Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/610602
20 F A L L 2 0 1 5 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y DENECKE, INC. 25209 Avenue Tibbitts Valencia, CA 91355 Phone (661) 607-0206 Fax (661) 257-2236 www.denecke.com Email: info@denecke.com Denecke, Inc. Home of the Industry Standard for Electronic Time Code Slates C Mount-B6 for Countryman B6 TM C Mount-DPA for DPA d:screet TM 4060/61/62/63 4071 Available at your local pro-audio dealer in the US, Canada, Europe or Australia New Products www.lmcsound.com LAVALIER MIC MOUNTING solutions for broadcast and motion picture a Saturday and Sunday and you're proud of the work done. You also shared an intense camaraderie between filmmaker friends. Heck, they even fed you well! Who on the crew might've considered doing the same? Perhaps their line producer? What if the way they discovered these positive things about you was during a passion project that they were also helping their friend with? Suddenly, this weekend short film has turned from helping a friend into an opportunity you hoped for. Of course, this can also be a situation where a sound mixer can endlessly chase their tail. Taking every short film that is pitched to you to insinuate potential long-term opportunity still has potential to lead nowhere. Continuing the feeling of being under appreciated, run ragged, with no fiscal or professional gains, which all feeds into the first camp of "Unacceptable!" So then, where do you draw the line? My solution to this conundrum: Only accept the situ- ations where you anticipate being appreciated, not being abused and where you genuinely trust the producer. Know that they do not base their business model on the generosity of yourself and everyone else on the crew. I suppose I have been inadvertently analyzing the passion project mantra for many years. While it can be very advanta- geous for up-and-coming technicians, it can also be a very bitter pill to swallow. Observe the balance and see where it can reveal itself—as earnest passion filmmaking or an abusive, self-absorbed mess. I don't use the word "hack-a- thon" often, but it is a perfect description of the type of passion project to avoid. Trust your friends and know your self-worth. NETWORKING Occasionally, I get a text message from one of the greats in my craft, boom operator extraordinaire Tim Salmon, just to check in. We catch up, share a joke, and smile about how lucky we are to be doing what we do. Is he networking? He never asks for work or complains when it's slow. He just wants to know how I'm doing. Does he do this with other people in our business? Sure. Do I think he's actually just looking for work? No. I genuinely believe he's interested in what I'm up to and cares about his colleagues who are also Tim Salmon "The Champion"