Telling Strangers on the Internet how much money I make

A dude on the internet I've never met but followed for years and totally respect has been posting a series related to money and creatives. I've already posted a couple of my faves here on the blog, but when he dropped a link for anyone who'd be interested in sharing their experience I jumped at the chance. Now it's out in the world and kinda feels like standing there naked in a cold room in front of a doctor and their 58,000 social media followers.

Is this a flex by any means? Oh, goodness no. You saw how much I make, right? Do I believe in honest transparency in hopes of helping someone else who may be in somewhat of a similar position? 100%. Is there a bit of irony there in the fact that the Instagram post didn't include my name? Well... Pretty sure anyone determined enough to find out who it is knows how Google works.

When I was first getting started as a freelancer, I don't remember having honest and open conversations with other freelancers regarding their relationships with money and finances. Now I'm probably too open about it and more often than not overly pessimistic. Surely I'm loads of fun at parties.

Rather than rehash what I'd already written for that dude's survey, I'll let you scroll through his Instagram post of my response embedded above.

Thinner for Sure

Well, it had to happen at some point... I got sick and tired of looking at spreadsheets. At least for a day or two. I've learned to do some pretty fancy-pants math this past year with all the finance classes I've been in, and yet I still make a living behind a camera.

Truth be told, that living has gotten quite a bit thinner this past year. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons: businesses have tightened up their spending due to economic uncertainty, the ongoing writers' and actors' strikes, me being insanely busy with school, plus I could just be difficult to work with and terrible at how I provide for my family. There's also the grim reality that August is on average my slowest month work-wise and my monthly stock footage sales are down nearly 60% this year. It's all sunshine and roses over here if you can't tell.

I'm not typically on many narrative film & TV projects, and from previous writer's strikes, I'd assumed there'd be an uptick in reality TV work. I stayed crazy busy earlier this year on a couple different shows, but according to this PBS NewsHour piece, unscripted shows haven't necessarily been thriving.

It's a weird and crazy difficult time to be in this industry at the moment. I'd never seriously considered the MBA I was busting my tail to get to be some kind of professional parachute, but damn I'm glad to be picking up some new tools along the way.

Speaking of picking up some new tools, this MSNBC segment on the entertainment strikes was absolutely speaking my economics love language. Why on earth the presenter didn't mention YouTube's MONSTER amount of advertising revenue for 2022 is beyond me. Of the $77.7 billion in ad revenue listed on this dude's chart, YouTube's $29.2 billion was 201% more than the averages of the other five and 37.5% of the total. Essentially for every $1 the other providers got in ad revenue on average, YouTube got $3.01. Another way to think about it, for every $100 in advertising revenue, YouTube gets $38. That's freakin' bonkers.

The summer session just wrapped up last week and had me finishing out classes in Real Estate Finance and Financial Statement Analysis. Those two should be the last math and finance-heavy classes in my graduate program (unless St. Anne the Wife is game for me to go after my Masters in Finance too). Again, what I've been studying is on the opposite side in terms of helping me light a set or film a scene, but certainly helpful in polishing those business school superpowers I've been working on. I can tell you EXACTLY how much I'll have to pay back on my student loans and show you how to do the calculations.

This week starts the fall semester and I'll be in classes first dealing with Negotiation and Marketing Management, then Advanced Leadership and Organizational Behavior later in the semester. As long as everything goes to plan, I'll be done with my MBA in the spring.

Let me know if you want some help in calculating a loan payment or figuring out some short-term options with some idle cash. You could also hire me out as a filmmaker too.

Digital Bread Crumbs

I'm supposed to be studying for another exam right now, but my head is still mushy after a nearly three hour midterm earlier this afternoon. So instead I'll ramble on about how these last few months have been a blur with me still trying to balance work, family, and grad school responsibilities.

There was a trip out to Indiana a few weeks ago where I ate a tiny octopus, lost another fancy pen, and chased high school theater kids around. Then a few days dodging weather delays and scheduling issues with a good crew and a camera package I mostly enjoyed. Out in Connecticut I ate well and closed the rings on my Apple Watch each day before 10a while working with a bunch of younger student athletes. Don't forget that other shoot with the Cherokee Nation and their rad XR studio out in NE Oklahoma before that quick trip out to Shreveport so I wouldn't miss our younger monster's birthday again. I believe there was a film festival and an U.S. military air show in there somewhere too, but I was much younger then.

