Hi Reader, You don't want to stand behind me in a grocery store line. Because no matter what lane I choose, it will be the slowest. I've done studies, it's confirmed. I change lanes, and watch where I used to be, and my old spot wins every time. It's the same way with gear and technology. I'm not the guy on the bleeding edge. I don't write reviews of new video cameras. I like hanging out in the slow lane and waiting until my projects dictate my purchases, not the other way around. Case in...
about 17 hours ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, With the World Cup final this Sunday, I've been thinking about one of the wilder rides this career has given me. In March of 2005, ESPN sent us to Colorado Springs to spend a week filming the US Men's National Team. They were training at altitude, preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Mexico at the famous Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, 7,200 feet up and packed with more than 100,000 fans. Reporter Lisa Salters was embedded with the team for the feature, and we filmed...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, The kind of work you do, or want to do, impacts the gear you buy. Or don't buy. Let's break it down by scale. In my mind, there are three main levels of production. Yes, there are levels within the levels, but let's start with some broad categories. Large-Scale Film/Video Production - think features, Netflix series, and higher-budget commercials. As a DP or Director at this level, you don't need to own any gear. You show up on set with a script and maybe a light meter. If you...
15 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Earlier this week, a client booked us to fly to San Francisco to produce a project for them in August. We're based in Denver, and San Francisco is full of very talented crews. Hiring one of them would cost this client a good bit less than flying my team out, putting us up in hotels, and paying our travel days. But they didn't hesitate. They'd rather pay more to bring us. Why? I mentioned the booking to a colleague and asked him why a client would pay to travel a crew to a city...
22 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I recently had a coaching call with a filmmaker who confessed she sometimes left her set lacking confidence that she got what she needed. It didn't take long to find the culprit. She wasn't bringing a monitor. She was relying on the little LCD on the back of her camera to tell her how things were going. The little screen will do that to you. It sends you home unsure. Or worse, sends your client or editor bad footage. Whether you own your gear, or you rent it, I encourage you to...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Earlier this week we had the pleasure of working with CBS Sports and the Denver Broncos football team to capture player poses and mini sound bites that will be used by the growing list of networks airing NFL football games this coming season - including CBS, NBC, Amazon, and Netflix. Each network had its own list of poses, questions and prompts. Some were as simple as having the player say their name and where they went to college - like "Bo Nix, Oregon." Others were funny - "If...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Fred arrived late last week, just in time for me to deploy him on his first shoot. He showed up in a box - arms, legs, torso, and head all detached like some kind of macabre mafioso warning without the blood. Putting him together was awkward. One arm on, the other would fall off. One leg stayed attached to his waist, while the other got screwed on. His head pivots on a short tube extending from his torso, and often flies off. All the attachments were kind of cheap and plastic, with...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, There are some shoot days I’ll never forget. This was one of them. It was Valentine’s 2004, and Hunter S. Thompson and his wife were going to celebrate later with some black tar heroin. I know this because he told us. He was really looking forward to it. But first, we needed to interview him. The location was his cabin in Woody Creek, an unincorporated town near Aspen, Colorado. We arrived in the early evening (he usually slept all day), and stepped into his famous cabin. It was...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, 👋 A quick hello to those of you who have joined us in the last week. Welcome to Freelancers Friday! If you haven't grabbed the Cinematic Interview Cheatsheet yet (many of you already got this when you signed up), you can get it here 👉 The Cinematic Interview Cheatsheet It's a good tool to reference for today's email. We talk a lot here about how to set up an interview with one person, whether we shoot that with one camera or two. That's a perfect model for the Cinematic Interview...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Last week I wrote about nurturing your Client Family Tree. This week I want to share one of my favorite ways to actually do it. And it doubles as a way to attract new clients too. Our blog. A good blog, hosted on your company website, serves a few purposes: It keeps you top of mind with your existing clients. They see you're busy, they see what you're up to, and most love getting a peek at the other fun projects you've been working on. It deepens the relationship and increases the...
2 months ago • 4 min read