While I am by no means a seasoned professional, I have owned businesses before.
This is a message to all industry newbies who ask questions about what equipment to buy for their first production. You do not need to buy much, while you may think you need to buy everything now, you really don't. There are a number of reasons for this, the first of which being that while you may be ABSOLUTELY SURE you will be making a great deal of films after this one, you are not absolutely sure, Until you have gone through it once you ARE NOT that sure. The amount of equipment that comes up for sale barely used (at way less than was payed for it) is astonishing.
Secondly, calculate out the worth. Unless you live in east nowhere (which is probably not a good talent pool for making films in the first place) you probably have access to rentals. A good equation for this is Cost=Initial Cost minus (yearly Depreciation x set time period). this means that you are actually leasing the equipment from yourself for the depreciation, if a $1000 dollar piece of equipment will be worth $500 in five years then your cost is $500 to lease it for five years, if it won't making you an average of $8.33 per month ($500/60 months) for five years don't buy it, rent it. then you just have to make sure the $100 rental of that same equipment for a month can make you $101 dollars, once.
If you have already bought it, and it's now worth $500, but in two more years it will be unsell-able it has to make $20.88, if it can't you're better to sell and re evaluate the cost of new equipment. This formula is especially important with cameras and computers, which depreciate MUCH faster. Faster than you think they will.
If you make this calculation, and you are sure (ie. you've done two or more movies already) that over any reasonable set time period (one year, four years, six years) you will make more money than you loose to depreciation, go for it.
Never forget the borrow/collaborate with people who have equipment option.
This is a message to all industry newbies who ask questions about what equipment to buy for their first production. You do not need to buy much, while you may think you need to buy everything now, you really don't. There are a number of reasons for this, the first of which being that while you may be ABSOLUTELY SURE you will be making a great deal of films after this one, you are not absolutely sure, Until you have gone through it once you ARE NOT that sure. The amount of equipment that comes up for sale barely used (at way less than was payed for it) is astonishing.
Secondly, calculate out the worth. Unless you live in east nowhere (which is probably not a good talent pool for making films in the first place) you probably have access to rentals. A good equation for this is Cost=Initial Cost minus (yearly Depreciation x set time period). this means that you are actually leasing the equipment from yourself for the depreciation, if a $1000 dollar piece of equipment will be worth $500 in five years then your cost is $500 to lease it for five years, if it won't making you an average of $8.33 per month ($500/60 months) for five years don't buy it, rent it. then you just have to make sure the $100 rental of that same equipment for a month can make you $101 dollars, once.
If you have already bought it, and it's now worth $500, but in two more years it will be unsell-able it has to make $20.88, if it can't you're better to sell and re evaluate the cost of new equipment. This formula is especially important with cameras and computers, which depreciate MUCH faster. Faster than you think they will.
If you make this calculation, and you are sure (ie. you've done two or more movies already) that over any reasonable set time period (one year, four years, six years) you will make more money than you loose to depreciation, go for it.
Never forget the borrow/collaborate with people who have equipment option.