I have these photos on my phone that act like a trail of bread crumbs to remind me of where I've been lately. Forget actually trying to make something interesting looking, I'm just trying to remember what happened.

What's kinda wild is that my bread crumb photos have all sorta started looking the same. I wear the same blue collared shirt when I'm traveling by plane to a job and airports for the most part all kinda have the same look and feel. Then there's the black collared shirts I'll wear on set in trying to look like an adult. Well, unless I know I'll be working mostly outside and then it's the safari outfit with the green bandana to subtly let others know I'm down for women making their own decisions. Then there's the "Where'd I park?" and "I should take a photo of this lighting setup so I can remember what we did" set of photos. Not too long ago I'd mentioned something to St. Anne the Wife about how normal it is in this line of work to be picked up from the airport by complete strangers, work with them like crazy for a few days, and then peace out at the end of the job never knowing if you'll ever see them again.

I know too I wrapped up a couple more MBA classes around the end of June, then jumped straight into two more. During the summer semester we've had each of those eight week classes essentially crammed into two, five-week periods. I keep telling myself (and the wife and kids) that this short-ish 18 month period of doing my MBA won't last forever and will be crazy helpful in the long run.

In time, things will calm down and I'm sure I'll be bored out of my mind along with thinking I'll never work again. At least during this round of crazy busy I'm not fighting off "stress induced physical pain."

I swear I'm still a Cinematographer

Already starting week three of this first MBA summer module. That's shorthand for "good lord I'm antsy to get back to focusing on being a professional creative again."

I've been flirting with the monthly issues of American Cinematographer magazine that just keep coming with my subscription. I've also started back to reading the American Cinematographer Manual I'd bought back in early 2022. The physical book itself does remind me of my younger days and the well worn and highlighted Bible I'd spent so much time with.

This ASC manual is basically the cinematographer's bible. I'd been wanting to buy a copy and dig into it for years. It's not a textbook per se, but it's easily an authoritative work.

"Producers hire a cinematographer to create art, to be the guardian of the image, and to press for quality and beauty at every turn, but remember, they hire a cinematographer to do that on a budget... Never convince yourself that money is no object – money is the main object. Remember, it's call the movie business. Cinematographers must be concerned about saving money, or at least concerned about spending it wisely." - David Stump, ASC. “Criteria for Evaluating Digital-Cinematography Cameras.” American Cinematographer Manual, 2021

...bit of a hat tip to me still being eyeballs deep in the world of business school...

Another solid find this past week was David Kruta's guest appearance on the Cinematography Salon podcast. He's a good dude and one that I'd consider as a friend. I've been part of the Cinematography Salon for a few years now and met Dave at one of the group's NYC holiday parties. I've also been in a private Instagram DP/Foodie group with him and a handful of others that's helped us all get through these last few years of Covid.

In this episode they cover a handful of topics, but they dug into how artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into our creative industry like everything else. I know I'm already behind the ball in terms of Midjourney (sad day for the end of free accounts) and other AI image generators, but I've been using ChatGPT more and more since early April. After listing to this podcast, I started thinking about how I could use AI in terms of the interview transcripts I have from my rubber stamp documentary project (yes, it's still in the works but somewhat gathering dust). I fed ChatGPT one of those transcripts and asked it to provide some of the themes we'd covered in the interview. Hot dang, seconds later it spit out what would've taken me days to do on my own. I'll for sure be using it more down the road.

I've been hoarding money lately due to this wild economic season we're all in right now instead of following my typical "I should buy more gear" impulses. Some of that fiscal responsibility can be blamed on a group I've followed for awhile, A Photo Editor. Lately they've been on a tear with their Instagram account in posting some real-life examples of photographers and what their business revenue looks like. One post in particular hit hard with the dude saying "stop buying gear; just stop."

No question as professionals we need to stay on top of our nonsense, but – in another hat tip to business school – buying more gear just because you can is a terribly short-sided business move. There's some legit purchases I could be making right now with some potential projects coming up. I've done the math and worked out the details using my newly minted business school super powers, but I'm not convinced it's time to melt my credit card just yet.

