Meet Adam K Studio And Set The Table

Vipul Bindra 0:04

Welcome to another episode of Studio B Sessions with me, Bendra, owner of Bindra Productions here in Orlando, Florida. And we have Mario back on the producer table helping us make this.

Mario Rangel 0:14

Hey guys, one more time. How are you doing?

Vipul Bindra 0:18

And uh today our guest is Adam of AK Studio. Is it Adam K Studio or AK Studio? Adam K Studio. Adam K Studio. The same guy you've heard about a lot on this podcast, so we probably don't need any introductions.

Adam Kalinowski 0:34

What do you have to say for yourself? I know. Probably just a bunch of uh shit talking happening.

Vipul Bindra 0:40

Yeah, probably, especially with David's episode. Yeah. Yeah. I'll have to get him back.

Adam Kalinowski 0:44

I mean, it's uh yeah, we'll just get him back in this one then.

Vipul Bindra 0:46

So do you want to tell people what you do? I mean, do you do anything?

Adam Kalinowski 0:50

Yeah, I do, despite all the videos you take of me not doing anything. Uh yeah, we I do I've kind of uh you know worked, started as the freelancer, right? And just making videos, jumping on anybody's sets that I could, learning from everybody else, and uh have evolved into the video production company side where we'll handle the whole thing. Um yeah, and moved out to Florida three years ago. So I don't know. We don't need to get my whole backstory, but like they could see the last episode, yeah. That's where I morphed more into the video production side because I was working directly with clients, um, and then I didn't know anybody out here, so then I got connected with you guys and working with you since rest of the history, and like I said, you can go watch season one.

Vipul Bindra 1:35

We went more deep into that. And uh what I really liked about your episode last season was you went deep, and that's what I wanted, because I was like, people, you know, talk a lot of stuff, but you know, it's gate kept. So I really liked uh your episode last season because we were able to literally break it down on how to network, how to charge, how to make a living, you know, how to grow as a production company. So I feel like it's very beneficial, but I feel like since you gave basically everyone everything you have, why why are you back again? You got anything left to give?

From Freelancer To Production Company

Adam Kalinowski 2:06

Yeah, I mean I'm on this journey constantly, just trying to figure out what the heck to do with myself every day, basically. Uh it's always something new, you know. Had the kid that I didn't know. Yeah, you did.

Vipul Bindra 2:18

So last time you came, you were a new dad. So now your kid's a lot older, right? How old is he now? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 2:24

I had him last time. Yeah, he's he's nine months today, actually. Hello, look at that. Um yeah, I've just been on Nature.

Vipul Bindra 2:29

Take the nine month picture? Are you doing the sticker and picture or no?

Adam Kalinowski 2:32

We've been doing that every every month. Um, and we still have to do the nine months where we had we didn't do it today.

Vipul Bindra 2:38

I mean, with you as the dad, I mean, come on.

Adam Kalinowski 2:40

Gotta get it.

Vipul Bindra 2:42

Yeah, that's the least you can do, right? Uh yeah, it's pretty awesome. How's that changed? I know initially you were obviously not traveling as much. You're trying to spend time with the family. Obviously, that was a while back now. So you you're back to travel, right? Back to your regular schedule.

New Fatherhood And Work Rhythms

Adam Kalinowski 2:56

Yeah, yeah. Well, actually, the first half of this year there wasn't as much travel as the first half of last year, but um now it's fired back up, and we've kind of gotten more into the flow in my house of how this all works. But that was definitely like first six months, we're kind of figuring it out like what is the the balance between working and helping take care of the baby, make sure a wife's taken care of, and um yeah, that's been the journey that I've been on for the past nine months or so, just figuring figuring that out. And I really like that. I was thinking about on the way here, I was just like, you know, I don't I don't do all this video stuff just because I like it. I do like it, I enjoy it, but I like I'm trying to create a life, you know. I'm trying to have a life that I enjoy. Yes, you know, most people go to a job that they're miserable at. I don't I don't want to do that, so I'm creating my own, you know, yeah, you're journey here.

Vipul Bindra 3:49

And you're you're uh creating where you know not only do you enjoy what you do, right? But then you go home and then you have something to enjoy there too, right? Yeah, exactly.

Adam Kalinowski 3:58

And that's just like a fulfilling life, and that's kind of what I want, you know. I mean, everything everybody wants that, but yeah, you know, it takes a little bit of guts to like go out and try it. And now I'm you know, I I push hard to build the the vit the video business side of it to be able to sustain that, and now it kind of sustains itself a little bit. You know, there's still a lot of work to do to make it keep functioning, but um, you know, now especially with the kid, it's more like let's work on that part of life too, so that we keep this balance and figure out how they they mesh together and it, you know, yeah, it's the new phase, right?

