Does anyone know a rental place in sacramento CA?
- Thread starter RyanKR
- Start date
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
Do they even have electricity in Sacramento?! haha, just kidding. I would imagine there has to be at least a small rental company in every significant city... but what do I know.
If you don't find anything, let me know, because I know where I'm starting my second rental division!
If you don't find anything, let me know, because I know where I'm starting my second rental division!
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
I'm totally joking with you, Sacramento is a very nice city. I have only actually been there once, I spent the night there this year moving down from Portland, OR to Los Angeles. It was much nicer than what I expected, like as far as building quality and it seemed like a classy city. It was basically what I expected in some ways, though, like I had friends (when I lived in L.A. before in 2001-02) from Sac. and they all said it is a nice town but really boring. It seemed very quiet, almost like Burbank, which is dead at night. There are hot chicks in Sacramento though, haha.
I swear I think there needs to be a film equipment rental company that has outposts in a ton of significant-sized cities, I think there would be money to be made on that idea. The Wal-Mart of equipment rentals. haha, j/k, but imagine if in every city like San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Austin (Texas), San Antonio, etc., every city with a significant population, there was the same rental chain that had a good selection of indie-filmmaker equipment, at least, stuff that even amateurs and hobbyists want to use, that would be really convenient and a good business plan I think. In a lot of those cities renting high-end film equipment wouldn't make any sense, because it wouldn't rent out enough, but stuff like HVX200s, DVX100s, jibs, basic dollies, lighting, etc. would definitely make sense.
I swear I think there needs to be a film equipment rental company that has outposts in a ton of significant-sized cities, I think there would be money to be made on that idea. The Wal-Mart of equipment rentals. haha, j/k, but imagine if in every city like San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Austin (Texas), San Antonio, etc., every city with a significant population, there was the same rental chain that had a good selection of indie-filmmaker equipment, at least, stuff that even amateurs and hobbyists want to use, that would be really convenient and a good business plan I think. In a lot of those cities renting high-end film equipment wouldn't make any sense, because it wouldn't rent out enough, but stuff like HVX200s, DVX100s, jibs, basic dollies, lighting, etc. would definitely make sense.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
I have been shooting a lot in Sacramento this year. I hae not seen anything up there, we drive all of our gear up there from LA. I think most rental up there is done in the Bay area, I have not heard of any pro houses in that town.
Dan
Dan
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
That's really weird dude, there are what, 500,000 people in Sacramento? Well, I'll mark that city for a future business plan, haha.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Yeah, but you know what it costs to open a rental house? The damn gear goes out of style every 6 months basically and if there is not a hopping production market, you go under. I really think that most of the production that gets done in Sac is by local small production companies that own their gear or by big productions that bring in gear from LA/Bay area. Doesn't seem to be a lot of medium sized production there, at least based upon my limited experience. I could be wrong, maybe there is a whole lot of production up there? I have been working on corporate stuff up there, the economy seems pretty sluggish up there. The housing market is in the toilet in Sac, we have been working with lots of builders and they are not selling any homes up there.
Devner is the same. You would think there would be several big rental houses but last time I shot there, there was only one small rental house and a few owner/operator grip trucks. Maybe it's changed since then, but a lot of small to medium cities have no production rental, especially in the mid-west.
It seems like LA/NY/Chicago/Miami/Nashville/Dallas/Houston are it as far as robust rental sources. The rest of the country is sort of here and there as far as rental sources. At least that's been my experience is producing shoots in many different states. Likfe finding a rental ReflecMedia system. There are a few in LA, one in NYC and none anywhere else, they haven't even heard of it.
Dan
Devner is the same. You would think there would be several big rental houses but last time I shot there, there was only one small rental house and a few owner/operator grip trucks. Maybe it's changed since then, but a lot of small to medium cities have no production rental, especially in the mid-west.
It seems like LA/NY/Chicago/Miami/Nashville/Dallas/Houston are it as far as robust rental sources. The rest of the country is sort of here and there as far as rental sources. At least that's been my experience is producing shoots in many different states. Likfe finding a rental ReflecMedia system. There are a few in LA, one in NYC and none anywhere else, they haven't even heard of it.
Dan
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
I grew up in Portland, OR. I've never shot anything in Portland except amateur work before I came down to Los Angeles, so never had use for rental companies, but because of a feature I was thinking of shooting in Portland I was looking into rental companies and there is a pretty large film production hub in Portland. It is the 23rd largest city in the United States, after all, which isn't that bad considering the Pacific Northwest kind of is off the radar as far as some people are concerned.
