Focus Roulette - Round 4 - Rental House Rules and Etiquette
Hey Everyone!
It's time for another exciting round of Focus Roulette! Our new topic is:
Rental House Rules and Etiquette
We want to hear all about your experiences and insights when dealing with rental houses.
In this round, let's discuss the local rules that apply to your favorite rental houses and what you appreciate about their customer service. Share the workflows they've implemented that make your life easier and more efficient. We also want to know which rental house tops your list and why.
This is a two-way conversation, so whether you're a rental house representative or a 1st or 2nd AC, your input is invaluable. What can we, as 1st ACs, do to make rental house operations smoother? Your tips and suggestions could help improve the experience for everyone involved.
Feel free to share your thoughts, stories, and any visuals that highlight the points you're making. And don't forget, by participating, you stand a chance to win some fantastic prizes!
So dive in, share your experiences, and let's learn from each other to make our work even more seamless and enjoyable.
Looking forward to your contributions!
Also for this round we want to give a shout out to CRDBAG (https://crdbag.com) for providing an awesome kit, worth of 300 € to one lucky winner of the focus roulette. We will draw one winner from the participants by mid/end of August.
Winner of the last Round is: Marque DeWinter Congartulations! We will contact you asap!
Win a CRDBAG kit worth of 300€ with the following items included:
CRDPOUCH 4 Sizes Organizer Kit
Cheers & keep in focus!
In regard to rental houses, the great struggle of the strike times has been the race to the bottom. 40% discounts have now become rare in Los Angeles, 65-80% are much more the norm. Productions know everyone’s hungry: assistants and rental houses are both losing. With ACs and DPs owning full camera packages, the rental house only gets to rent a tripod, maybe some filters, but must provide for the prep services, QC and accounting that all cost money. The word out is that rental houses are going to restrict AC/ DP gear to 30% of the order total. This will be a big problem for someone like me who owns a FIZ, Focusbug, (x18) batteries, (x2) 7” monitors, 18” 4k monitor, Teradek 1:2 and also work with DPs who own cameras and lenses. My investment forces my hand when it comes to negotiation, the 30% rule will sink me if I take it lying down. Either rental houses will have to be flexible, or else the future where I can get decent rates will be renting the small list of needed equipment from the rental house at a less desirable discount and then prepping at home. The best scenarios I’ve encountered have been making deals with production that lock in numbers for AC/DP gear prior to getting the rental house involved. That way the rental house won’t be forced to discount or drop AC/DP gear to hit numbers, they’ll just say no to adds and force production to cough it up. I love my friends at the rental houses and have no hard feelings personally regarding where we’re at. It’s all just business, and anyone can underbid anyone else if they so choose. The question is, can they sustain it? Can we afford to invest in all this high cost equipment if we’re forced to accept 80% discounts. Many ACs I know have chosen to sell their kits rather than fight the battle over rates and incur the costs of upkeep. Personally, I bring my kit on, rate or no rate, because that’s my comfort zone at work; knowing I can trust all my equipment because I know it’s well maintained and customized to my idiosyncratic likings. I’m hoping that 2025 will see a boom in work in LA, and with that, competition will dictate that these $2,000 for an A35 package budgets will be laughed out of town, an out competed thing of the strike times.