That said, I'm pretty sure it's way past time I sprung for some new C41 developing chemicals. I'm way past tempting fate with the crusty chemistry and the 20-30+ year expired film I've been using in my RB67 lately.

Smashing Together Art Kid Assets and Math

You know what feels nearly pointless? Trying to come up with some concrete numbers on the actual return on the investment (ROI) I've made on my gear over the years. By all means, I've got access to those numbers considering the detailed records I keep, but the wheels fall off once I start digging into the minutia of the individual items in my kit, the associated costs, and what I've charged for every single job.

It's not hard tracking the the big ticket items like camera bodies, lenses, computers, etc., but good grief I've wasted nearly a full week trying to come up with the actual breakdowns of what I've spent on the additional accessories to make those big ticket items functional and how I've charged for them. There's also the revenue made from my stock footage sales – because I keep detailed records with that nonsense too. Let's not even get into how I dug through my tax returns from the last few years trying to plug in the deprecation on my larger asset purchases and how that factors into this fool's errand.

Why even attempt something like this? Well, for one thing, I had this past week off in between my MBA modules. Two, and more importantly, I'd like to know how much my assets are costing and making my business. It's not like my business is rolling in money (just ask Saint Anne the Wife), but dang... If there are better ways to spend and invest extra money, why wouldn't I try to figure that out?

Ideally, I should be able to track my gear purchases, the rates I charged clients each time I used that specific item, and come up with a specific date as to when that item paid itself off and became profitable. Ideally too if I got to the end of the useful life of the equipment and sold it off, I'd be able to plug in the amount I'd sold it for (salvage value). From that thicc spreadsheet of data, I'd be able to come up with an economically sensuous-looking graph showing the fixed cost and an upward-sloping line following the cumulative amount I'd made with that purchase.

For example, just comparing the rough costs of my RED camera packages (not including lenses, lens accessories, tripods, EasyRig, etc.) and Mavic 2 drone kit and the amount I've made via only my Filmsupply stock footage sales, I've made a 133% return on those assets.

But alas, even with all the records I've kept since starting my business nearly 15+ years ago and given my current equipment list and constraints, I'm pretty sure it'll take me more than a week to accomplish my goal of knowing which individual asset is making what. Like, I'm assuming there's a difference in the ROI percentage on a camera body that'll age out in 5-10 years vs. the type of long-term return on lenses and light stands. This is probably why firms employ accounting departments. Surely there's software out there that'd track all this and if not there should be, especially for small firms like mine. Sidenote: I'm starting a Management Information Systems class this week where I'm sure we'll dig into something like what I'm talking about. Twenty bucks says I'll end up developing my own relational database system that'll track all this nonsense.

This last MBA module had me in a Managerial Economics class where we were studying pricing models and using some geometry to calculate demand, marginal revenue & costs, profit maximization, and some other nonsense. Turns out my small business is essentially in a monopolistically competitive industry where there are many buyers and sellers, where each firm produces a differentiated product, and there's free entry into and exit from the industry. I say "essentially" because there's not really "free entry and exit" considering my upfront costs, but I'm nearly certain you're not here for a graduate-level academic lecture on the economics of a freelance cinematographer. Remember that geometry we were using to calculate profit maximization, here's what that kinda looks like.

Is it essential to know all this? Hard no. It doesn't take a graduate-level business degree to be an art kid. I will say though that having a better understanding of this hot mess should allow me to make better financial decisions related to the work I get to do as a creative.

One of the beefs I've had over the years is working on client-provided gear that actually hindered the work I was doing. As a freelancer, I'd be on set using their prosumer-ish and broken-down equipment while the staffers were nursing sunburns and hangovers after another weekend at their lake houses. As a camera operator, am I better able to nail a challenging focus pull with a higher-end cinema lens and follow focus vs. a still photo lens? Yes. Will that precise camera move look better on a higher-end tripod compared to that $150 excuse for one? Yes. Does the image quality and actual on-set working experience you get out of an Alexa, RED, or even the higher-end Canons and Sonys stomp what you get out of those lower-end camera bodies? Again, yes.

All that said, it doesn't always make financial sense to be using high-end gear. I feel like this is where the art I get to do smashes up against the actual math.

