We Didn’t Need a RED, We Wanted One.

If you want to stay current in the video production business you have to continue to invest in your capabilities.  That means investing in training, lighting and support gear, computers, software updates, and our favorite: cameras! The truth is, it is possible to make modest improvements and gradual upgrades over the years and continue to create good work. Our challenge is that we want to create great work. By every measure we are doing just fine.  The work is good.  Clients are pleased.  Our collection of Canon cameras is serving us well. The challenge is that we want to up the game.  We want bigger and better projects.  We want the portfolio to be better every year.  I will explain it here just as I will explain it to the CPA.  We didn’t need the RED.  We wanted it.  And let’s be honest, does anyone need to shoot 8k?  Why would we?  The answer: because we can!

“I just bought a camera that costs more than my parent’s first house”

The good news is that it’s October.  That gives me a month or so to come up with the explanation to our CPA as to why I jumped the gun on the annual end-of-year equipment spend. I usually make a big equipment purchases after a financial review with our CPA in late November.  By then we have a pretty good picture of how we did financially and what our corporate tax position is.  Since I have been doing this for nearly three decades I felt pretty confident that I could look at the numbers and make a decision.  With that I am still slightly concerned about going in to our year-end tax planning meeting and justifying a single camera purchase that cost more than my parent’s first house.  Granted they bought that house in 1976 but still, they got a house, I got a camera.

“Do clients care what camera we are shooting on?”

In my experience, new clients who are just getting to know us place more importance on what camera system we are using than existing clients do. In 2018 I did several new client presentations in which members of the marketing team or executive team specifically asked me what kind of cameras we use. Several asked if we shoot on RED.  I am not entirely sure if anyone in this group could have articulated the difference between a Sony, a Canon, an ARRI or a RED.  Frankly without my team of technical geniuses around me I sometimes struggle with all the specs and tech facts myself.

“Ohio is a great place to shoot films, Netflix series, TV shows and more”

Over the last few years we may have missed a few opportunities.  Some of the calls we were getting for a RED were from out-of-town movie crews and television producers. I would decline these jobs as I just didn’t want to misrepresent our capabilities.  It’s important to set everyone up for success, both our crew and potential clients. Taking our team away from current projects, renting a RED and sending them off with an out-of-town film crew did not seem like it would make sense. Ohio has a lot of film production going on, and if we are going to play a supporting role in that business we need to be prepared.  We need to own it.

“I can’t sell something we don’t own”

Members of the Mosher Media board of advisors wisely suggested that before we make the investment in the RED camera system that we rent it first to see if we like it.  Call me crazy but I believe if we are going to become fully immersed in the technology and the workflow we need to own it. I want to tinker.  I want the creative freedom that comes from an unplanned video adventure. The team needs to know the camera system inside and out. In order to create great results consistently for clients we need to have mastered the camera, not just have learned it.  I could not tell clients that we shoot on RED if we just rent it occasionally. The most important thing about the technology and tools in video production is that they are nothing without a creative and talented crew. There is no point to making an investment in cameras, lenses, lighting, support gear, ect. unless we have invested in the talent it takes to make it all work.  Certainly we need a return on our investment in camera and support gear. That return comes to us through increased revenue, a spectacular portfolio of work and bigger opportunities. It is not lost on us, however, that the portfolio looked pretty great before the addition of the RED.  We are all curious to see just what kind of impact the new images will have on our demo reel.  We may just cut a reel of RED footage mixed with shots from our Canon C300 and see if the clients insisting on one camera over another can identify which images came from which camera.  The truth is, a talented team is capable of producing a great image from either camera. 

“We had a great experience at the RED Digital Store in New York City”

I don’t need a reason to go to New York. There have been times I just go in to the city just to see the sights and clear my head. Over the summer I decided to go to New York and visit the RED Digital Cinema store.  I figured if we are going to invest in this camera system I should do more research.  The RED team had given us a great deal of information at the NAB show in April, but I wanted to see how they dealt with customers at the retail location.  What a positive experience this was. I have to say the retail team at the store convinced me that this was a good move.  The way that the RED employees were handling customers, videographers and filmmakers that were coming in with their camera equipment to be serviced reassured me that there is support from the company for RED users. More importantly, the RED technician Peter Snyder patiently answered all my questions and spent nearly two hours arming me with information about the cameras, sensors and so forth.  I was already considering jumping in to the RED business, but their presentation sealed the deal.

The reality is that the RED has a cult following.  It has incredible brand power.  Whether or not the client has the budget to shoot on RED or is prepared for the workflow considerations, they ask about it anyway. I am not sure how it happened, but there are many in the business that just elevate the idea of shooting on RED as a level above shooting on Sony or Canon. Perhaps it’s because RED only makes the expensive cameras intended for film or documentary work and all the other camera manufacturers have too many consumer level or mid-level cameras in the mix.  I don’t understand how the brand perception came to be, but I know that it exists. The RED is just cool. Sometimes I have even referred to it as the Corvette in the showroom.  Super cool.  Brings them in the door. Sometimes though at the car dealership the Malibu or the SUV just makes more sense.  Not that I have ever been compared to a car salesman, but in a similar fashion I know it’s my job to make sure the client’s time and money is spent wisely and that they get a great product that exceeds their expectations.  The RED is spectacular, but so is our Canon C300. If our Canon C300 Mark II is a better fit for the project we are going to advise the client to go that direction.  ROI over glory every time. Or most of the time. Or we just do what the client wants.  After all, they are paying for all of this!