Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Has anyone seen this website? http://steadicam-la.com/ I know at least one op who is on the list but didn't even know of the website, and I suspect none of the ops on the list are aware. It may be that the website is still in progress and isn't supposed to be public and all ops will be contacted before officially included. Of course, looking at the operator submission form it could also be a phishing scam either by producers or even a frustrated op with time on their hands. The WhoIS: http://www.networkso...teadicam-la.com Jerome appears to just be the designer and/or site manager. Domain was purchased just under 2 months ago. Anyone know anything about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Dan Coplan Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I only just found out about it and I did not volunteer my name for that site, but if someone wants to rank me as a "Top 50 LA Steadicam Op" and help market my skills, I'm all for it. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Sounds like a great way to steal work. Submit the form, get contacted within 72 hours, "Ok, we found a great operator for you... ME!" I may give Philippe a call tomorrow. His contact information is on the WHOIS after all... EDIT: plot thickens. The WHOIS registration address is: Phone: 1-949-472-1294 25292 Campina Drive Mission Viejo, California 92691-5414. Google tells me that's allegedly the address of Louis Kanoke, whose address is 949-472-1249. Flipped a digit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Dean Smollar Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Jeez, Starling is on there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Dan Coplan Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Hmm...interesting. You think it's subversive (not sure if that's the right use of the word)? I do find it interesting that the names don't link to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 This site seems shady as hell. I didn't receive any correspondence about this site. Any site that would rather list people without contacting them first just to seem legit, is definitely not legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I just got an email response from Bill Saltz over at steadicam-la.com: Alan, I am sorry that you feel that way, but I completely understand. I would be happy to remove your name. Like Google or Yahoo, we are a public directory, and your name is included because either you had requested it or because we found it through other public filings. Our web master will be back on Wednesday, and I’ll see to it your name is removed. If you know of anybody else that is upset, we will likewise remove their names. Just have them email us, and it is easy enough to do. Our webmaster is out until Wednesday, and I will make sure he does this first thing. You are actually the first person that has asked to be removed or that has complained. Many Steadicam operators have been thankful for the jobs we have gotten them that they would not otherwise have received. And many filmmakers are happy to have us as a resource. I would encourage you to change your mind, but if I do not hear from you, will follow your request. By the way, we do have an open request for a Steadicam operator for Feb 13 for a commercial, and another for Feb 18 for a TV pilot. If you are available for those two days, and were to fill in our free online registration form, your profile may fit those projects. It’s your call, and the service is free. Meanwhile we wish you the very best going forward, and thank you for letting us know your preference to be excluded from our public directory. Bill Saltz www.steadicam-la.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Alan, The commercial on 2/13 is my request. :P Is he trying to be an agent? Someone call Russell! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Saltz Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Sorry for all the fuss. The website www.steadicam-la.com is under construction, and we may have published it online before it was fully operational. Our intent was to get an email out to everybody on our directory, and our long term plan is to have links, yes. In the meantime, anybody that wants to be taken off our list, let us know. It is meant to fill a need for a clearing house between Steadicam operators and those that need Steadicam, but focused on the Los Angeles market. Currently we have only about six people that have signed up, which is not bad considering we just started. Anybody that has any ideas on how to make this work, let me know. Bill Saltz www.steadicam-la.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 You only have had six sign up but you have a top 50?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted February 3, 2013 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Bill, (check your font size, it's small and hard to read) Thanks for your quick responses to Alan, myself, and the forum. Good to hear you are trying to do a good thing for Ops and productions. As Will said, your service is effectively that of an Agent. A costless and less involved agent, but still an agent. The reason Alan (and others) is upset is because you have chosen to represent him without his permission, and without establishing a relationship. He doesn't know you, neither do ~44 ops on your list on the site. That means you are using their names falsely. You don't represent them, but producers think you do, making them more likely to contact you. At that point 1 of your 6 operators gets the job, not 1 of 50. You were hoping for suggestions of how to make it work. I suggest you remove all the operators who did not submit a form, rather than waiting for them to ask to be removed from a site they never asked to be on. Then if you want you can contact them all with an invitation. Your qualifications for listing an operator include a level of professionalism. I'm not sure how you can know their level of professionalism without even knowing them, but I do know it was unprofessional to list them without contacting them. I understand the site is not finished and was published prematurely. So that makes it easy to rectify the oversight and remove the names now. Another suggestion would be transparency. Who are you? Why did you get involved with this project? Where are you marketing to productions and operators? How do you match operators to projects, particularly without knowing the operators? Why she we be confident relying on you to make these matches? Any other information you can provide? Steadicam-ops.com provides a list of operators, and links to their websites and reels and information about their experience and gear. While it's not perfect and is not LA specific, I feel it essentially serves the purpose steadicam-la.com without the "matchmaking" which makes me nervous. Since you don't know the ops or the DPs and Directors, I don't see how you can effectively manage a matchmaking service that is of any use. It would take too much time and effort to do for free. Ask any agent! EDIT: I just noticed the list of names has been removed, before I posted this Thanks again, Brian :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Alan, The commercial on 2/13 is my request. :P Is he trying to be an agent? Someone call Russell! Barret Grown... classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Robert Starling SOC Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I wasn't aware of the site or that my name was on it and frankly I don't really care one way or the other. My business, business model and clientele are not so thin or weak that it would have any impact on my work at all. Plus, the reality is that real clients with real jobs don't use online forms or web lists to find and hire operators. Maybe a few use SOA's website which is well established and has great SEO rankings. Mr. Saltz, if you have not already done so you should ask Tiffen for permission to use the STEADICAM logo as that is their intellectual property. Back in the day when I used their products exclusively I had to request and received permission in writing to use it on my website and business card. I'm talking specifically about the LOGO not just the word Steadicam which has evolved over the years into a generic reference to camera stabilization systems and the operators of those systems. All the best, Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jens Piotrowski SOC Posted February 3, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Wonder if Mike O'shae is aware that they are using his reel on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted February 4, 2013 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 A few things. 3 years as a cinematographer? Pass their quality standards? must have an online demo reel Top 3 film projects and what roles (Weddings? Really?) Outdoor, low light, skydiving, moving vehicle, etc. ???? Skydiving steadicam? really? 5 and 10 hour days? sounds non union. so the question is what exactly do these folks know? Or are they fishing for jobs and trying to see what the prevailing rate is? if that's the case anyone consider that this is a producer gathering info for the next run of contract talks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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