"Does it make more sense to buy or rent that particular item?" Show me the math.
"Is my $13,000+ tripod actually necessary for that locked-off interview?" Well...
"With the clients I normally get to work with and the market I'm usually in, should I get a matching pair of Alexa 35s kits when a set of Sony FX9s packages would accomplish the same goal?" Hmm...

Show me the math and let's talk about the potential long-term revenue models.

Busy enough

Well dang... It's been six weeks since the last blog post. During that time I had a trip out to Denver with the OU MBA program, two work trips out to Bentonville, AR, another work trip out to Springfield, MO, and a crap ton of grad school work to plow through. It's been busy to say the least. Like, "stress induced physical pain" levels of busy. As always, crazy thanks to Saint Anne the Wife for putting up with my nonsense and keep our two housefires from burning the place down while I've been so busy and traveling .

This last week I had my final exams in both my Managerial Economics and Business Law & Ethics classes. I've not seen my final grades yet, but I'm confident I landed an A in my economics class and goodness knows what I got in that legal class. I'd applied to law school years ago, but decided against going. Still pretty sure I made the right decision, especially now after going through these last seven weeks. Still, there's plenty I picked up in that business law & ethics class considering the nearly 80 pages of handwritten notes and the 19 page study guide I'd put together in studying for that final.

Work-wise I got connected to a true crime show that kept me crazy busy. It's been a two camera shoot on Sony cameras (FS7s and/or FX9s) as well as a couple drone days on my Mavic 3. As much as I'm not a fan of Sony cameras and their dumpster fire of a menu, those FX9s are kinda growing on me; those FS7s can go straight to hell.

I picked up a couple used Hive Hornet 200-Cs LED lights that were on sale and I'm for sure a fan. I'm diggin' being able to control the color and intensity of my Titan tubes and now these 200-Cs with my iPhone. As much as I love the Hives, I've had some issues with the units shifting colors while I'm using the app, but so far I'm blaming user error. I'd love to pick up one of their Super Hornet 575-Cs, but that's crazy money. I also got introduced to some 3d printed gold mount plate covers that were super interesting. Can't say I'm rusing out to pick up a couple of my own, but the possibilities are interesting.

Another gem from the last few weeks was landing short-term drone insurance through Skywatch.ai. My current production insurance won't even consider covering drones, but I was able to pick up a month's worth of covereage for a client shoot for about $62. Not bad.

That trip out to Denver with the OU MBA program was an opportunity to meet with a couple businesses out in that part of the world as well as a chance to spend some time with fellow OU MBA students. We got a VIP tour of the Coors Brewery out in Golden, CO, plus we got to meet with a consulting firm and a few other OU MBA alums who're killing it in the business and finance world. I'm still hoping to use my MBA to better understand the business end of the work I get to do, but hot damn it's been worthwhile getting to be a fly on the wall in other industries and expand my business worldview.

I'm still hoping to write up some blog posts anchored in what I've been studying in these graduate business courses. My Managerial Economics class had me studying different pricing models and that has all kinds of implications to day rates and equipment rentals. My law class had an entire section on contract law that I actually used with a client in the last couple weeks and saved myself from losing a good deal of money. I've also been digging into artificial intelligence via ChatGPT, but that's something else entirely. Here's part of a ChatGPT response I got recently regarding cinematographer rates:

"...As an AI language model, I cannot provide a specific or exact figure on how much you should charge documentary clients for a full day of camera work since this can vary depending on various factors, such as your level of experience, the location of the shoot, the equipment needed, and the specific requirements of the client. However, there are some general guidelines that you can consider when determining your rate. The first step is to research the standard rates for cinematographers in your area and for the type of work you will be doing. You can look at industry associations, online resources, or ask colleagues in your field. Next, you should consider your level of experience, your qualifications, and the type of equipment you will be using. Generally, more experienced cinematographers can charge higher rates than those who are just starting out, and the type of equipment you use can also affect your rate. You may also want to consider the scope of the project and the expected length of time it will take to complete. Some clients may require additional services, such as post-production editing, which can also affect your rate. Ultimately, the most important thing is to determine a fair rate that takes into account all of these factors and ensures that you are being compensated appropriately for your time, expertise, and equipment. You can also negotiate with the client to find a mutually acceptable rate." - ChatGPT

My Filmsupply sales have absolutely tanked these last few months. I'd gotten spoiled with those licensing fees covering my monthly overhead and then some. I can't say for certain what's causing the decline, but I'm assuming it's related to rising interest rates eating into advertising budgets, where we are currently in the U.S. election cycle, the scope of my stock footage portfolio, and the world being on this side of Covid. That said, one of my clips was in a recent Joe Biden spot – now my third stock footage placement in a U.S. presidential election. It's a follow shot from a manufacturing plant and about 30 seconds in.

