brooksrobinson

To all of those interested in rain covers for their XCS sled or TB-6 monitors, please email Meredith directly at: subcouture@sympatico.ca She sent me an email letting me know that she was up for doing my rain covers, and wanted all of those interested to contact her directly so that she may buy materials in bulk. She reiterated in her note that she doesn't check her email every day and that it might take her a day or two to respond. Brooks PS Thanks Erwin and Jeremy for putting the word out, and Will for the review.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with advice. I plan to get dionics and trimpacs for now, but I'm wondering what people do about cases for batteries and chargers. Is there someone who makes great cases for this? How are you transporting your batteries to set/location? Thank you for your help. Brooks Robinson bandmj@pacbell.net

Simon, I haven't heard back from the email I sent her, but I will give you a heads up when I do. Thanks again for your help with the batteries. Brooks

Thanks for digging that up Erwin. It looks like just the thing. Nice design Jeremy! I'll email Meredith and see if she's still making them. Thanks again for the lead. This forum is a great resource. Brooks Robinson bandmj@pacbell.net

Thanks to Will, Erwin, Simon, Jon and everyone who has helped me try to sort out the Anton Bauer battery situation with my new XCS sled. It will be ready to be picked up in the next couple of days, and since the weather is looking like rain, I'm wondering what people with the XCS (Greg Bubb's sled) are doing about rain gear for the sled. It doesn't look like Camera Essentials makes one, so what are people doing to protect against the elements? Thanks in advance for any help. Brooks Robinson bandmj@pacbell.net

Charles, Thanks for responding so quickly. It sounds like using Mike's services aren't going to be an option this time around. Does anyone out there in the U.S. have any good experiences with insurnace vendors. What are the current options? Thanks in advance for any insight. Brooks Robinson

Does anyone have an update on Mike? I just realized that my insurance is set to lapse and I'm unsure what the options are in the U.S. Who are people using these days? Who would you recommend? Thank you for any help. Brooks Robinson

Thanks Will and Erwin. I really appreciate you both taking the time to provide such in-depth explanation and insight. I'm still not sure what I'll be going with...thankfully my new sled doesn't arrive until the first week in December, so I have a little time to make up my mind. That being said, what combo do you work with when using the XCS and: 1) 435 2) Panavision lightweight or XL 3) Panavision HD (non-genesis) 4) Genesis (has anyone had to muscle this beast around with the XCS?) Thanks in advance for your help. This forum is a great resource, thanks to all who participate. Brooks Robinson PS It would be great to hear from others who might have thoughts on what Anton Bauer batteries to fly with Greg Bubb's XCS sled.

Where's he looking?

I am going to be buying Greg Bubb's XCS Ultimate sled. I have been using a Pro 1 the past 10 years and am only familiar with the Nicad batteries used for that. I don't have much experience with Anton Bauer batteries (which are what the XCS sled use). I'm wondering what people who are flying the XCS are using to power their rig and various cameras. I mostly use Panavision XL's and the newer Arri's (Arricam and 435's), but with the impending reality of HD, I need to be prepared for that as well. I would like to keep this new system as simple and uncomplicated as possible. Is there any combination that will work with everything in your experience? What do you suggest? Thank you for your time. Brooks Robinson

I agree with Neal. Russell Todd has been my agent for about nine years now, and I don't know what I'd do without him. There are a lot of reasons to have an agent: better deal making, not having to deal with production in advance of the job, someone to keep track of your schedule (especially for those of in the commercial market), someone to play good cop/bad cop with you and production, someone to submit you for jobs you don't know about, and many other reasons I'm not thinking of after a long day at the office. In my case, Russell has more than made up for his commission by his negotiating expertise. He is MUCH better at dealing with production than I will ever be, and as a result, I get paid more than I would otherwise. Period. All that being said, having an agent isn't for everyone. I know several people who went with an agent assuming that it would increase their workload. In some cases it does. For instance, if I am not available for a job when a producer calls Russell requesting me, Russell will try to submit one of his other clients for the job. That comes around of course, and I have recieved many jobs as a result of other operators with Russell not being available. Overall however, it all comes down to your clients. If you work a lot and sign with an agent, you will continue to work a lot. If you don't have a solid client base and you sign on with an agent (if they agree to take you on), I wouldn't expect your workload to change exponentially overnight. It just doesn't work that way. For me, having an agent has been a blessing, and I can't imagine having to do it myself at this point. I would say that if you are thinking about signing with someone, make sure to talk to some of the other opertators who have signed with the agent in question and find out about their experiences. There are several agents out there who rep steadicam operators and they are not all the same. Some are very hard edged, and leave a bad taste with production, which in the end reflects badly on you. Some aren't very good at negotiating. Some don't have a solid roster top to bottom, which also doesn't reflect well on you. Make sure to find out who else is represented, and talk to them. Having an agent or not is a personal decision. In my case, it has worked out better than I could have hoped. Just make sure to do your due dilligence prior to signing with someone. Brooks Robinson

