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Over the past nine years I’ve been in business for myself, I’ve had the opportunity to meet thousands of people in both the photography and video industries. I’ve been blessed to have been given opportunities to speak, teach, travel, and make valuable connections. I’ve extended that social network online as well through Facebook, Twitter and this blog. Sometimes people wonder why I do all that I do. Try to give all that I give. First and foremost, it’s because I feel called to do it. To use my God-given gifts in the benefit of others. It helps keep me grounded. Second, I love teaching and helping. It’s natural for me. But I wouldn’t be honest if I said all the reasons were altruistic in nature. There is a valuable business benefit that comes with connecting with so many people, and helping others connect with each other. That was further illustrated this past weekend during the making of our 48 Hour Film project, “The Last Author.” (Be sure to get your tickets to the Group D screening this weekend at the Plaza Atlanta).

A month or so ago I blogged about needing help on this project. But I didn’t stop there. I contacted people I’ve connected with via church as well as this industry. (All but one of the actors came through my church.) I also reached out to fellow colleagues I’ve met in the industry. My friend Brandon McCormick of Whitestone Motion Pictures allowed us to use their craftsman style production offices (affectionately called “The Manor”) to film the scenes with Evelyn (the last author played beautifully by Caroline Granger). My friend and photographer Adam Linke of The Decisive Moment allowed us to use their office for the spartan, futuristic office of the main character Tom Goodwin (played against his usual comedic type by Danny Williams). Friend and photographer Shari Zellers loaned me a lens (and gave us access to her office too). All these people are people I’ve met through networking and reaching out.

But I must say, the person who deserves a lion share of props is an old friend and colleague Joth Riggs (of Whitestone Productions, absolutely no relations to Whitestone Motion Pictures). Joth is a registered DGA member who has done some work for me in the past. He and I connected in the event video world. He was first AD (assistant director) on a movie executive produced by comedian Jeff Foxworthy called “Crackerjack.” They had recently wrapped shooting in Savannah, GA (about four hours from here) and I asked if he could put a word out to his crew. He did…and how. Immediately requests to join the crew starting pouring in, all people who had worked on Crackerjack. My DP, AD, boom, all the PAs, script supervisor, and one of the writers all came from that set.

And the power of connection kept going from there. My Line Proudcer/1st AD Amy Stephenson started reaching out to her connections almost immediately. She was the one who reached out and got us our DP (literally three days before the shoot). She was also the one who got us our amazing composer (an old friend from her high school) Ryan Frayley. (More about him and the power of creating original music later this week). Amy was a dynamo!

Even our lead actress, Caroline, got on this project because she made a point to stay connected to me after auditioning for “The White Envelope Project” film I produced last Christmas. Even though she didn’t get the part, she made a point to stay connected, sending email updates every now and then. Keeping me informed of the work she’s doing, saying hi, etc.

Bottom line, this movie happened the way it did and looks the way it does because of connections. When people ask why I spend all the time doing the social networking I do, this is why.

So, here are three tips you can employ to stay connected in a way that will help your business:

Network in person. Go to networking events, join your local professional associations. But don’t just go to “get.” Go to give. (Read my post about the seven lessons of networking you can learn from the movie “Swingers.”)
Network online. Honestly, I hope by now you’re no longer in the camp that thinks Twitter is a stupid fad for people to tell us what they had for lunch. I watch the Twitterverse closely and I see all the connections happening there. I’m constantly seeing filmmakers put out “crew calls” on Twitter (e.g. I need a DP in this city, or I need a gaffer in that city) and within minutes they’re getting responses. The same goes for Facebook. And if you’ve been able to build up a decent blog following, that really helps too.

Take Initiative. You can’t wait for life to happen to you. Be willing to make the first move. You know how I met Brandon McCormick? I saw his film “That’sMagic” when it premiered at my church during Christmas 2008. Ater I picked my jaw up off the floor, I made a point that I would reach out to him. I emailed, had lunch, and eventually featured him as one of the artists in the film I made for Pictage, “The Creative Process.” But not everyone I reach out to reaches back. I’ve had plenty of unreturned emails or phone calls. But you can’t let that stop you. For every ten “no’s” you’ll get a “yes.” Do that hundreds of times, and over the years you’ll have a pretty nice network of friends in the industry.