There seemed to be quite a few rental places, anyway.
I think a lot of people act like rental companies have this really horrible burden and that justifies their overpricing, but I personally don't see it. What goes out of date commonly? Just about nothing. C-stands can be 50 years old, they're the same, and they don't break either. You'd have trouble breaking a C-stand. They get older, they have wear, but that's about it. I've heard of people using 50 year old lights, a 1K light is a 1K light, doesn't matter when it was made, it will work just fine. Lights aren't rocket science, but from people in the film industry you'd certainly think they are. Matte boxes, flags, all of that stuff you just have to price it for wear and tear, it doesn't just become obsolete.
Even cameras aren't like that. A film camera can last a long time, it's film itself that is going out of date, but previous to a few years ago that wasn't as much of a concern. A film camera is a remarkably simple piece of equipment. It does nothing, really, except run film through it and expose it. Yay. Exciting! And once you have cameras like the RED out there, which you already do, then you don't need to worry much about cameras going obsolete because when do you think they'll even be broadcasting 4K footage? 2025? Maybe? When do you see Super HD DVD coming out with 4K or 2540p instead of 1080p? I mean, that war (HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray) isn't even over yet for the next generation DVD player, and besides, you can't tell the difference between 4K and 1080p on a 50" screen I don't think. Certainly not on anything smaller. That leaves basically the possibility they release a better 4K camera for cheaper, maybe more dynamic range (?), I don't know, but I kind of doubt that actually because you can't get much cheaper than the RED. It will take a long time before you could really make it cheaper than what it is, but even that wouldn't obsolete the camera.
The Sony F900 is still widely used and it was tested on The Phantom Menace during filming in 1997, and used three years later to film Attack of the Clones in 2000. That camera is nearing its one-decade anniversary but is still considered a good, professional camera that gets rented out.
I don't really think there's much that a rental house does that's very risky, honestly. If you go rent from them they require insurance and a credit card and they put a $2,500 charge on your card or whatever your insurance deductible is so that if you break something it's insured on your insurance and the deductible is already fully charged to your card. That leaves just normal "wear and tear" on equipment, and charging 3-5% of the price for an item per day of rental sure pays for that quickly. The only real overhead is your facility of operation and employees. A small city could easily have a small rental company with basic equipment, costing no more than $250,000 to $400,000, and several employees. I'm just saying... it's certainly doable. But if there is no production going on in Sacramento (and it is a quiet town) then it doesn't make much sense. That would be a great market for an owner / operator to make a name for himself, however.
There seemed to be quite a few rental places, anyway.
I think a lot of people act like rental companies have this really horrible burden and that justifies their overpricing, but I personally don't see it. What goes out of date commonly? Just about nothing. C-stands can be 50 years old, they're the same, and they don't break either. You'd have trouble breaking a C-stand. They get older, they have wear, but that's about it. I've heard of people using 50 year old lights, a 1K light is a 1K light, doesn't matter when it was made, it will work just fine. Lights aren't rocket science, but from people in the film industry you'd certainly think they are. Matte boxes, flags, all of that stuff you just have to price it for wear and tear, it doesn't just become obsolete.
Even cameras aren't like that. A film camera can last a long time, it's film itself that is going out of date, but previous to a few years ago that wasn't as much of a concern. A film camera is a remarkably simple piece of equipment. It does nothing, really, except run film through it and expose it. Yay. Exciting!
And once you have cameras like the RED out there, which you already do, then you don't need to worry much about cameras going obsolete because when do you think they'll even be broadcasting 4K footage? 2025? Maybe? When do you see Super HD DVD coming out with 4K or 2540p instead of 1080p? I mean, that war (HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray) isn't even over yet for the next generation DVD player, and besides, you can't tell the difference between 4K and 1080p on a 50" screen I don't think. Certainly not on anything smaller. That leaves basically the possibility they release a better 4K camera for cheaper, maybe more dynamic range (?), I don't know, but I kind of doubt that actually because you can't get much cheaper than the RED. It will take a long time before you could really make it cheaper than what it is, but even that wouldn't obsolete the camera. The Sony F900 is still widely used and it was tested on The Phantom Menace during filming in 1997, and used three years later to film Attack of the Clones in 2000. That camera is nearing its one-decade anniversary but is still considered a good, professional camera that gets rented out.
