Ben Matthews

The idea isn't mine. Video MTL in Montreal has lockers. Many other rental companies also do. Call your local one and ask!

Thanks for you're reply,

The locker system does seam like a popular idea. Have you used one before? Or know how it works?

Thanks

londonsteenbeck.eu5.org/

Superb

Not used it since I collected my Steenbeck from Pinewood one name-dropping afternoon.

Some photos of that please!?

I'd say invest in the IT, rental management, website (on-line ordering), and flexible and included insurance.

Let people have automatic online quotes and for those who often rent can have an online account with a pre-determined discount. Also an automatic discount, the more you rent the bigger the discount.

Let them pickup equipment 24/7 using lockers.

Have a very clean website where all the items have an accurate picture and description, and you can order them with options (scrims, 2nd header, types of lamps or ballasts, etc...). And then a smartphone app that links to your website, and a pre-registered credit card so the gaffers can create pick lists on set and just crate an order in one click which is automatically sent to the PM and also exports a very readable PDF.

 

Do not just rent equipment, make people's lives easier.

Thank you for your feed back. We have focused heavily on the "user friendly" aspect, with a very clean cut website and smart app for ordering for shear convenience when on the go. There will be a credit system once an initial have been created allowing faster transaction.

We are working on a discount offers when equipment is hired for more than 3 days, I think that looks to be quite standard through most rental companies.

We are also looking into the possibility of providing crew rather than just tech guys and an operator. This is something I'm really keen on for the independent market, it will allow us to help them manage their budget and streamlining the production process for them. This is still in fairly early stages and not something we would start at 100% but introduce over time.

Thanks again for your thoughts, Its really helpful to know what people feel can be done to help them more. To a large degree thats what we want too, never to feel too corporate. We want to feel accessible to everyone.

Ben

One more serious thought.

 

Consider renting out something other than Arri, Kino-Flo, or whatever brand. If I want price-no-object lights, there's a dozen places I can go. If I were instead to want one of those Chinese knockoff HMIs, which should be something like a third of the price to buy and therefore to rent, I can't actually hire one. Anywhere. It's just not an option. Nobody does it. I can rent Arri and probably Mole fresnels. I can't get anything else.

 

Not necessarily saying you should particularly aim to create a poor quality rental fleet, and there's the everpresent problem of perception, but it does make sense in a sheer fiscal sense. After all, if I buy a no-name and it breaks, I'm screwed. If I rent one, you send me another one, and you fix it.

 

P

Thats interesting, I will look into some low cost lighting. With our costs from vendor being so low we would be pricing rental costs at pretty much low budget lighting prices. So we would be able to encourage low budget indies/student to have top end lighting.

Yaaaaay.

 

 

Very good, thats the spirit.

One thing you can do for indies and students is to package in affordable insurance and generally make it easy.

 

P

Thats more like it.

We have a very good package put together. It was one of the first things we looked into as one of my investors is a high-street insurance company. We worked together to find out what competitors we offering and in which way we could undercut them. Your market research is your best ally!

Ben

 

In the UK, I wouldn't.

 

P

You sound like Thatcher...

If everyone in the UK had the attitude that we have nothing to offer then we would be in a worse state than we are now.

The British Film and Television industry is growing year on year with new investors and more money for productions due to investment from home and overseas. In fact it couldn't be a better time to put a footing in the industry here as it will only get stronger and far too competitive for start up companies in the future.

So go and get yourself a Union Jack, give it a good old wave and give a bit of support.

Ben

 

Hi Ben.

 

I'm in a similar situation in that I am in the final stages of setting up a rental company. My production company has been set up for years, but now, like you, I'd like to try to turn a profit.

 

Since the camera realm is ever-changing, I have focused on renting out grip & lighting equipment. I'm aiming at renting to thesis students and low-budget indie filmmakers. I never really purchase any equipment that I wouldn't use myself and I'm trying to keep my prices lower than the cheapest game in town. So that's my advice to you. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice,

Lighting is something we are looking into. We have had some reasonable quotes on lighting allowing us to keep or prices low and a health margin. So its a route we want to go down.

