Wandering Ear

I run Dante for live broadcasting and in my studio. Besides a few unusable updates, it's been a great system for me. However I find less use for it on sets. I still use it when doing playback etc, but for wireless if I were to rebuild a new system I would likely do RF over fiber instead of Dante. I'd rather keep the equipment on the cart and be able to clip an antenna on set whenever I needed. The only reason I haven't invested in this system so far is I find I'm generally always able to be within range of set. Couple that with a trend towards smaller crews and I feel I am often getting closer to set these days, not farther away.

The 8020 anchor fasteners are my favorite method by far. They are very stiff, and I have not had any issues with loosening over time, or shifting under stress. It's far easier to have 8020 do the machining for you when you order the parts. They also sell the tools to do it your self if you have a drill press.

I am not doing any production work right now. Scraping together whatever post work I can, but it's pretty thin. Getting close to completing some personal projects that been on the back burner though, so that's nice. The company I refered to isn't local to me. As far as I can tell production sound work doesn't qualify as an essential business to be exempt fr WA states stay at home order, unless you are part of a broadcast news crew. I haven't heard about any productions shooting here since the order went into effect.

If you elect to file as an S-Corp then usually you put yourself on your companies payroll as an employee, and earnings about your base salary are passed through as personal income for taxes. That's my understanding. It sounds like you may file as a sole proprietorship? Of course defer to how your accountants have set you up The PPP loans have been tough. Every bank has different procedures to apply. Existing relationships are usually required. And then you get the Wells Fargo situation where do to past fraud they couldn't loan more than 10 Billion and they hit that in requests pretty quick. Fortunately it sounds like the FTC will exempt them from that cap for the PPP. Still, with a massive backlog at the SBA and funds being first come first serve, there is a lot of uncertainty around the PPP. Add to that the vague guidelines released by the SBA and even my accountants aren't sure of how all the details are going to play out in the end. If you are an S Corp or have employees it's probably worth pursuing.

Personally I think a lot of the implementations I saw were as much about making people feel comfortable and that production was acting responsibly more than scientific practices to stop the spread. Better safe than sorry. I definitely saw a lot of emphasis on having less crew on set and having more off set space for people to spread out when not needed on set. Also no fresh crafty . Only pre packaged. I have a client who wants to see temperature logs to ensure no one going on set has a fever or has had one recently.

We're on a stay at home order here in Seattle, so no productions for a while. Right before the order I did a rush of corporate communications jobs as a way to replace planned conferences & meetings etc. A few things changed for me. I was asked to wear nitrile gloves while micing talent. I was asked to sanitize the lav and transmitter in between each person with a sanitizing wipe, or sometimes just using hand sanitizer. At times I was instructed to hand off the mic and let talent mic themselves so I would have no direct interaction with them. Makeup department made a lot of changes to their process too. Some of the changes included: Using disposable brushes instead of reuseable Switching to powder makeup that can be poured into a small temporary container rather than paste makeups that get re-used between talent. Designating re-useable makeup only to the talent it was used on. Wearing gloves and a mask To me it feels like these things won't stick around after the virus gets under control. Hopefully that's soon.

I use Tunnelblick daily with OpenVPN configurations. They have releases supporting your OS. You would have to check with Express VPN if they have OpenVPN profiles you can download. I have used NordVPN this way with Tunnelblick. You can download deprecated versions of Tunnelblick supporting back to 10.4 here: https://tunnelblick.net/downloadsDeprecated.html

I have mine shoved into an Orca pouch for an ERX. Not a perfect fit but it works.

This has always been my understanding too. The IRS has a bit different language to determine the relationship, but the intent behind it is similar to AB5: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/understanding-employee-vs-contractor-designation I've also heard several people tell me about the new law making it more expensive to hire contractors because they have to pay payroll taxes. The way I see it those payroll taxes are being paid either way. This law just ensures that the employer is paying their half of the payroll tax, rather than the employee (contractor) paying the full 15%. So a contractor who is concerned about it being more expensive to hire them as an employee could lower their rate by 7.65% to make it cost the company the same. Or the other way around as many up here in Seattle do. A lot of the freelance crew members here have our rates, and charge an additional $50 on our day rates if hired as a contractor, which roughly covers the additional payroll taxes we have to pay on behalf of the employer. Not to mention insurance, liability, workmans comp, etc...

I'm also curious how this will affect CA freelancers, but I don't have much direct knowledge. Do you have any more info on the changes you mention with the IRS? This I haven't heard about, and before I go bugging my accountant during tax season I'd like to know what I'm asking, if anything. Thanks

The producers choice black/white are worth it. 2 of them fit perfectly on a 12 by t- bar which can be hung on a single stand (I recommended two sand bags). I usually try to negotiate with the grips to supply the stand and bar, offering to set/move/manage it myself. It's not always successful, but when it pans out it can be really worth it. I also carry rubber backed carpets for foot steps, and for under / around an interviewees chair. I'm not a fan of blankets on the ground because they are slippery, but if noone is walking on them they help. I often want to get blankets up and can't make it happen for many different reasons, but when the room warrants it and I'm able to get them up it makes all the unsuccessful attempts worth it.

Throwing my site out there too. Feedback welcome. https://wanderingear.net/ Kelsey

I've never come across a situation where power levels were checked, so I don't see the licensing requirement as it relates to power as being a consideration. The power requirements seem mostly only regulated on the sales side. Even when working with frequency coordinators at big events or sports games they don't seem to care that I have a license. I plan on staying licensed, and just generally hope that UHF whitespace devices never substantially materialize.

Working with 2 Venices today. DIT mentioned the video files come in with 8 channels of audio recorded. I'm feeding two analog line level via the 5 pin XLR. I went through the menus with the 1st AC and couldn't find any option to choose what audio tracks to record or not. Anyone come across a way to choose which audio tracks to include?

I helped on a show not too long ago that made a custom carbon arc lamp in an all clear housing to create lightning effects covering a large area in the forest. Cool to see it done, but I can only imagine the trouble that would be as a primary lighting source.