I don't really think there's much that a rental house does that's very risky, honestly. If you go rent from them they require insurance and a credit card and they put a $2,500 charge on your card or whatever your insurance deductible is so that if you break something it's insured on your insurance and the deductible is already fully charged to your card. That leaves just normal "wear and tear" on equipment, and charging 3-5% of the price for an item per day of rental sure pays for that quickly. The only real overhead is your facility of operation and employees. A small city could easily have a small rental company with basic equipment, costing no more than $250,000 to $400,000, and several employees. I'm just saying... it's certainly doable. But if there is no production going on in Sacramento (and it is a quiet town) then it doesn't make much sense. That would be a great market for an owner / operator to make a name for himself, however.
The estimated greater Sacramento urbanized area has about 1.5 million people.
UC Davis, Sacramento State are two major universities and it's the capital of California.
Went to school at Davis for three years.
UC Davis, Sacramento State are two major universities and it's the capital of California.
Went to school at Davis for three years.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Hi Jonathan:
I think you are thinking of a rental company on a smaller scale. The rental houses I am thinking of are like Plus 8 Digital, Wexler, etc. that carry everything. I agree about grip and lighting, it is a good investment. I tell my wife, my grip and lighting was the best money I ever invested in this business, they have paid for themselves many times over and they just keep going and going.
However, I disagree about cameras. Yes, the f900 has been around a long time and is still used a lot, but DPs want the 950 man! The f900 is outdated. The Varicam is no longer manufactured, it has been replaced by the HPX-2000/3000, sort of. What if you had bought a couple of HDX-900s, but then everyone coming in didn't want a tape camera, they were asking for the HPX-500 with them new fangled P2 cards? RED? Sure, i would great if you could buy one but as you know, you will not lay your hands on one until late next year for 2009 if you order today. And a lot of DPs will want RED and if you don't have it available, they will find one elsewhere. And decks? My gosh, there are half a dozen models of HDCAM deck alone. And if you have the top of the line one, everyone will want the cheaper one that may not have all of the toys, but rents for $400.00 per day cheaper. My good friend used to be a rental agent at Plus 8 and I worked for three years at a medium sized production company that rented $50,000.00 of rentals per month. It is a cutthroat-hyper competitive business and with FedEx shipping, your competition is not just in your area, it's LA/NY, etc.
I'm just saying, with a good F950 package alone costing upwards of $150,000.00, even $500,000.00 would not go very far to open a real rental house these days and it would be a highly speculative venture in any market, much less a small market like Sacramento.
The electronics are tough to keep up with and the format wars between HDCAM/HDCAM SR, DVCProHD/P2/HDV don't make it any easier.
Just my experience...
Dan
I think you are thinking of a rental company on a smaller scale. The rental houses I am thinking of are like Plus 8 Digital, Wexler, etc. that carry everything. I agree about grip and lighting, it is a good investment. I tell my wife, my grip and lighting was the best money I ever invested in this business, they have paid for themselves many times over and they just keep going and going.
However, I disagree about cameras. Yes, the f900 has been around a long time and is still used a lot, but DPs want the 950 man! The f900 is outdated. The Varicam is no longer manufactured, it has been replaced by the HPX-2000/3000, sort of. What if you had bought a couple of HDX-900s, but then everyone coming in didn't want a tape camera, they were asking for the HPX-500 with them new fangled P2 cards? RED? Sure, i would great if you could buy one but as you know, you will not lay your hands on one until late next year for 2009 if you order today. And a lot of DPs will want RED and if you don't have it available, they will find one elsewhere. And decks? My gosh, there are half a dozen models of HDCAM deck alone. And if you have the top of the line one, everyone will want the cheaper one that may not have all of the toys, but rents for $400.00 per day cheaper. My good friend used to be a rental agent at Plus 8 and I worked for three years at a medium sized production company that rented $50,000.00 of rentals per month. It is a cutthroat-hyper competitive business and with FedEx shipping, your competition is not just in your area, it's LA/NY, etc.
I'm just saying, with a good F950 package alone costing upwards of $150,000.00, even $500,000.00 would not go very far to open a real rental house these days and it would be a highly speculative venture in any market, much less a small market like Sacramento.
The electronics are tough to keep up with and the format wars between HDCAM/HDCAM SR, DVCProHD/P2/HDV don't make it any easier.
Just my experience...
Dan
Check with Torrey at Silverado (www.silverado.cc) in Folsom. They do mostly cameras (they have HVX, DVX and I think a Red) but Torrey seems to have a lot of connections and can probably hook you up with the right people if he doesn't have what you need.