Pro Moviemaker Summer 2018

MOTIONTRIBE ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Join theTribe! If you’re a filmmaker or photographer wanting to save or make money from your gear you should look at the opportunities provided by MotionTribe, a collaborative rental platform fresh to the UK I nitially established in Belgium, MotionTribe is the collaborative rental platform that helps professionals rent film and photo “You’ve got the recipe for a very civilisedway of doing business”

equipment to each other, and has now launched in London with the offer of a 20% discount on rentals until the end of June. The company specialises in enabling those in the business to source well-priced rental gear while giving owners the chance to make risk-free cash from kit that might otherwise be sitting unused in a cupboard between jobs. Renters set their own rates and, as an added bonus, the process of dealing with fellow professionals can also serve as an excellent networking tool. The premise is simple. Those working in the creative industries regularly have to hire in extra gear for specific jobs, and traditional rental houses can be expensive to use or might not have the quirky little pieces of equipment that make all the difference. On the other side of the fence there are times when expensive items aren’t being worked hard enough, with lax periods when they simply aren’t being

used. Take both of these points and give professionals the chance to deal directly with one another and you’ve got the recipe for a very civilised way of doing business. Antwerp and Brussels-based documentary filmmaker Enak Cortebeeck was one of those that took advantage of MotionTribe’s services, and he ultimately made enough from hiring out his Sony FS7 camera to pay for the bulk of a set of Sigma primes. It was a great use of an underemployed asset, and he was happy to let others use his valuable kit safe in the knowledge that his gear was protected by a policy that sees each member of the community screened to maintain trust, all backed up by fully comprehensive insurance – said to be the best in the business – that carries a very low excess. As an extra safeguard renters receive an evaluation after each rental so that those loaning out their gear know that they are serious professionals. “I found that I was mainly renting out kit to creative people in the business who were at the same level I was at,” says Enak. “Not only did this mean that they had the same respect for the gear that I had, but it also helped me to find other people I could work with. When I handed gear over I would always ask someone what they were planning to do with it; I was able to network with reliable professionals I could then call on for help when a job came up. “I could see how they worked and check that they genuinely had the experience that they said they had, and that they weren’t going to turn up on a shoot with me with just a small DSLR and no lights! It enabled me to see how credible people were, and that, for me, was one of the chief benefits of working with MotionTribe.” DPP, filmmaker and commentator Philip Bloom is another to talk warmly about the benefits of using a rental company that’s so transparent about its business. Until now Philip has been too

worried about his gear to loan it to others, but of MotionTribe he says: “A company who does checks on all members and where gear is properly insured... [This] makes the concept of renting my gear out a real option.” Matt Gallagher, the owner of thecallsheet.co.uk, is also enthusiastic. “There’s a market for it – there’s a lot of kit, a wider range of kit, more bespoke kit than you’ll get from a rental company.” Wide experience Those behind the company have their roots firmly set in the creative industries, and created the company on the back of seeing the need for fresh ways for the creative community to collaborate. Haroun Souirji spent a childhood full of travelling

ABOVE Big or small, weird or wonderful, the range of professional-standard equipment available to hire from MotionTribe has something for everyone.

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PRO MOVIEMAKER SUMMER 2018

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