We Need More Weird Stuff

Normally I'll just delete the Short of the Week email I've been getting for goodness knows how long. But every now and then I'll ignore the black hole of responsibilities just long enough and find gems like this short film by Babak Ganjei.

What's more rad is the fact this short film was from the same people who brought us the weird AF surrealist horror comedy Don't Hug Me I'm Scared. And more rad-erer is the fact that YouTube series by Blink Industries is now a fancy pants TV show on British Channel 4 (that I can't watch here in the U.S. until I figure out how to use a VPN).

In a roundabout way, this nonsense connects me even more with a podcast I'd heard last week. The Daily podcast from The New York Times interviewed one of their own, film critic A.O. Scott, about why he's done with the movies.

"After 23 years as a film critic, Mr. Scott discusses why he is done with the movies, and what his decision reveals about the new realities of American cinema." - The New York Times

They get into major studios leaning so hard into superhero movies and crowding out other other potential film projects as well as how streaming platforms have changed the game. Seriously worth a listen.

The budding MBA brain of mine is down to argue the economics of this nonsense with the other part of me who just wants to make weird art kid stuff no one asked for. It makes me optimistic knowing that the film Everything Everywhere All at Once did so incredibly well this year at the Oscars and will hopefully further open the door to more independent and original films.

A Quick Breath of Existential Dread

I had every single intention of keeping up with this wordy nonsense during this semester, but no. It's now five weeks later and here I am, trying to make peace with the fact things are crazy busy with family, school, and work responsibilities. This last week Anne and the kiddos had their Spring Break as did I with my own school work.

As much as I'd like to dig into my business financials and set up yet another spreadsheet to budget and forecast my variable and fixed costs, I'd also not be upset never thinking about the Managerial Accounting class I just wrapped up. My Investments class was interesting and I did well, but dang... I'd also really like to just pick up a camera and make something.

I feel like I'm coming up for a quick breath of air before plunging right back into the world I've made for myself. Towards the end of last week, Anne and I took the boys out to Bentonville, Arkansas. Turns out so did just about every other parent in this part of the country. Breakfast each morning at the hotel was like a drunken children convention with parents wading through their own existential dread. It was absolutely a "family trip" and not what you'd call a "vacation." What we did to deserve this and how civilization has continued all these years is beyond me.

Work-wise, the year is off to a slow start as usual. From the conversations I've had with my filmmaking peers, I'm not the only one who's been down work-wise since the last part of 2022. Even my stock footage sales have seemingly fallen off a cliff since November. My assumption is that it's due to the current economic climate, how much more expensive it is for businesses and organizations to borrow money, inflation causing additional problems, and...

...cue everyone's eyes to glaze over in boredom while I completely nerd out about economic and monetary policy. Still, it's been an interesting week watching the U.S. Treasury Bill rates bounce around following those recent bank failures.

Talking to Strangers

This past week was the beginning of this year's regular state legislative sessions here in Oklahoma. Monday morning had a sizable crowd of Trans rights demonstrators outside the Capitol building. Then on Tuesday there was another crowd there, this time they were Pro-Life demonstrators listening to a speaker under a banner that read "LAWS TO MURDER BABIES ARE MADE HERE." The crowd had dissipated before I could get back out there with my camera, but I did make it inside the building for the Homeschool Oklahoma Capitol Day 2023.

Talk about whiplash between the two days worth of demonstrations. That and the differences in the weather that helped make for two completely different looks. I'm always interested in people and the things they're passionate about, but honestly I should've been home working and/or studying those two days. Instead I was down the street at the Capitol building with my old camera, more expired film, and just talking to strangers.

At the Trans rights rally on Monday, I finished out a black and white roll of Ilford HP5 that I've still got to develop, but then I switched over to a roll of Kodak Vericolor III that'd expired in 1998. I'm especially proud of a handful of those images as well as getting to meet and interact with some of the peaceful demonstrators who some conservatives are calling a "mob" that had "stormed and occupied" the Capitol.