What are your thoughts on steady cams such as DJI Ronin and the movi systems? I know there is a big price difference between the two but difference in usability between them is marginal. Rental cost on Ronin a lot lower than Movi due to cost.

Ben

If you're setting up shop in Bristol, you're up against two established companies, who between them have most of the market tied up.

 

That said, if you're buying glass, then the obvious choice is Ultra Primes. S4i s will cost about the same, but last I heard there was a significant waiting list for them. Master Primes or Leica Summilux are too expensive for all but the richest productions. You should also have a budget option, so Zeiss Superspeeds or Standards would be a good choice.

 

Tripods and heads should be Ronford Baker sticks with O'Connor heads, with maybe some smaller Sachtler heads for lower budget shows.

 

I would echo other's sentiments and say concentrate on G&E.

Thanks for your reply,

Our offices are near Uxbridge close to Pinewood, for logistical reasons. Bristol doesn't have a big enough market to be sustainable, plus as you have touched on, what market there is in Bristol are well saturated with the existing rental companies.

We are in contact with both Arri and Cooke and with regard to there lead time on lenses, its very reasonable. Within 3-6 months on both.

With regard to camera bodies, we have contracts in place for productions which demand both Arri and Red so they are relatively covered.

I really do want to support the more independent film makers as some of the people one here have said. We are working on a project with some universities to run a scheme where students will get filming time with Arri and Red, and there is a possibility of running a competition where the students will compete to get the chance to shoot a short on industry standard equipment. They will also get the chance to visit a live studio set and a get some advice from industry professional before the develop and shoot there own short. This is difficult to put together but the signs are very promising and it seems to gather more support every day. So there is a lot of hope we will start this next year. Thank you for your advice on Lenses, Zeiss supperspeeds do look like a good option for lower budget.

Ben

Education either school (university) or self education (books) with as much practical as possible. Maybe get an old camera, DSRL are a good starting point. I agree with above too... If you think of it as a business your heading in the wrong direction. You'll have to master the art before you'll make any money, and that can take years.

A lot of Directing is about have a strong vivid imagination and being able to embody a story in your mind and understanding how to develop that story with your cast. You need a good understanding of inner and outer emotion, that way you can guide your actors into the inner emotion allowing them to develop the outer (Which is what you see through the camera and on screen).

I started as a writer before Directing and my biggest tools were books (Novel). When we read we have no visual to work with so we must imagine the look and action in our minds. Try finding a short story book then read until you come across one that feels real in your imagination, so much so that you live it in your head and you can walk amongst it. Then develop a small script from it.

Don't get tied up too much in structure of the script, work on the visual side of the script first. Film is a visual medium, so support your scenes with movement and emotion before you add dialogue.

There are some amazing books out there for learning how to write screenplay and they really do help with getting you moving in the right direction.

In film making there are no rights or wrongs in how you tell your story as long as you follow a dramatic structure. Film is art in the most and as a film maker and director you have to guide many artists.

Not in order as far too hard to give a pecking order!

Barry Lyndon

Skyfall

Saving Private Ryan

Blade Runner

2001 A space odyssey

Apocalypse Now

The Tree of life

Seven

Lawrence of Arabia

12 Years a Slave

Hard enough to give 10!

Hi to all,

I am in the throes of setting up my own rental company to run along side my production company. I will be directing my first feature through Jan/Feb 2016 and the thought behind the rental company is to give support to this shoot and any future productions of my own, but first and foremost to create a turnover and return from the equipment resource hire, and of course the hope or a profit.

I already have in my mind what cameras I will inverts money in for the rental company, but with regard to lenses I have a clear vision of the look I want from my film where I will be combining Arri Alexa and Cooke S4i or possibly Cooke Anamorphic's (if they are ready in time). So some of the budget for equipment investment is already in those lenses and both will be available to go out on hire through the rental company.

My question to all here is if you were in my position what would you invest your money in with regards to lenses, heads, tripods, etc?

Most in particularly lens manufactures and sizes? (I know what most of you will say) "Its really comes down to the DP using them or personal preference". So I'm not really looking for a definitive answer, but more of a calculated safe bet or ball park really.

I hope you will be kind enough to share with me your thought, thank you for reading.

Many Thanks

Ben Matthews