What a time to be a producer:
After a weekend of expos, Show biz, Cine Gear, and Moles party I came to a few conclusions. One of them is, the business seems to be hurting. Now I don't know a shit load of people in town but I know a few. Those people I know, they know quite a few folks in the business and from what I heard, there were a lot of out of work production people at these shows and it's not like that when things are busy. There are a lot of folks hurting. Another good indication of the slow production times is the little amount of swag there was. No money, no swag.
This leads me to my second conclusion. This is the perfect time to be a producer. Why? Well, you have so many people available, so much equipment around town and everyone is willing to cut deals because of this. If I were a producer and had a million dollars to make a movie, I could get 5 million worth of production value out of it. That is a really great reason to start a low budget production. The state of the business now, can make a producer, look like a super producer.
Now, just a few other thoughts on the shows:
I was very disappointed with Panasonic. They didn't have their new AG-DVX100 Mini DV 24 P camera at Show Biz. They didn't have a mockup, let alone a working model. I'm still looking forward to it, however I feel that the September 2002 release date will not be met. Most likely we will have to wait till next year. I wonder if they are having problems with it?
Kodak and Fuji were no shows. Well, Fuji was at Cine Gear but that is all. Kind of makes me sad. Yes I know in a lot of ways, there is really now reason for them to be at show biz but it's just always nice to see them there, like a security blanket.
There were nowhere near enough useful panel discussions. I'm not really sure what I would like to see but they as show runners should have that in mind when they throw these things together.
I did get to see the new Panavision set up for the Millennium XL, this is an AC's wet dream. Now, I don't really follow cameras that much, so I don't know if this camera has been out for a while but it's great. A wonderful blend of old and new tech. Why anyone would want to shoot digital is beyond me. Mind you I say want, not have to. If you have to shoot digital well that is different, however, given a choice film would win every time.
HD has come a long way and I feel it is great for broadcast but that is where it performs best. Panavision was showing side-by-side comparisons of film and HD on an HD monitor. Come on folks, this is no way to do a test. I will say that HD is a great format that is not quite there yet, not as far as cinema. Still not enough flow, not if you compare it to film. Maybe one day it will be there but film is still king.
A moment on the show biz expo floor: When a friend of mine asked a Fuji sales rep how he felt about all the video stuff and how it seemed to be taking over the business, he said; "Hey, I sell Rolls Royce, if you want a Chevy, go somewhere else."
Till next time. Remember, when they as you what you want, you tell them. I want Reel Butter. And you can keep that oily yellow shit for yourself.
Head Honcho
