stolen laptop on set. dont be foolish like me.

wgzn

wgzn

Veteran
i was on a shoot at a local retailer yesterday. we had been there shooting b-roll for most of the day. we went to transfer the LAST card of the day and when we got to where we had set up our "transfer station" we found our macbook pro, duel adapter, a p2 card, power supplies, camera charger and 1 battery and the clients hard drive STOLEN. stolen right in plain sight with dozens of people everywhere

my point in posting this is if you are using a laptop on set in a public place (even if its a place youve been repeatedly and had no problems) get yourself one of those security cables and maybe the lojack software - NOW!

im insured, so im not too worried about the gear. but losing nearly a full 12 hour days of footage really blows.
 
Wow wgzn sorry to hear about the footage and hardware loss. Glad you are insured...I've sort of been there done that (without the insurance). Thanks for the tip.
 
they have several cameras. the IT dept is going to be reviewing the footage to see if they have anything...
 
thanks guys ; )

everyone out there remember:

insurance is cheap - GET SOME!
security cables are cheap - GET ONE!

ive lived my life being pretty trusting and believing that people are generally good. and i dont plan to change that. but as they say, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
 
Same thing happened to me while shooting at Mandalay Bay in Vegas. You know casinos have security cams everywhere but they (security) was less than helpful in finding the gear.

A word to the wise, good insurance is your best bet (ha ha) when shooting in Vegas.
 
Your gear should not have been left unattended. I'm always aware of security for me and my gear, having shot news items / commercial work for many years now, one should never take their own well being or the safety of their gear for granted. interesting what your insurance company will ask you how you protected against theft.
this is a lesson in life, and bussiness, expect the unexpected and you will survive another day.

PS, I hope you can get the gear back with you files on intact also.

Cheers
Tom K
olinevideo.com.au
 
Hmmm... I'd say the security cable is of little help; a moment's delay to ea dedicated thief, and it wouldn't have protected most of the gear that was stolen (hard drive, batteries, p2 card, chargers, etc.

I'm a New Yorker. I had one thing stolen (a bike) when I was 7 years old, and learned the lesson early. Nothing is EVER left unattended. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've missed meals, parties, whatever over this policy... but I've had nothing stolen. Nothing is ever left in a car unattended, no bathroom breaks if it means things will be unattended, nothing is left in a hotel room unattended, etc. First one at the baggage check, with a second person watching what leaves through the exits just in case. Further, you can't be quick about deciding who is capable of "attending" - asking someone to watch your stuff will get you a range of outcomes, from proper vigilance to "yeah, but I just left it for a minute."

Like I say, maybe I'm a paranoid New Yorker... but I'm using lots of expensive equipment in pretty public places all the time. Many a time on a project I'm the only one left at the end who HASN'T had anything stolen (which is in itself an uncomfortable situation... people who don't want to make an effort on security will resent you for your efforts).... but I personally can't afford to lose equipment or content.

Just my 2cents!
 
Search craigslist, ebay, and put up local ads ( paper the walls and the internet) saying that you want to buy Mac Book Pro. When the buyers call ask for the serial and if you got a winner then call the cops. I'm sure they'll ask why you want that, tell them it's to see if it's the same exact computer you've been looking for.

You'd be surprised how dumb some of these criminals are. Sorry to hear about your shoot and maybe next time setup a mobile production camera. I've used the ones thru my iphone and webcam on set, works awesome.
 
ullanta said:
I'm a New Yorker. I had one thing stolen (a bike) when I was 7 years old, and learned the lesson early. Nothing is EVER left unattended.
Click to expand...

NYC will teach you that, thankfully less so these days than in the past (crime in NYC is *way* down now).

In the late 80s an out of town friend was visiting me here overnight and made the inexcusable error of leaving a shopping bag visible in the back seat of her car, parked a few blocks away from my apartment on the Upper West Side. Someone smashed the passenger window in to steal it. It cost hundreds of dollars to fix.

What was in the bag? A box of cookies...
 
Ted Spencer said:
NYC will teach you that, thankfully less so these days than in the past (crime in NYC is *way* down now).
Click to expand...

Well... seems to me as much stuff or more is stolen in, say, LA... but LA folks resent the idea of taking precaution against theft, where somehow New Yorkers have it deeply ingrained. (In fact, I can give you some amusing stories about LA Theft Denial Syndrome...). I mean, people here get ANGRY if you put a Club on your steering wheel ("What the hell, man? This is a good neighborhood!") or lock your bike. It seems the "mental burden" of securing things is far worse for LA folks to deal with than the thefts.
 
Same thing happened to our makeup artist on set of a feature. The security camera's saw an extra with his hat pulled over his head grabbing the computer and taking off.
 
That's why if I'm gonna set up a transfer station I always leave a PA there...it's a **** job, but they can label clips or surf the web or something :D
 
Tim Naylor said:
Same thing happened to our makeup artist on set of a feature. The security camera's saw an extra with his hat pulled over his head grabbing the computer and taking off.
Click to expand...

Oh man...did (s)he get it back?

Holy crap what a dumbass, (hopefully) career killing move by the extra...sheesh...
 
bertzie said:
Remind me to avoid NYC.
Click to expand...

No, I'll try to remind you to visit here whenever you like. You'll have a great time, and will be statistically safer from crime here than all but 5 of the 32 American cities with more than 500K in population, those being: San Jose, CA; El Paso, TX; Honolulu, HI; and Austin, TX.

Which means you're going to be a lot less safe in some other cities like Nashville, Columbus, Dallas, Baltimore, Houston...

According to this table from 2007:

http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/MetroCrime2008_Rank_Rev.pdf

...overall, out of 338 US cities of all sizes, NYC ranked 245th in crime, with a score of -32.5 (versus a national average of "0" as a baseline).

So, compared to the Big Apple, here's a few places you maybe *should* avoid:

Memphis, #2 nationwide (score:+115)
Miami, #7 (+79)
San Francisco, #25 (+48)
Los Angeles, #66 (+30)
San Diego, #114, (+9)

But don't forget to visit the winner, Logan, UT, #338 (-76)
 
Now we are right off topic,
with all the US crime/violence shows that are endlessy pumped across our TV networks here in OZ, i'm surprised if anywhere in the US is a safe location to work or visit, Murder and Mayhem are the way it's perceived via those shows across the globe.
Is it that bad or has hollywood been taken over by chaos writers, Can't they produce series that are uplifting, instead of depressing ?.
Even our local OZ writers try to emulate the US "fixation with the gruesome" into our homegown soaps.
I have been shooting News/Crime scenes for many years now, and I can say that Murder/Violence is not a mind expanding experience.

Cheers form Downunder
Tom K
 
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