I've been doing B camera/steadicam on a feature for the past four months over at Universal. They didn't offer any resistance to my agent about a certificate of insurance for my gear, however, they refused to provide the camera assistants and A camera operator with a cert. for their equipment. We've had a couple of things (not my stuff...knocking on wood as I say this) go down, and the assistants have had to pay for repairs out of their own pocket. Our UPM has seen the light recently, and has said that production (out of the kindness of their hearts) will reimburse people for the repair costs of their gear, although they aren't obligated to do so. I've never had any issues getting production to insure my gear, and I'm a little disheartened to think that this might be an issue in the future. I'd be interested to hear what other people's recent exeriences with the studios have been. Brooks Robinson

Michael, did Byro RSVP for the party? Maybe he'll be bringing John's sled this year. If so, maybe he'll bring my transmitter as well. I've been trying (with no success) to get either the original diversity tuner I ordered (he couldn't figure out how to make one), or the transmitter he promised to build for me instead, since he couldn't deliver the tuner, or the $1400 I paid to him back in 1996. Yes...I said 1996. It's coming up on the 10 year anniversary of me writing my first of two payment checks of $700 for the diversity tuner mentioned above. Last year in June, after much back and forth he promised to deliver the transmitter to me in 30 days. He even wrote, signed and faxed a letter to my home stating his intentions which I keep for chuckles. Maybe he meant 300 days...although I guess he'd still be late. He is a real piece of work. Brooks Robinson

Charles, I have worked with both Shane and Spike over the years, as well as with Weezer, but I didn't do the "Sweater Song" video. I know that Paul Taylor has worked with Spike many times, so maybe it was him. Good luck getting to the bottom of it. Brooks Robinson

Does anyone have an old Preston UHF battery charger they would be willing to sell? I'm looking for one. My contact info is below. Brooks Robinson bandmj@pacbell.net

Steve, Cat got YOUR tongue? I think I'm up to 19 unreturned phone calls to you (since we last spoke) about the $1400 item I paid for over 9 years ago and still haven't seen. Nor have I seen my $1400. I don't want to waste anyone's valuable time, but since you brought up the issue of fraud, lets evaluate our situation. I ordered a product from you in 1996. I paid you $700 in advance. You quoted me three weeks for delivery. About a month later, you ran into "unexpected problems", and I paid you the remaining $700 balance, with the understanding that the product would be delivered in a couple of days. This was nine years ago. This was over 200 phone calls ago. This was after one move by you in the middle of the night to another state with no forwarding address or phone number. This was after the last Steve Byro blowout on this very forum, where you agreed to deliver my product to me in exchange for a very positive review of you and your customer service. This was after the last batch of 19 unreturned phone calls. Let me repeat so we don't have any misunderstandings...this was for a product I paid for NINE YEARS AGO! I don't think anyone needs YOUR help understanding the meaning of fraud. Brooks Robinson PS I look forward to hearing your spin. I'm sure it will be as enlightening as the one you offered up about your situation with John. What ever happened with that?

I don't know that I'd want to be the first on my block to purchase anything endorsed by the less-than-esteemed Mr. Steve Byro (spectrabei) as the Chasecam product is. Who knows, it might be great, but with that name affiliated, buyer beware! I'm sorry Eric if this is getting away from your original post about your new product (which sounds great). I just wouldn't want people to confuse your new recorder with the one being touted by the infamous Steve Byro. Brooks Robinson PS As I mentioned above, I don't know anything about the Chasecam product. I do however have extensive knowlege of Steve Byro. I find it curious that he would attempt to hijack Eric's thread (about his new recorder) to pitch some unknown rival product not associated with Eric's: all without signing his name, and instead using his company name (spectrabei). One would assume that is due to all his bad press on this forum (and word of mouth), and that he is attempting to sell some product without disclosing that he is the one selling it. Sneaky sneaky!