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Hi Brothers and Sisters, On another website, I've been reading a topic regarding Steadicam Operators accepting scale on a Tyler Perry show based on what the producers SAY they have. It got me thinking. Over the years, UPMs, Producers have told me the money the DONT have, and what the cable and broadcast companies WONT pay for because of low budgets. Then, as the show goes on you find out that they were wrong or flat out lied to you. Or, they proceed to throw bags of money out the window due to poor planning. We are all told different lies, sob stories and fairy tales about the budgets, and policies of shows and companies (FULL VALUE replacement insurance cert.!!?) So I thought let's create a topic where we all could see and share all in one place, the budgets and policies of the networks and cable companies! We can't change or fight for something if we don't have as much info as possible! My hope is that this begins a helpful conversation for the well deserved enrichment of us all!! Cheers!

hey yall the new tax reform means a lot has been taken off of our list of deductions. this includes entertainment (cant write off movie tickets nor meals anymore), even when they are a part of business. however the one that is really getting to me is agent fees are no longer deductible. i have an LLC but that really only means something for my rentals, as we are basically always hired as employees on a show. my agent does negotiate my kit rental, though they dont take a penny from it, only from what I earn hourly, ie as an employee. i feel that i can make the argument that my agent is representing my company as well as myself and maybe can write off the fees that way, but curious to know if anyone has other ideas that are legitimate. the only other thought is to form an S corp and have the production company hire my company and then I am an employee of my company, for which I can then write off the fees. However, that requires me to have workman's comp and I highly doubt that any production is going to want to work with me on that. i guess this isnt necessarily a huge change from 2017 because it was always associated with my as an employee and not my LLC, but the deductions are now so slim and down to 2% so it seems like a significant change. just curious about yalls thoughts. maybe i just gotta eat this cost. but its a big ass cost, especially when so much else is being slashed. brett.

I've recently been pursued by an agent and have had some nice conversation with them. However they are wanting to get a piece of my equipment rental as part of their commission. This doesn't seem right to me and I wanted to throw it out to the greater Steadicam community for feedback. I've never heard of an agent getting anything past labour, has anyone else? While I am interested in not having to deal with negotiations with Production monetarily and also the potential contacts they could offer, I also want to protect my investment. I have a lot of money invested at this point and don't feel comfortable paying someone else for my financial risk. I'd really love to hear peoples thoughts on this topic.

So as the title implies, I am an owner/ operator who is building his clientel. I've been in LA maybe a year and a half now, and while my list of clients is slowly growing I'd love to have some sort of agent that could get me work. I'd gladly pay 10% to be working more gigs. Most agents only seem remotely interested if an operator has big name features or tv show credits to their name, and I was just wondering if anyone knew any agents that would be good at finding work for someone who is talented enough to get the job done but does not yet hve the connections to get on big shoots. Any advice would be appreciated of course.

To all steadicam operators out there: Just want to give a shout out about my agent; Daniella Milton at the Milton Talent Agency. She's been an agent for quite some time but just recently representing steadicam operators. She really handles the my negotiations with the producers/UPS extremely well. For anybody who is looking for representation I give her my highest regards. Her contact info is: (323) 466-4441 email: daniella@miltonagency.com p.s. if anybody would like to speak to me first. Please feel free. Greg Smith (310) 877-7296/ smittycam@aol.com