"The protesters gathered to oppose a group of bills that target gender-affirming medical care. Some of the bills would completely bar minors from receiving transition-related care, including one that would prohibit such care for people up to 26 years old. Other bills would bar providers of gender-affirming care from receiving public funds." - "Peaceful protest or a trans 'mob'? Oklahoma demonstration riles the right" – NBC News

Tuesday's weather wasn't helpful, especially because I'd loaded a roll of ISO 160 Kodak Vericolor that'd expired in 1987. In compensating for how old the film was, I'd need to plan for a loss of one stop of light per decade, so that ISO 160 film would need to be exposed at ISO 20 and I'd still be shooting nearly wide open on my camera lens (f3.8). Even then I decided I'd need to push the film two additional stops in the developing process. Honestly I'm surprised I got anything out of this roll of film that was nearly as old as I am.

Out of the ten shots I'd made on that old roll Tuesday, the only two worth looking at were a couple portraits I'd made with a man named Steven Hess. I'd been loitering outside the Capitol building and just hoping someone interesting looking would walk out in the rainy weather. This dude and his fantastic looking beard walked out and he and his family were taking pictures on the south stairs. I waited for them to finish up and then I approached and started a conversation.

"Hey, I really like your beard. I think it looks great. Would you mind if I took your picture?" "Sure."

From there I scrambled to get a light reading using an iPhone app and we made some small talk. He's a bit older than I am, but turns out we had both gone to the same high school. More than that, we'd both taken photography classes there, so we most likely had used the same darkroom way back in the day. He asked if I'd send him a copy of the photos if they turned out and he gave me his number. We ended up texting back and forth for nearly an hour that night after I'd developed the film and sent him the files.

I got to have similar quick conversations on Monday with a few of the Trans rights demonstrators. I'd posted some of the images I'd made that day to Instagram and was able to share and connect with a few of the people I'd met at the rally.

I've for sure made pictures over the years of strangers out in public with long lenses and without permission, but it's something else entirely to walk up to someone you don't know and ask them to be vulnerable with you for just a moment.

Freakin' Old Film

I'm currently spending my weekend getting stomped by my Managerial Accounting class this semester. My Investments class is coming along, but surely you're not here to listen to me whine about the maths. Instead I'll just post some of the images I made in the last few weeks using crazily expired film.

My parents are estate sale raiders and they'd come across a house of an old film photographer a few months ago. They said I should come check it out and I 'bout lost my mind when I saw a shoe box of old film that'd all expired back in the late '90s and early 2000s.

I wasn't keeping up with prices at the time, but right now a 5-pack of medium format Kodak Portra 400 retails for $65.95. The estate sale guy standing guard in the old photog's room surely saw me freakin' out about the film, but still quoted me $40 for all five boxes. I'd had a birthday a few days earlier, so crazy thanks to my parents for buying me the film as a gift for being another year older.

There's plenty on the internets about how to shoot expired film. From what I'd seen and read, you're supposed to overexpose by one stop for each decade past the expiration date. This nonsense was about 25-30 years expired, so I overexposed by about two stops. Shooting handheld with a shutter speed below 125 is just asking for trouble, so by this point I was already nearly wide-open with my lens. With the faster Portra 400 I was exposing at ISO 100 but ended up around ISO 40 with some of the slower film and still around a f3.8. Don't look too close 'cause you'll see plenty of blown focus from my shots of the MLK Jr. Parade.

Turns out the developing process isn't any different – or maybe it is and I stumped Google. I do my own developing at home and only had one roll that didn't make it. Apparently the plastic used was either thinner back then or somehow becomes much more brittle over the years. That one doomed roll ended up ripping as I was loading it onto a reel, so freakin' sad day for those life-changing images never making it to this side of the process.

The day I learn to breathe underwater will come sooner than me ever learning to properly color grade an image. There's no telling how this film had been stored all these years and the image colors are all over the place. I knew it'd be a crapshoot, so in processing I intentionally didn't try and correct the colors. I'm still using my Epson V600 and SilverFast9 to scan in my film and surely one day I'll drop the $100 on Negative Lab Pro, but not today you temptress.

But still, I'm out here getting to make some images in my downtime and not paying the Kodaks of the world an arm and a leg for a roll of film.