Three times in two weeks, I had clients call with requests for the raw footage from earlier shoots I’d performed for them. In all three cases, they wanted me to send it to other production companies.
At the time, I felt compelled to say yes. Now, there’s a clause in our standard production contract that lets me tell them no. In the long run, it’s better to try and keep the rights to your footage.
(Photo by Rob_Rob2001.)
Way back when, the makers of Chivas Regal weren’t happy with their profit margin. In an act of desperation, they doubled the price of their whiskey without changing the formula in the slightest. Sales went up. Sales went up a whole lot.
I can’t even remember where I first heard this story, and it’s very likely apocryphal. But it’s possible to make clients happy by charging them more money — making them think they’re going to get charged an arm, a leg, and maybe a liver.
My son lulled me into a false sense of security. We got about four good months of his being the perfect two-year-old before the terrible twos started in earnest. And man, did they start. Every little routine daily activity was no longer routine — it was a battle of wills between us. He got mad. I got mad. His mother got mad.
Worst of all, it was affecting how we felt about our parenting. It’s hard to feel good about raising the youth of tomorrow when you feel overwhelmed, frustrated and utterly emotionally beaten.
Thanks to a little nugget of wisdom, though, things are better. Not perfect, mind you, but better. A lot better.