Brad Grimmett

I recently worked for a director that was a former steadicam op. He grabbed the rig over and over again, driving me nuts. He also refused to watch from the monitor (even during a very fast move) and kept getting in the way of me and the focus puller during the shot while trying to look over my shoulder. And at one point he asked me if I would prefer, "To do the shot doggiestyle". I assume he meant Don Juan, but that was a new one to me.

I appreciate the offer Will, and I'm sure I'll take you up on it. I think part of my issue with rates is that I didn't come up as an assistant, so I wasn't privy to a lot of the information that a lot of assistants probably are on their road to operating, so when I started doing steadicam I was at the bottom of the learning curve in that regard. I've certainly been very lucky to have been helped by a few great operators regarding all things steadicam, including rates, and I'm very grateful, but I'm always looking to learn more.

Erwin, At least you didn't have to stand around waiting for 6 hours before your first shot.....oh wait, you did....

Unfortunately, as is evidenced in many of the posts in this thread, the wrong people already have the wrong ideas! I've been operating since 2000, and I've had a lot of trouble finding out from other ops what rates were acceptable in what situations since the beginning. I feel like I've only started to scratch the surface in this regard in the last couple of years. The problem is, that public or private, people don't like to talk about rates (this has been my experience at least). I have friends on a variety of different shows (TV, features, etc.) and I don't know their rates. I'm hesitant to ask, and they're hesitant to volunteer the information. The only way I find out what other peoples rates are is if I cover them on a job, or if I hear it through the grapevine. This doesn't help anyone. I've even worked on features as "B" camera/steadi where the "A" op was unwilling to discuss his/her rate with me. Who is this helping? Certainly not the operators. I always think "Their rate must be pretty low for them to be embarrassed to talk about it". Or maybe it's so high that they're afraid to tell me? If the union is unwilling to help us (or we're unwilling to let them) then we need to stick together. Knowledge is power in this regard. I know I've gotten less than I should have in certain situations, and I'm sure the same is true for other operators. We're basically helping the producers when we don't discuss rates amongst ourselves. The producers know that if they can keep us in the dark they can exploit our ignorance. So, maybe discussing rates on a public forum isn't the best idea, but at least we're discussing them somewhere!

Charles, I'm surprised you didn't notice that's grip's foot sticking out to trip you! You know dolly grips are always going for the glory and he just wanted to catch you and earn your praise. Seriously though, it's lucky that guy was there, and lucky he turned and saw you, because I think you were going over that fence. You may have had a picket right in your important parts. I want to see a split screen of the BTS footage and the shot you were doing! In such a small area it's easy to just go ahead and do a shot without checking the ground, since it seems like: "What could happen in this 5 square foot area?" I guess you showed me what could happen. It's a good reminder of day to day safety.

The fat rates may still be there, but it also depends on who you are and who wants you on the job and is willing to fight for you. It's possible to fight your way right out of the job, which would be much easier for me to do than you or Charles. I just don't have near the credits you guys do, or the contacts. Of course I don't want to undercut anyone, or have it happen to me, but there is a difference between operators and I don't mind if someone who's been operating for 20+ years gets a better rate than me on the same show. They should pay for that operator's experience. I certainly don't want to sell myself short, but I'm a realist. Unfortunately, it seems that it's not about a particular operator to many producers, it's just about the bottom line. The fact that Charles is getting lower offers than he should is a perfect example of that.

That's a good point. I wasn't thinking about it that way. Again, I don't do that much TV. I can understand your stance on that Charles. My question would be: How many calls for pilots have you gotten where they weren't hard-headed about that rate? Are the calls still coming in where they're willing to pay more, or at least flexible with the rental, or is $60/hr with the standard weekly rental becoming a standard rate that they don't want to go above?

