This is incredible accurate and positive. 1 year later the machine of UA-cam filmmakers who online cover gear and tech and has no practical and field experience is growing and it’s very cool too, but this is important.
It's such an important topic and I'm glad somebody covered it. This is why your course was such a game changer for me . Firstly I had no idea that that's how affiliate links work. I thought it was only if they bought the specific product not any product that's such a big game changer. And thanks for addressing a main frustration I had with all filmmaking UA-cam channels I watch. A big chunk of the filmmaking community on UA-cam does one thing but sells another and I always found that disingenuous. Everyone from the biggest names down to the copycats are basically selling a dream. They're not at all transparent about how they make money on UA-cam or as "filmmakers". To mention that a lot of them call themselves filmmakers but actually don't have any films 😂 at the end of the day film making is a business and if you're on this platform "teaching", being honest about what you're teaching and what you're not is the right thing to do.
It’s been a bit depressing to see so many channels turn into just gear reviews. Like what is gear even for? I really like Lewis Potts channel for keeping it real and teaching cinematography using real professional-set examples.
I intentionally avoid clicking on Affiliate Links. The reason is because I may have watched 10 videos or more on a lens, all of them with that link, and so how do I pick one and buy? That, and for practical reasons, I like to buy things on my time. I won't go out of my way when I decide to buy something to find that one UA-cam video I like the most, that may have sold me on the product, just to give them a little bonus. That's my way anyway.
Exactly, as someone who works production, those channels get backwards and bloated because most of these people dont work in the field with the gear. Its hard for ppl to get clear cut information that isnt biased an i see the results of it in the field with clueless operators behind these ridiculous rigs. More people need to be educated on the business side of things and see perspectives from ppl who actually work in the field with camera gear. Not just in the bedroom filming talking head clips and slow motion b roll
Sometimes I feel UA-cam has become sort of a multilevel company. You either push gear sales or a way to be successful on UA-cam. The money is usually coming from the lower/starter levels. I could be wrong. One thing is sure, at least those channels are working hard, pushing and producing content consistently.
Yea and they should get rewarded for that time and effort. I wasn’t saying they should stop. I was just saying to add another level to their content once a while that is more practical for achieving success than gear
If anybody wants to know what the end result of this marketing game is, look no further than repair channels on TV. A worthless chain of new products, offered with the deceptive notion that the authors actually use those tools. Give me honest reviews by part timers all day long.
I've almost entirely stopped watching youtube videos because they just push products. Either it's products that they supposedly reviewed "objectively" that they make money helping sell or it's from product sponsors that they "objectively" chose to allow sponsor them. If a youtuber tests a bunch of gear from a manufacturer and it has serious issues and they say so then the manufacturer isn't sending them any gear anymore and people won't click the referral link and buy it. This means they're going to need a lot more money coming in from somewhere else. I know people try to be objective but this has to weigh on everything they say. They're in the marketing business, not the journalism business. I will support any youtuber whose focus is on content and has a patreon account and does NOT rely on selling products. I'd rather just give them money to create objective unbiased content then try to fling products. I don't mind people promoting their own products on their channels though. There are limits to what you can do in a 7 minute youtube video so if I really like it and I want to go more in depth then I may actually be interested in a course they offer or books or whatever it is. I believe they can be objective and let me know about other things they've done. Too bad the youtube model forces anyone wanting to make money into just marketing stuff people don't need.
@@Filmmakingmentor I create content for a living but am very lucky in that I don't ever have to sling products. I was a professor for 20 years and now I create the same sort of content for a subscription model. I make more than most youtubers with less than 1 million subscribers (according to their own behind the scenes videos) and don't have to put out videos every three days nor do I have to compromise my integrity or my content either. I'm definitely not in the entertainment industry which is probably good for me and the entertainment industry!. I still have to create content that people want so it goes before a content board and approved or denied depending on market research etc... I built a recording studio so I could also create UA-cam content but decided against it as I learned how hard it was to make money while being content focused. What I do probably wouldn't work for everyone but it works for me. I strongly believe in the Patreon model. I pay quite a few people who create youtube content so they can focus on the content more and less on trying to find ways of getting kickbacks. I mentioned it to one youtuber and he said he didn't want to "beg for handouts". That was such a strange comment to me. I pay people to create content, if they stop creating content that I want then I stop paying. It's basically micro-funding content creation but without dictating the work which leaves the freedom in the hands of the creator. Cheers!