Give More than You Get. Give of your time. Your talent. Your teaching. I felt so honored and was so very thankful for all the people on Twitter and Facebook who helped promote the screening of our film yesterday on Twitter and the other social interwebs. I like to think that the reason people were willing to do that for me is because they see that I constantly try to do that for others, either in blog posts or Twitter retweets.

Work for Other Filmmakers. Make a point to work on other people’s films, and do so with a humble attitude. If you normally DP but someone would like you to be a gaffer, don’t turn it down only because you feel that job is beneath you. (Okay, if you’re Roger Deakins, you probably won’t take a gaffing job. 🙂 But you get my point. Be willing to do work that you may not normally do. If you’re an event filmmakers, don’t feel like you’re “too good” to second shoot for someone else.

Stay Connected. In some way, try to stay connected to people you’ve met. Retweet their tweets every now and then. Drop them an email every other month. If they’re close enough, invite them to a meal or coffee. And it goes without saying, keep all this contact info in some central database, even if it’s just Google Gmail contact. Create what I call your list of “usual suspects,” people you work with time and time again who become your go-to guys and gals.

I know I’ve blogged about networking before, and I’m sure you’ve read the important of it elsewhere. But have you really taken advantage of all that you’ve learned? Put it into practice. The investment is worth the reward.

Today I start a mini-series on foreign filmmakers (i.e. filmmakers working outside the U.S.) When it comes to the world of filmmaking, the beautiful country of Austria has given us a wonderful artist. No, I’m not talking about the ex-Govenator of California. Of couse, I’m talking about none other than Mr. Nino Leitner. The son of creative artists (his parents owned an ad agency), he grew up with a love and appreciation for the arts. He realized early that filmmaking was the direction he wanted, and after graduating from high school in 2001 (ugh, I feel old) he pursued the craft in college. Right out of college he started freelancing and since then he’s been a filmmaker for hire. Then about a year or so ago he got the opportunity to do the first online review of Canon’s T2i/550D. The video he made was picked up by Engadget, and his blog became an instant hit. Since then his blog has become a wonderful resource for gear reviews and filmmaking inspiration. And Nino’s star has risen tremendously (he has about 20,000 Twitter followers.)

In this engaging interview, we cover everything from how he works with his clients (you’ll love my Brady Bunch flashback), how we quotes a job, how he picks his equipment (he’s shot with everything from a T2i to the RED One), his views on sponsorship, gear-lust, what inspires him as a filmmaker, how he got where he is today, and of course he chimes in on my “Inception” question. (Hear why that movie was so annoying to him. Here’s a link to the College Humor video he referenced). I could’ve talked with Nino forever. The time will fly as you listen to this great interview.

Bumper music for this show is “Tater City” by Glenn Shambroom, part of the TRUE ROMANCE collection, courtesy of Triple Scoop Music.

 

I think it’s a fitting end to my week-long series on the New, New Hollywood filmmaker by talking about Edward Burns. You may recall that Burns hit it big and had the ultimate filmmaker’s dream come true when his indie film “The Brothers McMullen” became a critical, festival, and box office hit back in 1995. Since then Burns has made and/or starred in over a dozen films, including a pretty nice role in Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” But, despite his Hollywood fame and cred, it’s still hard for him to make films in the old-fashioned “Hollywood” way. Hard to raise money; hard to get studio backing; a pain dealing with studio marketing execs; etc. So Ed has taken advantage of the democratization of the filmmaking process in a huge way.

Since “Brothers,” Ed has directed nine other feature length films. However, in 2007 he did something that made everyone in the biz scratch their heads. He released his 2007 film “Purple Violets” as the first feature length film released exclusively on iTunes. At the time people in the biz thought he was crazy. “What! No one wants to watch a movie on their computer. Or on their iPhone?”

I think it’s safe to say Mr. Burns proved them wrong. As he shares in his Tribeca Film Festival “Meet the Filmmaker” interview, the move was a very successful one financially. He went on to do the same with his 2009 film “Nice Guy Johnny” and his latest release “Newlyweds.” Why go through the pain trying to raise millions of dollars to shoot a traditional “studio” film, when he can spend $25,000 (before post production) and make low to mid-six figures selling direct on iTunes. And with the advent of Netflix and Hulu, additional revenue streams will open up as well.

From RED to the 5D

Ed shot Nice Guy Johnny on the RED. For his latest film Newlyweds he “discovered” the 5D Mark II and is raving about it. He shot it primarily hand held, with available light and a small crew. It’s exciting for us DSLR filmmakers to hear about someone at Ed Burns’ level in the business adopting these cameras. No more excuses people.

Filmmaking Twitter Style

The other interesting thing about Ed’s making of Newlyweds is that he used Twitter to come up with the title and other marketing aspects. He just tweeted for suggested names and input. He has truly embraced the social media world and is using it to his advantage.

Based on that interview, Ed says that this will be his preferred method for filmmaking. Sure, you don’t necessarily get the exposure a theatrical release gets you, but who cares. Doing it this way, he makes the kind of films HE wants to make, he titles them and markets them the way HE wants to, and he makes a huge profit. In my book, that ain’t bad. In fact, that’s pretty freaking awesome.

This year’s NAB revealed a whole lotta toys that makes us filmmakers drool like an 8 month old eating a double-chocolate chunk Its-Its ice cream and cookie sandwich at a 4th of July fireworks extravaganza at Disneyland. Some of the most exciting revelations were the new wave of professional camcorders designed to compete against the HD DSLRs. Cameras like Sony’s FS100 or Panasonic’s AF100. What makes these cameras so alluring is their small size, large senors, the ability to take interchangeable lenses, and most importantly, all the features that professional videographers and filmmakers miss on the DSLRs (e.g. professional audio inputs like XLR, focus assist features like peaking, exposure assist features like Zebra stripes, etc.)

But, there’s one thing about these cameras that I feel will still make the DSLRs a leader in the market: price. Most of them start at around $5,000 and go up from there. Now, don’t get me wrong. Relatively speaking, that’s still an amazing price given the quality and feature set. And I think for those studios doing high paying gigs on a REGULAR BASIS, they could be great investments.

However, I’m sure a good number of you will break out the credit cards and add another $5,000 to $7,000 to your debt so you can have one of these babies in your arsenal. Don’t be to quick to break out the plastic though. Take a good long look at your situation, and ask yourself, does it really make sense to buy this thing? (Insert soap box here).

BUY VS. RENT

After watching the video below by veteran filmmaker Den Lennie of F-Stop Academy, I was all set to make the FS100 my next investment (the scheduled US release date is summer). It’s my philosophy not to buy new gear unless a certain number of criteria are met, one of them being landing a large job that will afford me the ability to buy it for cash. With one such job pending, my eyes were set on this baby. But then I thought to myself, “Wow! I’m going to spend $5 – $6,000 on a camera that will most likely be upstaged in less than a year.” Don’t believe me? Just look at the history: the 5D Mark II was officially released around February 2009 (MSRP $2500). The 7D came out around fall that same year (MSRP $1700). A few months after that the T2i (whose video quality is on par with the 7D) comes out (MSRP $800). As much as I’d love to have this camera, I don’t know that it makes financial sense for me to buy it. A majority of the work I do is for smaller organizations who need a good promotional video for the web. For that reason, my T2i is great. I get a handful of jobs each year that would warrant a camera like the FS100 or better. For a studio like mine, it makes sense to rent as needed (working the rental rate into my fee).

And that is one of the decisions you need to make when deciding when to buy vs. rent. What kind of jobs are you doing primarily, and how often? Here are some other tips for deciding when to buy:

Length of time to recoup. If the amount of rental fees you’d pay for a piece of gear in 12 months or less equals the purchase price plus 10%, it may make sense to buy. I add the 10% due to the time value of money. Let’s say you wanted to buy a $1200 piece of equipment. Paying $100/month over 12 months is actually LESS than paying $1200 up front due to the value of money over time.
Useful life. If you’re the kind of person who is going to want the next big thing as soon as it comes out, don’t buy. You should be able to use your gear for at least three years (five or more is better). The first camcorder I bought was a Sony PD150 in 2002 (I paid almost $3500 for it back then). I only just sold it last year. Two years into me shooting primarily on HD DSLRs, I was still getting some use out of that PD150 here and there. (Sometimes just as an audio capture device before I got my Zoom H4n).Versatility.

The kind of gear I think makes the most sense to invest in are items that I call “cross platform.” That is, you can use them with many different cameras. These would include lenses, rigs, camera sliders, stabilizers, tripods, etc. This kind of equipment typically has a very long useful life. A sturdy, fluid head tripod could easily last you a decade. A good piece of glass could last you longer than that.

Percent of cash flow. Some of you may be living mighty large. So large in fact that a $5,000 or $10,000 investment is like pocket change. If you’re a multi-million dollar+ studio with a strong P&L and cash flow, you could probably pick up two or three $5,000 cameras without blinking. Be my guest.

Amount of debt. I’m die hard Dave Ramsey “Kool-Aid drinker” when it comes to debt. If you have a lot of it, get rid of it before any significant purchases. This is just my personal preference. I was a business major, so I fully understand the arguments for using debt to fund your business. Heck, I did it. But, it’s easy to get out of control and if I had to do it over, I definitely would have been less aggressive in using debt to fund my business. Let me pass my wisdom and experience on to you. Don’t be a slave to your debtors!
Clout. Do you have the clout to get sponsored by manufacturers who will give you their gear? If you’re routinely getting tens of thousands of views on Vimeo for each video you post, you could make an argument to a vendor to be a sponsor.

Obviously another factor to consider is availability of equipment you want to rent. Is there a professional film and video rental house nearby? If not, do sites like BorrowLenses and LensRentals carry what you’re looking for? (Shameless plug: I cover these and many more topics related to DSLR filmmaking in my webinar recording.)

Just to be clear, I’m not saying you’re a bad or irresponsible person if you buy gear. But I know how we tech geeks can get. Gear lust is a real emotion that can sometimes make you do stupid things (kind of like actual physical lust. 🙂 I just want you to be intentional about your purchasing decisions and know what makes sense for you business.

A couple of years ago I blogged about a “not so distant future” where the portrait photographer Debra has an all-digital operation and a camera that makes it brain-dead easy for her to get beautiful images. A lot of people labeled it “doom and gloom.” I found that very interesting since nothing in that post suggested I thought that future was a bad thing. (I guess it all depends on your perspective. One person’s “doom and gloom” is another person’s hey day.) As those predictions start to come to pass (e.g. Animoto integrated into desktop software; the ease and proliferation of photos posted via mobile devices) I pose this question to my readers: what is your digital strategy? You do realize that the days of print are numbered?

This is not doom and gloom. It’s just the way of things. It may not happen in the next two years, but I would be so bold as to predict that in 5-7 years, except in the most rare occasions, the majority of consumer photography (and video) services will be delivered 100% digitally. No wallets (who needs wallets when you have iPhones,), no 5x7s, 8x10s or wall portraits (digital frames), and as the Pixar generation reaches child-rearing age, you may even see a decline in physical albums.

But even before we reach that day, in the meantime the number of requests by clients to have digital negatives will be significant enough that you will need some sort of competitive strategy to offer it. The three key areas you need to figure out are pricing, distribution, and copyright management. Do you know how you will manage these three in an increasingly digital-only world?

This isn’t just something photographers have to figure out. All those labs out there making millions on prints will need to have a digital plan too. It will be curious to see how the Pictages, the PickPics and the H&Hs of the world are going to adjust. How will they continue to empower photographers to offer services in a world where high quality printing is no longer required (or at least not as much)?

More of a Filmmaker’s or Commercial Photography Model?

In many ways, this is an area where the photo industry can take a lesson from the film and video industry. The bulk of a professional video producer’s rate is in the creation and execution of our vision as opposed to DVDs (which would be equivalent to prints and albums in the photo world). If someone pays me $6,000 to shoot a video, 99% of the time, that’s all they’re getting, is a digital copy of that video. Commercial photography is pretty much the same deal. It’s in wedding and portrait photography where I see the biggest changes will need to be made. If you make a lot of money on multi-thousand dollar albums or wall prints, a time is coming where those sales will dry up.

So, do you have your strategy in place? How will your business look in a world like the one portrayed in this video below. (The future is not as far away as you may think). (Note: I did not make this video. Though I wish I had.

 

Pixar is batting 100. They are 11 for 11. Eleven feature animated films that all have achieved both massive commercial as well as critical success. Their films have garnered 26 Oscars, 7 Golden Globes, 3 Grammys and over $6 billion in worldwide sales. Every sequel they make is better than its predecessor. Their record is spotless. Who would have ever thought that there was a time when this “little animation studio that could,” almost disappeared before even getting a chance to make their first feature, “Toy Story.”

But Pixar co-founder and visionary John Lasseter had a dream, one he was willing to sacrifice for. His is a great lesson in pursuing the impossible, and getting it.

Here are some highlights of John’s career (as told in the Emmy-nominated documentary “The Pixar Story” by Leslie Iwerks) that we can apply to our own entrepreneurial endeavors:

Dream big. During the 70s when John was a student at CalArts (along with follow future filmmaker icons Brad “The Incredibles” Bird and Tim “Gotta Have Johnny Depp in Every Film” Burton) he took a summer job at Disneyland sweeping the grounds of Tomorrowland. He was evenually promoted to a guide on “The Jungle Cruise” ride. During that summer he dreamed of one day working at Walt Disney. Eventually he achieved that dream and was hired by the animation stuio.

Recognize the Future. After seeing Disney’s “Tron” in 1980, John knew this was the future of animation. He got a team at Disney to start working on CGI animation.

Bounce Back. After presenting his plans for a CGI animated film to a Disney exec, the exec scrapped the plan because he felt a CGI movie should cost less and take a shorter amount of time than a traditional 2D animated film. Shortly after that meeting, John was fired. He persevered and was hired by George Lucas’ ILM.

Bounce Back…Again. After working at ILM for a while and helping them develop technology used in films like “Beauty and the Beast” as well as “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn,” he and his technology wiz partner Ed Catmull presented Lucasfilm with the idea of making a full length CGI animated film. The investment was going to cost way more than Lucas was willing to invest. Pixar was spun off from ILM. Luckily, they came across a visionary young millionaire who has made a fortune with a computer named after a fruit. The visionary was none other than Steve Jobs. He invested $10 million to acquire Pixar and get it going.

Persevere. Pixar was losing about $1 million a year for five years before they changed the industry forever with “Toy Story,” released in 1995.
Trust Your Gut. The original storyline of “Toy Story” was not that great. Woody was an annoying boob no one could sympathize with. It was like they because at first, Pixar was succumbing to the wills of Disney execs. They pushed for another shot, and decided to make the story the way they envisioned it. The rest is history.

Know When It’s Time to Start Over. “Toy Story 2″ (which was originally meant to be direct-to-video) had a similar start. A terrible story. Only this time actual work had been put into it. John recognized it was no good, scrapped what they had, then started from scratch.

Surround Yourself with the Best. John hired and collaborated with amazing artists and storytellers. People like Brad Bird (“The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille”), Pete Doctor (“Monsters Inc”) and Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”). He then trusted them to bring their vision to life.
Don’t Forget What’s Most Important. With Pixar skyrocketing to success, demands on his time grew. His family life was threatened. He and his wife made hard decisions to arrange his life so that he could still give quality time to his wife and kids. That led to his cross country RV trip, which was ironically the inspiration for “Cars.”

Since that summer when he swept the streets of Tomorrowland, John has become the Chief Creative Officer at Disney. As for Steve Jobs’ $10 million investment? It’s now worth billions as he’s the single largest shareholder of Disney stock as a result of their 2006 acquisition of Pixar. (Just the dividends Steve earns on his Disney stock is close to $50 million/year).

Think Different

The video below is one you no doubt have seen countless times. But I want you to look at it…different. Imagine YOUR face as one of the people admired. Before any of these icons became icons, they were just “regular” folk. A classmate. A colleague at work. But, like John, they saw the world differently and were not afraid to take risks to move the world closer to their vision. Is there any reason you can’t be the next John Lasseter?

Today I have the incredible honor of sitting in a room with a small group of artists who I believe are the next “John Lasseters” of the world. I hope to gain inspiration from them. I hope together we can conceive of ideas that will move the world. Whether or not we achieve our goals, I know the ride will be worth it. But what I hope most is that we get a chance to bring you along for the ride.

Dear Muse,
I just want to say that I am really looking forward to our work today. I have quite a number of amazing ideas I want to run by you and get working on. I think they have the potential to be some of my best stuff. As soon as you get here we’ll start crackin’. This is going to be off the hook!

I stepped away from my desk for a while to grab a bite to eat and read a few magazines. Hey, have you read the latest issues of Wired, Fast Company and Filmmaker magazines lately? Some really good stuff in there. Gave me some more ideas. Just need my old partner to get her little butt over here so we can make some magic. Yeah, that would be you.

I just finished watching Zacuto’s Critics, all 39 episodes of FilmFellas, the IFC channel, seventeen movie trailers, “Waiting for Guffman,” “The Big Picture,” “The Player,” all the bonus features on disc 2 of the “Social Network” Collector’s DVD set (twice), two-thirds of Fellini’s “8-1/2″, and all the opening scenes to Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Kill Bill: Book 1″ and a bootleg company of “Inglorious Bastards.” I still have not found you. I’m really getting worried now. Are you okay?

Dear Muse,
Okay. My concern has just turned into anger. I just spent God knows how long watching six StillMotion videos, three Kevin Shahinian films, the collected shorts of Whitestone Motion Picutres, Jesse Rosten’s latest short, Kirby Ferguson’s “Everything is a Remix,” the good finalist entries in the Beyond the Still contest, and all the films in the “California is a Place” series (except that one about the guy who makes the life-sized sex dolls. That’s just creepy). Clearly you ARE actually working, just not with ME! WTF!

I would like to point you to paragraph 3, of section XIV, sub-section 8.3 of our binding agreement that expressly states that you will work with me to create works of art that will inspire, encourage and entertain all who view it. That you will instill within me a sense of purpose and confidence. I don’t want to have to go “Boston Legal” on your a$$, but I will if I have to. I expect you to hold up to your agreement!

Perhaps one of the most often asked questions I get from fresh talent entering the world of filmmaking and video productions is: “Can I use popular music in my videos?” This is particularly a common question among wedding and event filmmakers whose clients naturally want them to use their favorite Jason MRaz tune for their wedding video, or Justin Bieber’s latest hit single for that bat mitzvah recap (oy vey!) Well, here’s the scoop.

THE LAW

By law, in order to use a song in a film or video you need TWO types of licenses: a master use license (controlled by the record label) and a synchronization license (controlled by the publisher). The former is for the rights to the song from the originator. The latter is for the rights of the specific version of the song you want to use. In some cases, the label and the publisher may be the same entity. But in many cases they are not. Here are a couple of examples:

Let’s say you want to use the 2010, Haiti Charity remake of R.E.M.’s classic “Everybody Hurts” for some non-profit video you’ve made. You’d need to get a master use license from Warner Bros. music label (from which the original R.E.M. version hails), and a synchronization license from Simon Cowell’s company (which produced the remake).

