Hi Reader,

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful break, and are as psyched to jump into 2026 as I am.

Let's face it, 2025 was a tough year for a lot of us in freelance production.

Normally reliable TV shows stopped asking for new content, nervous businesses were loath to invest in video production and marketing, and clients seemed to want more and more for less money, time and crew. Throw in AI, and it all became a confusing mess.

I'm hereby declaring this trend over. (Ha - I wish I had that power!)

I've already seen signs of an uptick for 2026. Our production company had more inquiries and bookings in December for the first quarter of the year than we usually get. I'm hoping businesses have absorbed the economic volatility, and are beginning to realize marketing still matters. Documentaries and TV shows are going to need new content and great crews to shoot it. And AI will never replace authentic human-centered storytelling. In fact, people will crave it more and more.

I've been around long enough to see a few major downturns in our business, and one thing I know to be true (from personal experience) is that massive opportunity lies on the other side. Competition decreases just as demand starts to increase.

And those who will benefit most are the freelancers who have the skills, marketing and systems in place to be ready for the business.

What can you do in January to kick this off?

1. Use the new year as an excuse to reach out to your existing clients. Send a personal email. Come up with something new to share with them - a new reel, new gear, new website, or even a recent project you think they might find interesting. Or just wish them a Happy New Year. They may not need you right now, but this helps you be on their radar when they do.
2. Uplevel the skills that connect directly to improving your client's experience. While it's fun to deep dive into the latest camera LUTs, do your clients really benefit or care? Become the go-to master for what they actually need. In our world, it's the ability to efficiently set up and shoot professional-looking interviews, and capture engaging b-roll that supports it. Whatever this is for you, figure it out and be the best at it!
3. Define your rates and stick to them. I strongly recommend making a rate card that lists out what you bring to the table (gear + experience) and what you charge for it. This document is for you only, not to be shared. If you work by the day, define your list price day rate. Consider making this a bit higher than you feel comfortable. Then write down how far from that rate you're willing to go. I recommend going no lower than 10%. This is your range. Then when you talk about rates with your clients, have this rate card in front of you. You will automatically sound more confident.

I'm planning on going into all of this more detail in the coming weeks, but hopefully this gives you some ideas, and leads you to some more fun and lucrative shoots in 2026.

Speaking of fun shoots, I got the call from ESPN a few years back to help launch what would become "ManningCast" for Monday Night Football. We ended up in a secret garage filled with over a million dollars worth of classic cars. Check out this behind the scenes story I wrote about it, along with a little clip of me doing some camera and sound tests.

Setting up "ManningCast" for ESPN The top secret address led us to a very bland looking warehouse south of downtown Denver. How were they going to shoot a TV show in there? But when we walked in we understood... Read more...

That’s a wrap for this week. I’ll be back next Friday with another quick lighting tip, and some behind-the-scenes fun.

In the meantime, I hope you and yours have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Tom Miller
​Freelancers Film School