saj the truth is more horrible than you think....youtubers at large don't want viewers to be successful...why why why ...if the viewers are unsuccessful they watch more videos and buy more gear and watch more video and watch more video's its a cycle. and buy more gear ... youtubers at large are not film makers ..have you seen big youtubers making passionate short naratives..no no no..the passion is not there...no passion means you don't care about your audience they are just idiots to ends meet. i know youtubers would encourage you to get real-estate clients but would never tell you the know how on how to maintain real-estate clients. like how to use a tilt shift on real-estate ..instead they say go and do real estate like they helping you..when deep down they rather you click on their video and die. dont tell me to do real-estate...show me the dm you sent how much you priced it..show me how take the pics and video what equipment and how to achieve the result.
I really hope it’s not that dark and they are just addicted to the business model they’ve always known. I would love for some of them to do exactly what you said and show the entire process of landing clients that has worked for them in the past
In the multiple 6 figures. I would say in an average year, we work with 15 clients but most of them are repeat clients. Our base-line project is around 10k.
No usually marketing videos for mid size companies. Bigger national commercials typically run 50k plus and we rarely get those these days since they usually go through agencies
This is incredible accurate and positive. 1 year later the machine of UA-cam filmmakers who online cover gear and tech and has no practical and field experience is growing and it’s very cool too, but this is important.
It's such an important topic and I'm glad somebody covered it. This is why your course was such a game changer for me . Firstly I had no idea that that's how affiliate links work. I thought it was only if they bought the specific product not any product that's such a big game changer. And thanks for addressing a main frustration I had with all filmmaking UA-cam channels I watch. A big chunk of the filmmaking community on UA-cam does one thing but sells another and I always found that disingenuous. Everyone from the biggest names down to the copycats are basically selling a dream. They're not at all transparent about how they make money on UA-cam or as "filmmakers". To mention that a lot of them call themselves filmmakers but actually don't have any films 😂 at the end of the day film making is a business and if you're on this platform "teaching", being honest about what you're teaching and what you're not is the right thing to do.
Thank you for your honesty. This is why I subscribed.
It’s been a bit depressing to see so many channels turn into just gear reviews. Like what is gear even for? I really like Lewis Potts channel for keeping it real and teaching cinematography using real professional-set examples.
I intentionally avoid clicking on Affiliate Links. The reason is because I may have watched 10 videos or more on a lens, all of them with that link, and so how do I pick one and buy?
That, and for practical reasons, I like to buy things on my time. I won't go out of my way when I decide to buy something to find that one UA-cam video I like the most, that may have sold me on the product, just to give them a little bonus. That's my way anyway.
Way to go Saj. Hope some of the big UA-camrs will get this and help people learn the business side of things
Exactly, as someone who works production, those channels get backwards and bloated because most of these people dont work in the field with the gear. Its hard for ppl to get clear cut information that isnt biased an i see the results of it in the field with clueless operators behind these ridiculous rigs. More people need to be educated on the business side of things and see perspectives from ppl who actually work in the field with camera gear. Not just in the bedroom filming talking head clips and slow motion b roll
I've had this thought too. It's like a huge part of it is just gear reviews. Hence why inwant to go an different route from now for the most part
Great idea would be interesting to see all the different ideas and experiences other film makers on UA-cam have!!
Sometimes I feel UA-cam has become sort of a multilevel company. You either push gear sales or a way to be successful on UA-cam. The money is usually coming from the lower/starter levels. I could be wrong. One thing is sure, at least those channels are working hard, pushing and producing content consistently.
