Need Advice On What Filmmaking Equipment To Buy With $10,000 Save This Topic Create

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eddie777

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I have a benefactor who is going to give me $10,000.00 to buy filmmaking equipment to start my production company. I have been racking my brain trying to get the most out of the $10,000.00 that I can and thus I need your help coming up with a list of equipment that will fall with in the 10 grand limit. I can't go over the $10,000.00 limit and I can only buy it from reputable dealers like B&H and Adorama, so ebay and the likes are out of the question. I want to get a Hi-Def Camera + camera equipment, lighting equipment, NLE Computer, and audio equipment. I had a powerbook G4 with Final Cut Studio Pro 2 installed on it, but it recently broke down and I'm not sure if it's worth fixing because I might have lost all of the software installed in it. I have a dell xps 600 with 1 gig of memory and 160 gb hard drive that I can use as part of my editing system.
Here's a list of other equipment that I have that I might be able to include as part of my production kit:
I have these 2 tripods.
velbon 607 tripod
slik 504qf tripod
I know they are not professional, but I figure I can hold off buying one for now and use the 10 grands for something more essential.
slate board
As you can see I have a large lowel light kit, but I wanted to buy some fresnel ligths and etc to round out my light kit.
2 Aluminum case from Home Depot
1 Lowel Case for Tota Light
2 25 ft power cord
2 power strip
1 Pro-light (P1-10)
1 Pro-light 4-way Barndoors (iP-20)
1 250w, 120v lamp (GCA)
3 Omni-light (O1-10)
1 600w, 120v lamp (DYS)
1 Omni-light 4-way Barndoors (O1-20)
1 500w, 120v lamp (FTK)
6 Tota-light (T1-10)
1 750w, 120v lamp (EMD)
1 Uni TO Stands (UN-55)
1VIP Lowel Stand
1 Tota-frame (T1-20)
1 Assorted Gels (T1-78)
1 Flexi-shaft Pak (2) (T1-50)
1 Tota-flag (T1-52)
1 Tota-brella (T1-25)
2 white umbrella
1 large black umbrella with silver lining
1 savage port a stand case
1 6’ impact light stand
2 7’ cheapo light stand
2 13’ cheapo light stand
1 bogen light stand
Saltzman 9’ light stand
3 rolls of 12x50 cinefoil
I have a panansonic pv-gs300 and figure I can use it as a temporary tape deck and to shoot locations, auditions, and behind the scene stuff. I have these accessories for it that might prove useful.
- 1 37mm wide angle lens
- 1 37mm telephoto lens
- camera backpack
- camera case
- lcd hood
- 2 37mm uv filter
- 37mm nd8 filter
- extra du21 battery
-Extra pair of headphones
-Panasonic head cleaner
-2 256 MB SD Cards
- rode videomic
- rode deadcat
- rode extended cable
- creative hn505 headphone
Keeping the equipment that I already have in mind please help me come up with a list.
Thanks,
Eddie
 
Well, the first thing you do is get a good tripod, it is probably the most "essential" piece of gear. Having a $3000-4000 camera sitting on top of a $70 tripod is just asking for disaster. If you plan on shooting HD(V), the GS300 will not read the tape so forget about using it as a deck. None of the accessories can be used. You're basically starting from scratch minus the lights.

I would say
Canon XH-A1 ($3300)
Satchler DV6SB head + tripod stick($1800)
AT4073a shotgun mic + softie ($600)
Oktava MK012 Hypercardioid + BBG ($300)
12' Carbon Fiber Gitzo boompole ($200)
Sony MDR-7506 Headphone ($100)

That would probably be the minimum kit for you to get started.
 
Owning lights is great, but never underestimate the power of rentals.

I'm not sure how much of your budget is left after all that, but you need the essentials (I'm having a hard time figuring out what you have and don't have).

If your powerbook G4 isn't worth fixing because you'll lose the software, then you need to BUY the software. If you want to use Final Cut Pro, then budget for a solid iMac and FCP. If you want to use your Dell, then budget for Avid/Premiere/Vegas/etc. You must own your software.

Huy already set you up with great recommendations. Buy the necessities, and start making friends with your local rental house :)
 
I was in a similiar boat about 4 years years back and had about $15k I could use perhaps for some gear. I first sat down for a number of months researching and putting a business plan together. Had the plan reviewed by advisors and modified it a number of times.Then I hired an investment adviser for a couple grand who showed me how to take only $6k and leverage an investment loan for $100k which I didn't do right away. Lined up a bunch of work using the business plan, then got the $100k and got the gear I needed. Paid off the $100k in short order and haven't looked back since.

I have been following the business plan all along, have two to three hundred grand in gear, including a Red camera system I picked up in January for just under $60K and a growing list of clients.

But that's just me. I treat everything like pre-production. You spent ninety percent of your time researching and planning and ten percent doing.
 
craig, can you post a more detailed explanation of the steps you went through, what your plan was, how you approached potential clients, etc? sounds like you have a really great story to tell. i would love to learn from your experiences.
 
Once you get all this gear, how do you plan to get business?

Understand that owning gear won't ring in biz, unless you are planning on doing rentals.

I suggest renting when the time comes for a shoot, then you can afford to use pro gear rather then cheaper gear that you'd own. If you really want to buy gear, think of buying stuff that won't depreciate quickly... c-stands, flags, basic grip gear.... think of what you can get the best bang for the buck, (that doesn't always mean cheap gear) ...only thing that does depreciate quickly that would be important is a fast computer with the programs need to do you work.

side note: don't buy tota's. they are cheap, flimsy, unprofesional lights. (IMO)
 
I am planning to connect my business with an already existing professional photography studios in NYC and at the same time do my indie production on the side.
 
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