I just got off the phone with a potential producer/client who’s about to drop $15k into a video campaign for web, social media, the works. Everything but primetime TV. I can hear you gasping over the internet…Really? $15,000 into video? Does it come with a car? Nope. No car. And to be honest, that’s a very modest amount considering the deliverables the client wants, and what the poor video team is willing to get hosed on. We’ve all been there. We have budget of X, and here’s the laundry list of every under the sun as deliverables Y. But a common ground has to be met. Play the game.

Now where I come in is, they have no budget for photo. Mind you, THEY’VE JUST LEAD WITH PAYING SOMEONE ELSE FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. AND! That’s not my team doing the video either. Not an uncommon conversation over the last 8 years of the studio out here. Usually comes in the form of… soooooo we forgot the most important part of our campaign which is using still photo advertising to sell the final product. Moreover like your Delta captain explaining:

Uhhh folks you’ll notice we haven’t left the terminal yet. We put wings on the plane but forgot to attach the engines. My bad.

So potential client asks what it would cost for X, with no budget. And I give Y answer. The specifics are immaterial at this point because the potential client has made everything very clear. What they’re saying is…We’re not going back to our investors to get more money, and don’t value what you provide. Will you do this for little to no money but great exposure? You’ve hear that before. We all have. You’ll get great exposure. Heed the words of my Italian Grandfather, and I’m paraphrasing, “I can’t eat exposure.”

The button to this brief encounter, the potential client says:

Ahhh well it looks like we’ll just pull stills from the video and make it work.

THE HORROR of it all.

In today’s world of 4k high definition yada yada that will cost you your first born, pulling a still frame from motion is an option, but probably the worst option outside of not having any photos, or hiring your friend Billy to take the shots because he’s got a nice camera. Those still frame pulls usually look like garbage and then need to be re-engineered. And news flash, photoshopping those shots ain’t cheap.

Spend the extra 2 dollars with a pro and get it done right with Karjaka and the crew. No, not 50 bucks and exposure, but not $15k either.

Giddy Up.