Yea and they should get rewarded for that time and effort. I wasn’t saying they should stop. I was just saying to add another level to their content once a while that is more practical for achieving success than gear
@@Filmmakingmentor I know, I agree with you 100%. I was talking to the mirror about producing and pushing content consistently.
Yea consistency is the hard part for sure
If anybody wants to know what the end result of this marketing game is, look no further than repair channels on TV. A worthless chain of new products, offered with the deceptive notion that the authors actually use those tools. Give me honest reviews by part timers all day long.
I've almost entirely stopped watching youtube videos because they just push products. Either it's products that they supposedly reviewed "objectively" that they make money helping sell or it's from product sponsors that they "objectively" chose to allow sponsor them.
If a youtuber tests a bunch of gear from a manufacturer and it has serious issues and they say so then the manufacturer isn't sending them any gear anymore and people won't click the referral link and buy it. This means they're going to need a lot more money coming in from somewhere else. I know people try to be objective but this has to weigh on everything they say. They're in the marketing business, not the journalism business.
I will support any youtuber whose focus is on content and has a patreon account and does NOT rely on selling products. I'd rather just give them money to create objective unbiased content then try to fling products. I don't mind people promoting their own products on their channels though. There are limits to what you can do in a 7 minute youtube video so if I really like it and I want to go more in depth then I may actually be interested in a course they offer or books or whatever it is. I believe they can be objective and let me know about other things they've done.
Too bad the youtube model forces anyone wanting to make money into just marketing stuff people don't need.
Yea that’s the path that made the most sense to me. Creating more depth educational content as a product rather than pitching gear
@@Filmmakingmentor I create content for a living but am very lucky in that I don't ever have to sling products. I was a professor for 20 years and now I create the same sort of content for a subscription model. I make more than most youtubers with less than 1 million subscribers (according to their own behind the scenes videos) and don't have to put out videos every three days nor do I have to compromise my integrity or my content either. I'm definitely not in the entertainment industry which is probably good for me and the entertainment industry!. I still have to create content that people want so it goes before a content board and approved or denied depending on market research etc...
I built a recording studio so I could also create UA-cam content but decided against it as I learned how hard it was to make money while being content focused. What I do probably wouldn't work for everyone but it works for me.
I strongly believe in the Patreon model. I pay quite a few people who create youtube content so they can focus on the content more and less on trying to find ways of getting kickbacks. I mentioned it to one youtuber and he said he didn't want to "beg for handouts". That was such a strange comment to me. I pay people to create content, if they stop creating content that I want then I stop paying. It's basically micro-funding content creation but without dictating the work which leaves the freedom in the hands of the creator. Cheers!
I really like that model. I’ll have to look into it for a couple of my channels. Thank you
saj the truth is more horrible than you think....youtubers at large don't want viewers to be successful...why why why ...if the viewers are unsuccessful they watch more videos and buy more gear and watch more video and watch more video's its a cycle. and buy more gear ... youtubers at large are not film makers ..have you seen big youtubers making passionate short naratives..no no no..the passion is not there...no passion means you don't care about your audience they are just idiots to ends meet.
i know youtubers would encourage you to get real-estate clients but would never tell you the know how on how to maintain real-estate clients. like how to use a tilt shift on real-estate ..instead they say go and do real estate like they helping you..when deep down they rather you click on their video and die. dont tell me to do real-estate...show me the dm you sent how much you priced it..show me how take the pics and video what equipment and how to achieve the result.
I really hope it’s not that dark and they are just addicted to the business model they’ve always known. I would love for some of them to do exactly what you said and show the entire process of landing clients that has worked for them in the past
How much money does your video production company make each year? How many clients do you get per year?
In the multiple 6 figures. I would say in an average year, we work with 15 clients but most of them are repeat clients. Our base-line project is around 10k.
@@Filmmakingmentor What kind of projects are they? Are any of the projects nation wide broadcast commercials?
No usually marketing videos for mid size companies. Bigger national commercials typically run 50k plus and we rarely get those these days since they usually go through agencies