Michael, I don't disagree with you, but I think if you're going to declare a certain rate too low, you should also be talking about what rates are acceptable, because I think there are some people who are unsure about this. I know that the days of steadicam ops getting $85/hr or more on TV are over for the most part (if not completely), and I know that many people are working for $60/hr regularly. So where's the sweet spot? Is it $60/hr? More? We'd all like to ask for, and receive, as much as possible, but I think that # is different for different people and different shows. I guess I just don't see $55/hr as lowballing per se, since it's only $5/hr less than what I know is standard in many cases. I'm really not disagreeing, just playing the devil's advocate a bit. I think a big part of the issue is that there are many more steadicam ops out there than there were 6 or 7 years ago, and there are more every day. I think it's a simple matter of supply and demand in many cases. Personally, I don't do that much network TV, except when I'm covering someone on a show, in which case the rates are already established. I know people used to get a much higher day-player rate when covering another operator, but I haven't found that to be the case lately. Should I be pushing harder on this? Most of the time the operator I'm covering tells me the rate, there is no negotiation with the producer. This is an important issue, but it seems it's easy to discuss what is considered "wrong", but much tougher to discuss what is considered "right".

I sent you an email Roger.

There is a reference to this on Nicola's website under the 'references" section. Garrett is also in the video.

Afton, My monitor on my Master will flip the X and Y axis with the flip of a switch. I have the Master Film, so maybe if you have the Elite or something that's the difference. I had always assumed that all Master monitors had this feature. Regardless of that, it's good problem solving on your part.

I just watched the documentary "Jesus Camp" and noticed a funny discourse between Ted Haggard (the now disgraced evangelical preacher) and the steadicam operator on the film (I believe it was Andrew Janson) during a sermon by Haggard. The scene I'm referring to is in the deleted scenes section and is called "Ted Haggard's Sermon". There is some nice steadicam work in the film, and the film itself is an eye opening look at evangelical christians and there "teachings" to children in the United States. I'll keep my personal opinions to myself (although it's tough), but the film is definately worth seeing and is quite well done, nicely shot, and very entertaining. I'm curious if anyone else has seen it and what your thoughts are. Here's a link to the website for Jesus Camp

I'm sorry to hear that too. It seems that the very definition of "insurance company" is a company that screws people over for profit. If they do anything else I'm certainly not aware of it. I've seen them screw people over and over again in FL after hurricanes and tornadoes, and now they're doing it in Miss. because of Katrina. They're always there to send you a bill or start a new policy for you, but when you need them to do what you're paying them for, they disappear and/or don't do what they're suppossed to do. Compared to insurance companies, Enron looks ethical. Sorry to babble on, but this really hits a nerve with me. OK, end of rant.

Very funny episode Rich. Nice work and congrats!

I see one issue with this transmitter. If you use a Bartech you could have problems. I had issues when broadcasting on my modulus at high channels while using my Bartech. I'm not technically savvy enough to know what the issue was, but Jim Bartel told me that there can be interference issues when using high channels and the BFD. Please correct me if I'm wrong Jim. I just wanted to point that out for folks so they can avoid any future problems. Otherwise, it sounds like a good transmitter.

I'm trying to piece a 2 channel Preston together. I'm looking for a MDR-2 and a DM1 and DM2. I'm going to buy a handset 3, so I'm set in that regard. If anyone is looking to sell please contact me through the forum or at 310-562-5652. Thanks.

That site made my netscape browser completely shut down. Another site like that is kayak.com. It does basically the same thing. I find it much better than orbitz or the other travel sites.

So you're not changing your plans at all for Cinegear? Isn't 51 weeks a year enough?

After thinking about it, I think I do the same thing. I think my pinky automatically works it's way in without me even noticing. Damn, sneaky pinky!

Did I miss it? Jon Myers and I went to Dromo1 a year or two ago and had a blast. If you haven't gone yet please post when you're going.

I may just have to do NAB this year. It's been a few years since I've been, and heck, they have poker tables there too! What are the dates?

Happy birthday Geoff. What happened to all of those beautiful pictures from the guild get together? Post away!

I don't think the Ward's Sniper is the only one. I think there are one or two others out there as well.

I believe the Sniper is a laser. Am I correct? And if so, being a laser and not sonar, is the Sniper safe to use a lot? I'm not sure I'd want a laser pointed at my face all day if I was an actor. Sorry for straying off topic.

I'll second that suggesstion. My Modulus works better than ever since I got it back from David.