Re: So, it's started...

[Brendan Coots] " If you can't make the case that your work is of a higher quality than what he can do with that iMac, you might have to pack it in"

just a small example: When working with the US Government, they have several tiers of pricing and the lowest is usually the "under $10,000" catagory. This is awarded on price only without any merit for quality. I know because I just went through this for the fifth time in as many years. The first was a video on Diabetes on Indian reservations. We have a long history of award winning productions and, I have a guy on my team that is an expert on Native Americans with Diabetes who just finished a 1 hour show on Apaches for PBS' American Experience. The bid went to a kid with a bid $900 less than us. He shot it with a handheld disc camera using the camera mic and no lights what so ever. When he delivered it. They looked at it, asked us if it could be 'fixed" and then threw it in the trash. the money is gone.

With the economy in a slump, I am seeing more and more clients who are shopping on price alone. They keep asking if we can come down to someone else's price. Once we do, that's our price from then on. We're getting the very same thing from several of our deep pockets clients. The buyers are being told to cut costs and we're not cheap. It no longer matters that we have done Telly work for them in the past. Those days are gone. it's all about price.

One significant problem is the ability to shoot anything and post it on You Tube or other web video centers and they no longer have to pay for bandwidth, maintenance, or anything.

To conclude, we have come up with a new business model and it's starting to take hold and we have more control over quality and price but it took us a year to get it off the ground and it's just starting to bear fruit. Now, if I can just keep a lid on it...

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It's a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD .