Coronavirus Economics/Finance

[ahalpert]

A client has asked me to do a small shoot in Manhattan next Tuesday - interiors and exteriors of a beauty salon, small crew, social distancing...

Does anyone know if you can get fined for being en route to a shoot or filming on the street in Manhattan? May be a good time to be discreet...

The NYC website suggests they will do social distancing fines...but I live in the burbs and haven't worked in Manhattan since the shut-down order. Anyone know how stringently they're enforcing it?

 

[cpreston]

I managed to get my unemployment application in NY through this week on the day reserved for my last name alphabet section.

It asked me in the middle if the form if my last employer was the one client I have who W2s me. I said no, since that shoot was a while back. But I wonder if having a W2 on record made my application work in the system?

If so, they'll probably pay me right away but not my full amount and I'll have to work that out later...

That's an interesting idea. Just go through the regular unemployment sections and state that my W2 employer is no longer employing me. Actually, one of my W2's is Harvard and they are actually paying their contractors for the estimated work lost due to the school shutting down. They calculated mine to work out to 2 1/2 hrs/week. So, that's something.

 

[Run&Gun]

A client has asked me to do a small shoot in Manhattan next Tuesday - interiors and exteriors of a beauty salon, small crew, social distancing...

Does anyone know if you can get fined for being en route to a shoot or filming on the street in Manhattan? May be a good time to be discreet...

The NYC website suggests they will do social distancing fines...but I live in the burbs and haven't worked in Manhattan since the shut-down order. Anyone know how stringently they're enforcing it?

I don't live in NY, but... Here in NC "media companies"(broad term and doesn't specifically mention news outlets) are considered Essential Services and are exempt. So I would check on what is considered essential services there.

 

[ahalpert]

That's an interesting idea. Just go through the regular unemployment sections and state that my W2 employer is no longer employing me. Actually, one of my W2's is Harvard and they are actually paying their contractors for the estimated work lost due to the school shutting down. They calculated mine to work out to 2 1/2 hrs/week. So, that's something.

I wasn't even trying to do it, they just had that info automatically pop up.

My wife is pure 1099 and at the end of the application it told her she has to call in later this week. Maybe no w2 is the reason or maybe it was identity verification since she doesn't have a driver's license. I'll find out

 

[ahalpert]

I don't live in NY, but... Here in NC "media companies"(broad term and doesn't specifically mention news outlets) are considered Essential Services and are exempt. So I would check on what is considered essential services there.

Interesting!

 

[cpreston]

I wasn't even trying to do it, they just had that info automatically pop up.

My wife is pure 1099 and at the end of the application it told her she has to call in later this week. Maybe no w2 is the reason or maybe it was identity verification since she doesn't have a driver's license. I'll find out

My assumption is that you went through the regular unemployment sign-up process that relies on unemployment insurance and payroll taxes to the company that you used to work for as an employee. That is why they asked about your W2 history. I am really intrigued if it works for you so please post whether you are accepted or not. I might be able to get one of my W2 employers to "lay me off" so that I can at least collect the $600/week additional allowance that has been added to the program.

Since your wife works purely on a 1099 freelance basis, she will probably have to go through the new CARES Act freelancer unemployment benefits. As of yet, I don't think any of the states have that set up.

All of this is purely conjecture on my part based on the limited amount of information I've been able to put together reading online.

 

[Run&Gun]

My assumption is that you went through the regular unemployment sign-up process that relies on unemployment insurance and payroll taxes to the company that you used to work for as an employee. That is why they asked about your W2 history. I am really intrigued if it works for you so please post whether you are accepted or not. I might be able to get one of my W2 employers to "lay me off" so that I can at least collect the $600/week additional allowance that has been added to the program.

Since your wife works purely on a 1099 freelance basis, she will probably have to go through the new CARES Act freelancer unemployment benefits. As of yet, I don't think any of the states have that set up.

All of this is purely conjecture on my part based on the limited amount of information I've been able to put together reading online.

It’s all still kind of a mess. Last week my accountant didn’t know anything about help for “us”. And one of my audio guys who lives in S.C. has been denied everything he’s signed up for. I’m going to apply for the PPP through my bank and I started the on-line process with my state’s unemployment office and I actually have three W2’s showing: one from a regular client, one from my company and one from a production company last summer that I had forgotten about. Still not holding my breath, because it’s not a ton of money on the W2’s and I believe my state has something like a 90% denial rate(before CV) for benefits. One of my other friends is just beyond frustrated with the whole thing, because the current unemployment sign-up process doesn’t apply to us with questions that we can’t answer, because we don’t work normal jobs. It’s set-up for people that had full-time or part-time employment with a regular job. I remember when I got audited about 12 years ago, the IRS agent kept looking at me like I had three heads trying to explain everything to him. It’s just so foreign to most of the “normal” working world.

 

[cpreston]

I just saw a post with an update for MA. We will be waiting until at least April 30th to apply.

Here is the post:
"Update from the Governor's office regarding unemployment benefits for the self-employed & gig workers:
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA): For Individuals Not Covered Under Traditional Unemployment Insurance (Self-Employed, Gig Economy Workers, Others):
Overview: A benefit will be available for individuals not covered under traditional unemployment insurance like the self-employed or gig workers or those who do not qualify for lack of wages. DUA is now working with a vendor to build a new platform to disburse those benefits. This platform is expected to begin processing claims on or about April 30, 2020.
PUA will provide up to 39 weeks of unemployment benefits to individuals who are not working as a result of COVID-19 and are self-employed, independent contractors, gig economy workers, and others who otherwise would not qualify for regular UC or EB under state or federal law or PEUC. These individuals will not be able to claim benefits directly through the UI Online System in Massachusetts, as of this time. The Department of Unemployment Assistance has engaged a vendor to build a new platform to disburse PUA benefits. The platform is expected to begin accepting PUA claims by April 30, 2020. Eligible claimants under PUA will be retroactively compensated with this benefit beginning February 2, 2020, or the first week a claimant was unable to work as a result of COVID-19, whichever date is later. The last week this benefit is payable is the week ending December 26, 2020."

 

[Run&Gun]

There was an update on my states website today that they're hoping to have the system in-place to allow for independent contractors and the like to apply for unemployment by April 25th and for those eligible for the extra $600/week to start receiving it by the 17th and paying retroactively for those eligible to receive it before then. A friend in the mid-west said they think they're gonna get close to $1,000/week from unemployment.

 

[ahalpert]

This is indirectly related - article in the NYT about Disney's business plans. It looks like they may take this opportunity to restructure the company to find cost-savings. I bet this will be a theme among businesses.

"Mr. Iger also sees this as a moment, he has told associates, to look across the business and permanently change how it operates. He’s told them that he anticipates ending expensive old-school television practices like advertising upfronts and producing pilots for programs that may never air. Disney is also likely to reopen with less office space. He’s also told two people that he anticipated the company having fewer employees."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/...oronavirus.html#click=https://t.co/G95sltowNt

 

[ahalpert]

So my friend just did a shoot in Manhattan yesterday to showcase a French beauty salon that is supposed to open soon. The producer initially told him to bare-hand his Lumix S1 while filming exteriors and say he was a tourist if someone gave him trouble, but they decided it was best to say he was shooting for a YouTube news channel since news media are essential businesses. He used a Ronin-s gimbal anyway and no one bothered him. Half the people on the street were wearing masks and there was about 50-75% of the usual foot traffic (albeit in a non-tourist trap neighborhood).

His producer told him that some of their clients are coming round asking how they can make shoots happen during the lockdown. On this one, everyone wore a mask and gloves, tried to keep their distance, and the producer asked everyone if they had been in quarantine for 2 weeks previous. (Nobody on the shoot had any other recent work.) Actors unmasked for each shot.

The producer also said a lot of clients are coming to him trying to do agency shoots without paying agency prices. (He still works at an agency but has started his own company where he handles the creative/client side and hires freelancers to shoot, etc.) I think that's a pre-coronavirus trend but if anything that cost-cutting mentality may intensify.

 

[Run&Gun]

... I think that's a pre-coronavirus trend but if anything that cost-cutting mentality may intensify.

Yes. Everyone I keep talking to has the same belief, that "cost cutting" is only going to keep increasing, even "after all this". It did kind of warm my heart to hear that people thought the ESPN HORSE Tournament produced via cell phones and iPads, including the host, was almost unwatchable, but this inundation of amateur production standards that has become SOP, even at the network level, is just making it more and more acceptable to those watching at home(like it already isn't...).

 

[Paul F]

History says yes. Things will never be the same. Once an operation gets a taste of something that works and costs less, it becomes the soup de jour. I experienced this in a major way after the dot com bust and the 2008 recession. Some of you probably did as well.

We are all being imprinted by this experience. Those that lived through the great depression had some seemingly strange habits that they blamed on the depression. We will likely come out of this with peculiar habits that Millennial's children will wonder about. Will we all stock too much toilet paper; wash our hands too much?

Millennial's child: "Mom, why do we have so much toilet paper in the basement?"
Millennial: "Well Fever, we have it because we went though the great pandemic and it makes us happy".

 

[DLD]

The trends for lower gear prices have existed since the dawn of the digital age. Excluding the cell phone videos, one could take - as many showed on this site - some pretty good looking footage with sub-$2,000 "consumer" cameras. And a lot more people can afford an XT-4, S1/H, the upcoming R5 than could afford Red or ARRI. That dilutes the labor pool and the individual rates fall because the quality is "good enough".

PS. Lower gear/editing software/lighting prices not only bring more people into the industry, they help along with learning the craft itself. Since there's almost no cost to shooting photos/videos, experience is easily gained. And then a lot of people realize that, while the top tier cinematographers and camera operators are worth their huge fees for the major projects, there's rarely a need for that at the YouTube/local commercial level.

 

[Run&Gun]

History says yes. Things will never be the same. Once an operation gets a taste of something that works and costs less, it becomes the soup de jour. I experienced this in a major way after the dot com bust and the 2008 recession. Some of you probably did as well.

We are all being imprinted by this experience. Those that lived through the great depression had some seemingly strange habits that they blamed on the depression. We will likely come out of this with peculiar habits that Millennial's children will wonder about. Will we all stock too much toilet paper; wash our hands too much?

Millennial's child: "Mom, why do we have so much toilet paper in the basement?"
Millennial: "Well Fever, we have it because we went though the great pandemic and it makes us happy".

The narrative/movie world will probably return to normal after all of this and possibly be working in overdrive to catch up for not being able to do anything for months, but "TV" and probably a lot of corporate will not.

So, how many weeks into "this" are we? I still have not seen more than like 5 packs of toilet paper TOTAL, COMBINED in all of the stores I've been into since this craziness started, including Sam's today. I've seen pretty much anything else that you would want, except hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes and TOILET PAPER. It's almost like some of the annoying Family Guy bits(Peter hurting his shin) that go on about five times longer than anyone else would take them. It was funny for about a week or two, but now it's just ludicrous.

 

[Run&Gun]

The trends for lower gear prices have existed since the dawn of the digital age. Excluding the cell phone videos, one could take - as many showed on this site - some pretty good looking footage with sub-$2,000 "consumer" cameras. And a lot more people can afford an XT-4, S1/H, the upcoming R5 than could afford Red or ARRI. That dilutes the labor pool and the individual rates fall because the quality is "good enough".

PS. Lower gear/editing software/lighting prices not only bring more people into the industry, they help along with learning the craft itself. Since there's almost no cost to shooting photos/videos, experience is easily gained. And then a lot of people realize that, while the top tier cinematographers and camera operators are worth their huge fees for the major projects, there's rarely a need for that at the YouTube/local commercial level.

It should, in theory... But it's still just a small percentage that becomes exceptional talent. Some get a chance and make it that wouldn't have without easily accessible gear, but otherwise it's just adding more noise. Remove the difference between HD and SD video and so much of what I see today is way worse than what was being done 20+ years ago. We should be getting better on all levels of production, not getting worse. Why does it appear that almost no one knows how to properly expose, white balance or even do a basic lighting set-up? I'm talking the bare-bone basics. Or are those considered advanced techniques, now? I see stuff today on NETWORK TV that would have gotten my ass chewed out as an intern if it had been that bad.

