RENTING&HIRING MOVIE MATTERS
HIRING INVESTIGATION RENTAL REVAMP Rental used to be just about bringing in a specific itemof kit for a particular job but now you can make cash by hiring out your own gear
WORDS TERRY HOPE T he power of the Internet has shaken up the world of equipment rental beyond recognition. It always used to be about filmmakers renting pricey or exotic kit for a particular job. But now you canmake the kit you ownmake money for you even when it’s not being used by your business, by renting it out to others. Everything from supplementary lenses, extra camera bodies and rigs through to lights, microphones and peripheral gear such as sliders and dollies are needed to undertake even a relatively simply assignment. So it makes sense to rent in kit when you need it, and rent out your gear when you don’t. The concept that there are two sides to rental for a private filmmaker is a relatively new one and is part of the democratisation of service selling that’s arrived on the back of widespread Internet access. Now everyone has the means to access and communicate with a vast
online audience. In the case of rental, it’s opened the door to individuals getting involved, often on a micro scale, and making their kit earnmoney for them rather than gathering dust on a shelf. Rules of renting The role of a traditional rental house generally is to supplement kit, which can be something everyday, such as an extra lens or some lights, through to an exotic item that has a specific use but which is too expensive to invest in for the handful of times it might be used. A good example might be a camera such as the CanonME20F-SH, a model that offers astonishing low-light performance with a top ISO speed in excess of 4,000,000, but with a price tag of nearly £15,000/$19,999 body only, it’s a piece of kit that could be difficult to justify buying. However, with a daily rental price in the ballpark of £532/$737 plus VAT it’s not entirely unrealistic for a wildlife filmmaker to hire it in for limited use on a shoot that involves filming at night or very low-light conditions, situations where it can be a real game changer. Zach Lower, a DOP/director at a production company in Brighton, is a regular user of the original Ronin gimbal, but required the Ronin 2 on a particular job, which comes with the capacity to handle cameras up to a massive 13kg/30lb. The problem is that the product carries a price tag close to £7000/$9974, making it a big ask for a small business to buy. But it’s available to hire for £210/$292 a day. “In the end I rented it out for a couple of days fromHireacamera,” says Zach, “and that coveredme. It’s an incredible tool: as soon as you start using bigger cameras it definitely makes sense tomove over to this model of Ronin, and I’ll be looking to rent one again for higher-end shoots when I want to take the production values up to the next level.” Personal rental The move towards individuals renting out gear is personified by companies such as
KitMapper and Fat Lama, which specialise in simplifying the process andmaking it safer for both sides. On the one hand a filmmaker with surplus gear can sign up to rent this out, backed by the promise that the hirer will be checked out and gear comprehensively insured, while those looking to rent through this route have the chance to get a keen price and potentially a little more in the way of flexibility. London and New York-based filmmaker CC Kellogg was introduced to the KitMapper service when she was working on the first episode of her upcoming anthology series, Nudes. “Because it was a US/UK/French co- production, shooting across international locations, we knewwe needed the RED DRAGON EPIC tomatch footage,” she says. “However, we weren’t looking for a traditional week-long rental, but rather a low day rate, and the team at KitMapper worked tirelessly to get us this specific kit for a really good price.” A RED EPIC-X DRAGON camera body is available through KitMapper for £290/$412 a day or £1160/$1650 for a full week, which is not insubstantial but compares well to traditional rental houses. “KitMapper also researched insurance options andmade the camera body rental and insurance an easy combo process,” says CC, “and were flexible enough to work IMAGES Should you be investigating alternative hiring options for those more unusual bits of kit? And could your gear be earning you a few quid when you’re not using it?
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PRO MOVIEMAKER SPRING 2018
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