Or, let’s say you want to use Chris Tomlin’s “Amazing Grace.” Well, as a hymn older than 70 years, the song in the public domain. So there’s no master use license needed. However, you’d still need to get the sync license from Chris Tomlin’s publisher. However, if you got your 16 year old daughter to write and sing her own arrangement, you wouldn’t need any license. (Here’s a link to a 2005 promo video I did for the northern California campus of Fuller Seminary, the largest seminary school in the country. The song used is the hymn “Come Thou Fount.” I used a version from my church’s worship band. For a $100 donation they allowed Fuller to use it.)

Buying the song DOES NOT give you the right to use it in a video. The issue is not one of ownership of the song. It has to do with the artistic use of that song in another form of art. So, while I’m sure the artist whose song you’re using appreciates you paying the $0.99 to $1.29 on iTunes to download it, they may not be too crazy about you using that song in your video.

Oh and here’s something for you. Just because you know a band member and he/she gives you the okay to use a song, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have the right to do so. Check with their label. Because unless it’s Bono or Michael Stipe himself, many band members don’t have the right to issue the correct licenses you’ll need. They may have the ability to pull some strings to get you the rights, maybe even at a good deal.

IN PRACTICE

Now, with all that said, in practice, it’s apparent the record industry is not currently as invested as fighting this issue as it was the likes of Napster. I say that because there are literally thousands of violating wedding video clips online that record labels aren’t forcing to be taken down. (Facebook does have the power to recognize copyrighted music and remove it. I’ve seen that happen to a number of videographers I know. Same goes for YouTube. Although, sometimes YouTube may keep your video up, but it may then add advertising it splits with the copyright holder.) Who knows if and when the industry might start making examples of companies. So, beware if you be one.

GETTING THE RIGHTS

So how do you go about getting the rights for the popular music you want to use? That’s the million dollar question. The Harry Fox Agency used to handle such rights, but they discontinued the service. Music organizations like BMI and ASCAP can’t help either because they don’t manage or govern sync usage rights (though you can use their sites to find information about the publisher). As far as I know, you have to use old-fashioned ingenuity and elbow grease to work your way to the right people at the right companies in charge of the licenses you need. Social media can be a big help. Last year I needed to get the rights to Tenth Avenue North’s song “Hold My Heart” and I just tweeted if anyone knew someone who knew someone, etc. Bingo! I got connected to the right person via Twitter. (I actually Replied the band and someone from their label tweeted back the correct contact info. Twitter is awesome!)

But, even if you find the right people, depending on how much of a song you plan to use and in what capacity (i.e. feature film, short film, TV commercial, promo video, etc.) you may find the cost too prohibitive. So what’s a poor filmmaker to do?

Triple Scoop Music’s “True Romance” Collection
My “True Romance” collection on Triple Scoop Music is a great resource for legal music for wedding videos or slideshows.
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

In truth, and this is just my humble opinion, I don’t think artists care that much if you include copyrighted music on someone’s wedding video so long as it’s only played at home. (I do know of videographers who have contacted labels in an attempt to get the rights only to be told that it was not worth the record company’s time to issue a one-off license like that kind of personal use). The issue comes when videos are used online to promote the videographers’ businesses. (Note: my friend, award-winning musician, and Triple Scoop Music CEO Roy Ashen may give you a totally different take on this issue. 🙂 ) So, what are some options you could do if you want to stay 100% on the up-and-up. Here are a few:

Specialized Music Sites: Sites like Triple Scoop Music, With Etiquette, Shawn Reeder Music, Incompetch and Truetone Productions offer songs that you can legally include in your wedding, event, and corporate productions that you use in short DVD runs, on-hold music, or for online use. (Although TSM is my usual go-to site whenever I need a quality song, I have used music from all but one of these sites at one time or another. See below.) Rates for these songs range from $48 to $100 per song. I know that is considerably more expensive than the buck you’d pay for a copyrighted song on iTunes, but these rates are a bargain compared to what you’d traditionally pay for these kind of licenses. Keep in mind that for some of these sites, there is an additional license fee required if you want to use the song for broadcast TV, feature film, or any other high volume enterprise. Update: since writing this post, Songfreedom.com has also been mentioned to me a couple of times. They offer a monthly subscription format and claim access to some popular song titles too. Worth checking out.

