michaeleaglehall

Hi all, Looking for a sound friendly CPA in the Los Angeles area who can handle my 2015 filings and consult about whether or not it's time to establish a loan-out corp. Appreciate the references should y'all have any. Thanks in advance!

System needed for producers to speak to talent, one-way communication OK, even if only a regular wireless set, needed for rental TODAY 3/3/13, if right system we may be able to do a one-week rental. Please call or text Fiive Onne Zero 301-3438 if you can help! Thanks much!

Much thanks to all who responded--will be sure to post back with results!

Hi all, Need to send some shotguns out with Sony Z7Us and EX3s for Doc-style shooting, was wondering what your favorites were. Have had decent results w/ 416s and Me-66s. Anyone out there have experience with the Sennheiser MKE 600? Other recommendations? Thanks!

Hey Paul! Good to see a fellow BECA alum out there hustlin'. Doing the same here in LA.

From: Eco-Razzi (http://www.ecorazzi.com/2012/11/27/sea-shepherd-tasked-with-filming-whale-wars-action/) “Animal Planet will not have its own film crew on board with us this year,” wrote Sr. Media Relations Manager Lisa Agabian in an email. ”‘Whale Wars’ will, indeed, air in the U.S. on Animal Planet as expected, but our own (Sea Shepherd) professional production crew will be shooting the campaign this year. This arrangement provides us greater flexibility for distribution purposes, as we will own the footage.

Concur. Also concur with posters (like Blankenship) who pointed out that the hostility towards other departments was unprofessional and inappropriate. Reposting the "Open letter from the sound department" would probably have been more effective. Naturally an amateur shouldn't insist on pro rates, much less on low/no budget jobs. And as you repeatedly state, the marketplace dictates rates. What I think the original CL poster hits at nicely, however, is the unrealistic expectations of low/no budget producers. They want to pay $150/day and get one person to do the work of 2 or 3, and often don't provide the greatest environment in which that can be achieved. I keep doing these jobs because I love the work despite all those challenges but was heartened by the fact that there are others struggling the way I am. You're right that the experience on those jobs often isn't great--that's what's frustrating! Naturally many of the 695/CAS guys here on JW are in a whole other league. That's why I'm here. I know guys who are lucky enough to boom and third under such luminaries but for those of us not so well connected we must trawl these forums, do the Mandy and CL jobs, harass the staff at Coffey and LSC, and bug sound mixers on jobs that we PA on. Still, I've met my share of grumpy sound vets, so perhaps there's something we have in common after all? We all hate tuna, do we not? Pollo Loco, anyone?

Nothing coming up. Would love to read the debate though to learn what the vets have to say, apparently I've stepped on a touchy (or perhaps over-wrought) subject. Obviously those of us nubes struggling to get fairer rates out of mandy and craigslist jobs would appreciate the post more than connected vets who consider $350 a half-day rate. And that I certainly get. Got it. Thanks.

Link?

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cwg/3452849709.html Found on craigslist today. Thanks to whomever posted this, I find myself wanting to explain this to people on almost every set I'm on! I might not go so far ast o say that sound is more impt than picture, but on the whole this poster gets it right. The following is the text: Sound mixers get a bum deal. We have to invest over $10k to get decent gear and enough of it to be able to handle the demands of what production wants. We provide a valuable service that is even more important than your picture. Your film has dialogue, people want to hear it and hear it clearly. We try to do that for you despite poor locations, poor wardrobe choices, and sometimes, ridiculous shot composition. A camera crew is exactly that, a crew. Operator, 1st AC, 2nd AC. If there's no 2nd AC then there's damn sure a 1st. Sound mixers are apparently expected to do the job of two people and get paid peanuts for it. In the LA area, the absolute minimum for our services should be $350 per 12 hour day with $100 for a kit fee. Base minimum. Any asshole with a DSLR can call themselves a DP and show up on set and get paid decently because they have a camera. A 744t recorder is nearly twice the cost of a 5d markIII and a 788 is more so. On top of that, producers want at least 2 wireless, a shotgun mic with great rejection, and comteks so they can hear and complain. We help people want to watch your movie. A film with terrible sound and a gorgeous picture is still unwatchable, a film with mediocre picture and excellent sound will be watched in its entirety (provided the story is worth it). Don't insult production sound mixers or boom operators (two separate jobs, by the way) by wanting to pay $150 for a 12 hour day, subway for lunch, and no equipment fee. $350 +$100 kit fee is minimum. If we really really like you, we might do it for less if we're bored. But don't insult us by calling it a job.

First shoot with a Nomad and a Scarlet, they will be using the on board Scarlet sound rather than what I will be recording on the Nomad because it is for a 48hr film contest. Since the Scarlet inputs at mic level, about how much would y'all recommend padding down my nomad output? Any favorite settings or anything to worry about from you Nomad and/or Scarlet users? I figured I'd just use regular xlr to trs cables to input and then reduce my output by ~40db and see what that gets me, but if anyone has nailed this before it would be great to hear it. Thanks y'all.

Couple questions for Geordi: A) Is the referral necessary for Friends in TV? Do you tend to bill yourself as mixer, operator, or recordist? C) ProductionNotices.com doesn't seem to have any posts for Los Angeles--is it more active in your area? Thanks, -Michael

Sounds like a blast. I've played many of the courses in Northern California (de la veaga, golden gate park, stafford lake) but haven't found anyone to throw disc with in SoCal yet. Would love to join you guys if you have room for another--I live close by so this is perfect for me :-) -Michael

Copy that. And hate is such a strong word. More accurate to say that I have a tendency to get frustrated with Apple. Nice catch, JW. Pleasure to have met your acquaintance. :-)

As do I. It doesn't seem to be the norm in the LA film world, but I rock an Android unit and am quite happy with it. Anyway to get that to control a Nomad?

Seems like the conversation on this thread no longer reflects the thread heading. As a new member, I'm not sure if there's a way to re-title or "move" threads here, or what the protocol is. I would say, though, that since the Nomad was not "dropped" from B&H--I must admit I'm a bit embarrassed to have that as the first thread associated with my account given that this thread is "hot". Given the actual circumstances I don't feel it fair to Zaxcom to keep hitting JWSG with a sort of false headline. Shall we start a new thread titled "Nomad iOS Possibilities" or something of the sort?

Thanks for clearing that up, Glenn. I was worried that perhaps demand had depleted their stores. Now that I have your attention, any plans for an iOS or Android app to control your Nomads? There's so much great functionality in your devices it would be killer to be able to plug in a larger touch screen to play with all that stuff--not to mention write sound reports, etcetera. Thanks again, -Michael

Just noticed that you can no longer find any Zaxcom units on B&H's website. Actually, if you search for "Zaxcom Nomad" they show you an SD788! Anybody know what this is about?