 

[DLD]

Let's assume that the above is correct. Let's then assume that there's grand scale of cinematographic talent - 10 being the likes of Tolland, Surtees, Willis and Young and 0 being my friend's wife (she produces shaky pointless clips on her iPhone, despite my exhortations to steady the shot and avoid the speed-of-light whip pans). In your scenario, it's likely that someone should have hired a 5 but found it cheaper to hire a 3.

 

[Run&Gun]

Let's assume that the above is correct. Let's then assume that there's grand scale of cinematographic talent - 10 being the likes of Tolland, Surtees, Willis and Young and 0 being my friend's wife (she produces shaky pointless clips on her iPhone, despite my exhortations to steady the shot and avoid the speed-of-light whip pans). In your scenario, it's likely that someone should have hired a 5 but found it cheaper to hire a 3.

That’s not a bad way to put it. And most content doesn’t necessarily need to be a 10 produced by a 10, but why should we be going backwards and letting the 5 go to a 3 or 3 go to 1 and why is it now so acceptable? These are largely rhetorical questions. But the answer is we shouldn’t. At the very least, we should be maintaining, because with the gear available today, it’s a lot easier than it was 20 years ago.



*I know you were applying the numerical rating to the skill/talent level of the person, but you could apply it to the content/production, as well.

 

[ahalpert]

Yes. Everyone I keep talking to has the same belief, that "cost cutting" is only going to keep increasing, even "after all this". It did kind of warm my heart to hear that people thought the ESPN HORSE Tournament produced via cell phones and iPads, including the host, was almost unwatchable, but this inundation of amateur production standards that has become SOP, even at the network level, is just making it more and more acceptable to those watching at home(like it already isn't...).

I'm actually optimistic that crappy quality video will NOT become the accepted norm. It would require a non-compete agreement among content providers to make that happen because if any if their competitors want to gain market share, all they have to do is up the production value of what they're showing. Or look at Apple TV - they're spending a ton of money on shows to try and grab subscribers. They're not just doing the cheapest productions possible and satisfied with whatever crumbs of market share they get from preexisting brand loyalty.

 

[ahalpert]

The trends for lower gear prices have existed since the dawn of the digital age. Excluding the cell phone videos, one could take - as many showed on this site - some pretty good looking footage with sub-$2,000 "consumer" cameras. And a lot more people can afford an XT-4, S1/H, the upcoming R5 than could afford Red or ARRI. That dilutes the labor pool and the individual rates fall because the quality is "good enough".

PS. Lower gear/editing software/lighting prices not only bring more people into the industry, they help along with learning the craft itself. Since there's almost no cost to shooting photos/videos, experience is easily gained. And then a lot of people realize that, while the top tier cinematographers and camera operators are worth their huge fees for the major projects, there's rarely a need for that at the YouTube/local commercial level.

I largely agree with your post but I think there's always something to be said for operator skill and creativity. People can shoot total garbage on REDs and amazing things on iPhones. The fundamentals of shot conception and execution never change.

Do clients NEED ingenuity? That depends. I agree that top-tier DPs will always be in demand, unless the traditional narrative filmmaking mode implodes. Their rates may erode a little if the money they're making from commercial and other non-narrative work diminishes and makes them hungrier.

For other types of Production, I think there are points of equilibrium that the clients and cameramen arrive at. That's part of the reason I bought an S1 and not an S1H - for what I use it for, the S1H offers nothing extra that I would need. I have rarely ever used the 400mbps all-I codec on my GH5, for example. And I bought a used FS7 in February (poor timing for a gear buy, it turned out.) The FX9 is obviously a superior camera but if I'm competing on price (at least at this point in my career), for many shoots the FS7 will offer adequate specs (same codecs and form factor as the FX9) but I can keep my rate down with a $4k camera package instead of $12k.

And don't get me started on my awesome Chinese LEDs...I did an interview shoot with 3 LEDs, one with a massive softbox, and my 20-something handler said he was terrified of knocking over a light because he "knew how expensive they were". And I thought to myself "all these lights, modifiers, stands etc are worth less combined than the 70-200mm on my B camera..."

Hopefully some day my rates will merit the higher end gear, but for now I'm playing it conservatively.