Royalty Free Music Collections: companies like Digital Juice have royalty free music products you can purchase that have hundreds of versions of songs at less than $1 a version. The downside of these songs vs. the sites I mentioned above is the quality of the music. The sites above have music that sounds as good as tunes you’d hear on the radio. Many of them offer songs from Grammy and Emmy award-winning artists. The tunes on these royalty free collections have a more “canned” sound and are almost all instrumental only (whereas many of the songs from the above sites have lyrics). They prove to be very popular for local cable commercial spots, commercial jobs for small to mid-sized businesses, or video podcasts. (I have an example below of how I used it in a promo for our photography studio.)

Software: products like Apple’s Garage Band or Smartsound’s Sonic Fire Pro allow you to assemble guitar riffs, drum beats, piano tunes, etc., and create you own music.

Find Your Own Composer: if you’re creating original film productions, you may want to just go out and find yourself a talented composer to make original music for you. My friend and colleague Brandon McCormick of Whitestone Motion Pictures has a great thing going with his producing partner, sound designer, and music composer Nick Kirk. You can actually download Nick’s music FREE from Whitestone’s website (not to be used in your productions of course, but just for your own enjoyment).

UK and Aussie Filmmakers: if I recall, the UK and Australia have some how figured out how to do what we haven’t been able to do here in the U.S. Create a service whereby for a yearly fee, get access to popular music. Thanks to DIY Film UK for this link to PRS For Music. in the UK. And thanks to Shane Kerr at Lumina Video for this link to The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Some of you may be thinking, “That’s all well and good, but my wedding clients want their Jason MRaz.” Well, here are a couple of ideas for using these songs with your event video services.

Only Display Demos Online: use a legal song from one of the aforementioned resources to create a personal event demo that you use online. You can create a very compelling, emotive piece easily from any of the resources mentioned above. Then, if you still decide to include copyrighted music in your clients’ personal videos, at least it won’t be publicly displayed. (Note: I don’t want this to come off as me suggesting you use copyrighted music. I’m merely addressing the fact of life that many of you will anyway, so this is an option for you to approach it that is not as egregious as posting videos with copyrighted music online.)

Sell It: position your work as unique because you create videos that don’t sound like everyone elses. Whereas every other wedding video has a “Gladiator” soundtrack (or whichever song is the flavor of the month), yours will stand out because of your use of great sounding music that is not heard on the radio. Then charge your rates accordingly.
“SEE” THE SONGS IN ACTION

Below is a collection of videos showing songs from each of the specialized music sites and Digital Juice in action. All but one of these videos was produced by my company Dare Dreamer Media.

Triple Scoop Music in Action – Joe Buissink in “Mirrors & Shoes”

I produced this for Pictage and it’s not part of their PhotoLife Film Series. Inspired by the movie “Social Network,” I was looking for something hard-hitting with a Trent Reznor/NIN feel to it. The opening song “Hall Mongers” by Shotgun Radio. Ending song “Gooding” by Marie Laveaux.

 

There are moments in life when you hear a song and it takes you to a place that is hard to explain. It evokes feelings of happiness, sorry, and joy all at once. The music from the band Clocks and Clouds does that. I love what they say on their site”

The group has given many educational concerts around the Midwest showing students that Bach and the Beatles aren’t all that different. C&C strives to demonstrate that bringing rock into the classroom doesn’t lessen the importance of Mozart and Beethoven, but strengthens the foundation that these great composers laid.

This music video was shot by fellow colleague Dan Rollins of LiveWire Films who is a relative newbie to the business. Keep up work like this Dan and you’ll be on the teaching circuit in no time.

 

This week I continue my Doorpost Film Project series with the writer/director of the film that just this week took home the grand $100,000 prize. I have Mr. Bradley Jackson, creator of “The Man Who Never Cried.” In this episode, Bradley talk about his career, the making of the film, his success as a filmmaker even though he admittedly doesn’t know any of the tech stuff, and why there seems to be so much amazing filmmaking talent in Texas. He also answers what will be my recurring question on the show: at the end of “Inception,” does the top fall?