Hi folks - I have a difficult problem! I'm no expert - I admit that I know enough to be dangerous, but I'm trying to advise a friend on how to hire a video crew to tape a large event in a different country. He wants to be able to ask potential candidates some questions to be able to not only guage what equipment they will use but if they know something about what they are doing. Evidently, where he is having to do the hiring, people will tell you anything to get the work. The eventual goal for this footage will be broadcast, and use in DVDs. I've already covered NTSC and miniDV tapes (if he wants me to help edit). Before I open my big mouth and tell him the wrong thing, I thought I would appeal to the most knowledgeable video community that I know of.

What would be some good questions for him to ask with regards to shooting format? How about equipment? Shooting format? He's wondering whether to look for someone shooting 1080i / HD? His fear is that if he tells them this is what he want's, they'll say (and for this location, there is evidence that this happens) they can and deliver SD. My thought's were that SD is fine - as long as they are using a pro grade, 3 chip camera. I also think the my friends organization might be a little confused about the broadcast changeover coming up (from analog to digital) - thinking that they have to shoot in HD.

I would be very grateful for any advice on how to tell him what to ask these people and what good answers might look like. Thanks in advance for your thoughtful consideration.

First, it might help if you tell us which country it is. You may be surprised by the amount of DVinfo people around the world who can help you with specific info...!

Secondly...
Tell him to do his homework on them. Get their demo reels, talk to past clients who will vouch for them... make sure those past clients are REAL... etc.

Also, if it really is a sketchy country... don't pay them more than 10% up front.


Oh, and for the record... people will tell you anything to get the work here too.

Dylan,

thanks for the reply. My friend works with a mission organization and will be heading to western Kenya - I don't know the exact location. They are very short on time to get this done and I don't know that they have time to get and look at a demo reel - I will suggest that, though. Good idea on the 10%! Do you think my friend should just state that they will only accept ouput from a specific selection of cameras? I just want to give him some ability to know or identify broadcast quality equipment.

Thanks again for the ideas!

Tell your friend to hoik out the Nairobi phone book, turn to the Yellow pages and look up "Video Production Companies".

Your friend has neither the knowledge or experience to pull this off on his own. A reputable production company in Kenya (of which there are a number) is the only way to go.


CS

Tell your friend to hoik out the Nairobi phone book, turn to the Yellow pages and look up "Video Production Companies".




Agreed. I think this is a job for the Yellow Pages.

Hey, thanks for the advice - I'll pass it along!

All good advice having worked and hired crews in over 21 countries. It might help to know your friends final distribution of the video, Broadcast, Web, DVD or all. Also, I have a friend, who is a twenty year veteran photojournalist heading to Kenya and Ethiopia in the coming weeks. He is a long term contractor for a major international aid group. Maybe he might be able to help?
Thoughts?

Shaun,

Thanks for the reply. As for distribution, I'm sure they want to be able to use it for everything. My thoughts were that if they shot for broadcast quality, they could easily derive the other formats from that. I would be more than happy to pass along your friends name to my friends. They are leaving in about 10 days and will be there in Western Kenya for about a month. I'm sure they don't have a lot of money to deal with but I'll let them pursue this if they feel like they can. If you want to send me his contact info via my profile linked e-mail, I'll pass it along to them.

Thanks again!!!