Steve Sherrick
Well-known member
First and foremost, this is Jarred's house. He built up DVXuser to be the most successful filmmaking site on the planet, and it's not even close. Other than helping organize some Reduser events, I have no idea exactly how Reduser operates internally, but the one thing that hasn't changed is that it's still Jarred's baby. So, if we all understand the dynamics involved here, we see there may be times when what us Redusers want doesn't align with what is best for Landmine and RED. In order to address this dilemma when it comes up, there may need to be alternative resources available outside of this space where there is no conflict of interest, etc. But this is easier said than done. Someone needs to host it, maintain it, and of course, pay for it. And if you want it to remain a neutral space where anything goes in terms of products, reviews, discussion you can run into the same kind of problems - who is sponsoring it and does that cause any kind of conflict of interest?
We don't get to make the rules here. Ideally, I'd like to see sponsors all treated the same. If you pay the money, you get to promote your product, even if it competes with a RED product because ultimately it does two things for the end user - gives them more options and it pushes RED to keep innovating and pricing product competitively. But that's speaking from an enduser perspective. Jarred has to run this site the way he thinks is best for Landmine and also for RED, where he is second in command at the company. I'm sure he has to make tough decisions that he knows aren't going to sit well with some people.
I think Wooden Camera makes some great products. I have no idea what the contract issue is, but if it's solely just a conflict of interest, then they are going to have to market in other ways I suppose. I will say this, I think it's a mistake to prevent endusers from talking about products like this. There are times when people have to look at other options because of availability of RED products, and I believe it's in RED's best interest to have these options out there because it helps take pressure off them and keeps the naysayers at arm's length. Yes, the risk is that it could mean some missed sales. But in the bigger picture, I think it's better to have people out there shooting happily with their cameras and building brand loyalty than to have the opposite happen. Again, this is all conjecture based on a couple of threads that have sprung up recently. I will say, the policy about promoting products has been very clear by Jarred and his team of moderators. So any conduct outside of that, will undoubtedly face consequences. And that is understandable.
I do caution that we should wait for more details before jumping to too many conclusions. There may be other details that we just don't know about. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt since I'm not privy to any of the details other than what's put up here on the forum.
We don't get to make the rules here. Ideally, I'd like to see sponsors all treated the same. If you pay the money, you get to promote your product, even if it competes with a RED product because ultimately it does two things for the end user - gives them more options and it pushes RED to keep innovating and pricing product competitively. But that's speaking from an enduser perspective. Jarred has to run this site the way he thinks is best for Landmine and also for RED, where he is second in command at the company. I'm sure he has to make tough decisions that he knows aren't going to sit well with some people.
I think Wooden Camera makes some great products. I have no idea what the contract issue is, but if it's solely just a conflict of interest, then they are going to have to market in other ways I suppose. I will say this, I think it's a mistake to prevent endusers from talking about products like this. There are times when people have to look at other options because of availability of RED products, and I believe it's in RED's best interest to have these options out there because it helps take pressure off them and keeps the naysayers at arm's length. Yes, the risk is that it could mean some missed sales. But in the bigger picture, I think it's better to have people out there shooting happily with their cameras and building brand loyalty than to have the opposite happen. Again, this is all conjecture based on a couple of threads that have sprung up recently. I will say, the policy about promoting products has been very clear by Jarred and his team of moderators. So any conduct outside of that, will undoubtedly face consequences. And that is understandable.
I do caution that we should wait for more details before jumping to too many conclusions. There may be other details that we just don't know about. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt since I'm not privy to any of the details other than what's put up here on the forum.
