are making money in
ways I never imagined, and I'm involved in a very lucrative industry that
I could certainly share tips with other Red owners -- especially those who
have a knack or interest in marketing.

Thanks,

Anthony
 
I'm curious, as someone who is considering a career in cinematography -- is there anyone here who is actually making a substantial percent of their income off shooting narrative work? (shorts, features, music videos, etc) Or are people mostly making their money off commercial/corporate stuff and doing narrative projects on the side?
 
Hi Sam,

I'm curious about the same thing. I too want to get involved with
narrative work at some point but I get the impression the only
ones making money off narrative work are fairly high up ...

Then again, maybe that's not the case. Again, that's why I started
this thread. I'm truly interested in understanding how people
in this community work and earn their living.

Hope some others can chime in ...

Anthony
 
Hi Dan,

Thanks, well it's just starting. One of the things that's awesome
about our industry is that it's explosive and because of the leveraged
communication we can get through Google ads, emails (not spam!),
and other online channels -- it can be a great business to be in.

I will definitely keep your info handy ... in fact, can you PM with your
contact information? Like I mentioned earlier, once I hit some
monetary goals by the end of this year, I'm pretty confident I can
get funding for a small studio in LA -- in which case I would LOVE to
have people in the area who are skilled and for hire.

WAIT -- just saw that you left your contact info in "code" lol. I will
put it in my address book.

Thanks for the reply :-)

Anthony

Dan Kanes said:
Hi Anthony,

It sounds like you've got a good business going on.

I'm based in Los Angeles (but willing to travel) and am a fast, professional, easy to work with Cinematographer with my primary interest being commercial work.

Like you, I owned a 5D. I used it as a springboard to make over 8 times its cost (I shot the world's first feature on a DSLR in January of 2009) Sold that, and bought two 7D's, made 8 more times their cost, and sold them so that I could afford a Red MX system. Now I'm working with the MX, loving the hell out of it. The main Reason I left Canon is that I feel they don't respond to customers needs in a direct sense. They are responding to numbers (don't get me wrong I'm a capitalist in every sense) BUT they basically ignored me as a pioneer of their technology, and after getting tired of every aspect of the camera system (except for their convenient small size and instant power on) having to be a workaround I moved on.

In any case - if you are looking to work with a Cinematographer with a Red MX package to help bring your productions to fruition and make some cash I might be your collaborator. Let me know!

Dan Kanes
Los Angeles
Three Two Three Four Four Five Zero Nine Nine Nine
info (AT) dankanes (dot) com
Click to expand...
 
Liam Hall said:
You sound more like a producer than a cinematographer...
Click to expand...

Well, kinda ... except I'm not always funding. Actually more like writer/director
... thus I'm learning everything I can about working the camera, editing, etc.

I may not always operate the camera or edit, but right now I am and want
to make sure I have excellent working knowledge in case I want or need to
on any project.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top