Vipul Bindra 4:34

Uh and it obviously brings new challenges, new things. But uh no, I uh talking about what you know, we were talking about this before we started, but like the conversation I had with David about you is like, you know, I think I guess you guys were talking how it's like, hey, you guys are so similar, you love the same thing when you work, or maybe even you know, doing stuff for enjoyment or whatever, but when you go home, how different your lifestyle is like you know, he doesn't want the mortgage, the pressures, and all that, and you want the to mow the yard and you know, clean, clog, unclog the gutter and all that life that you and that's okay, you know, to to want different things. Are you sure? You seem like the type of guy you're happy. No, I feel like but you're the type of guy, like uh uh tell me if I'm wrong. Like, I feel like you're ready. You're like, grass is two inches long, like I'm ready to go mow it, you know. I don't know.

Adam Kalinowski 5:20

Yeah, I like taking care of my stuff, you know. Like I like I'm uh my my grandpa, my dad, my brother, we're all like uh just like kind of I don't want to say like worker bees, but just like like being busy, like doing something. Um, I we all like being outside. Um my dad's more so one of those guys that just like can't sit down. He's always got to be doing something. Um, even if he's watching TV, he's gotta be like stretching or doing some exercise or something in front of the TV. I'm not taking it that far, but yeah, I just like always being like doing something. And then when I'm like spending a lot of the day on the computer or behind the screens doing something, uh I like to be outside and I like to work on more manual stuff that's like with my hands, or even if that's like tinkering in the garage or something, now I don't get much time to just tinker and yeah, you know, screw around. But um there's plenty of chores to keep me. Yeah, change the diapers. That that's fine.

Vipul Bindra 6:19

You know, that that actually do you actually do that, or do we need to call your wife to control?

Designing A Life You Actually Want

Adam Kalinowski 6:22

Oh yeah, no, I do it, I do it. Yeah, um, that is an interesting concept of like the like kind of forced lifestyle change. Yeah.

Vipul Bindra 6:34

Um I mean it's not forced, you decided to have a baby.

Adam Kalinowski 6:38

I know, but it's like you have no other choice but to take care of this baby now, and that forces you to figure out how to work differently or yeah, uh work more efficiently or split your time up. Whereas like when I first started my business, like every like most of my day, every single day, weekends included, was I'm just gonna work on this and do something related to this. Um you know, and then you know, my wife and I would we would do some stuff sometimes, but that was pretty much like the only time that I would get out of that work mindset of like building, growing, trying to trying to uh get better at my craft and stuff like that. Uh so shout out to her for being patient with that because yeah, I was pretty pretty in it, and I've just kind of I I recognize that too because then we would like go out, and this is now just like a kickback on the uh the chair, and I'm having like a psychology session here. Uh what's that? Yeah, psychologist. Um, we would we'd go out and how did that make you feel? Yeah, exactly. I was just getting things. Well we'd go out and do stuff and I would you know try to be present and I'd be thinking about work stuff and I'm like I don't like this. This isn't this isn't good. So yeah, what I've been saying, like I've been on this this journey of like finding that balance is truly like going from that to being like, oh, like I really want to get out of this work thing and like go home and relax and spend time with my family and play around, roll around with my son and plan something with my wife. Like that's you know, I've always wanted that and always prioritized that, but when I first started, it was so stressful, I think, to just like be like, yeah, I quit my nine to five, so now uh if this doesn't work out, that's gonna be that's gonna be tough. Yeah, and there was just in my mind no option of it not working out, so I really kind of forced it, I guess. Yeah, which is one way. Um yeah, I don't know. I think it's just the other half of it.

Vipul Bindra 8:44

You know, we talk about all the business stuff, but the personal side of it is like it's very important, and then to be honest, like like you said, it takes a lot to be an entrepreneur, it's not as easy as nine to five. You cannot again. I I encourage people to quit their nine to fives, but I always say like you have to decide if you're that type of person because guess what? Um nine to five, you know, they tell you what they need you to do, you do it. I mean, you had a nine to five, you were in marketing, and then you know you're done. You can you have the option. I mean, some people still take it home, but you have the option to leave it there and go back and you know, do whatever, live your life. Versus when you do it for yourself, sure, especially if you love it, it becomes less of a chore. But then it usually takes stays with you because there's not just the work you have to now do, like we talked about accounting and and then uh you know, I don't know, bookkeeping and business planning and processes and and things, and obviously business management. Obviously, you can streamline this, obviously. Uh, you know, you like you said, you've gotten a CPA. There's you know, you can add uh people to your to your arsenal of people that you can offload some of this to, but it does take more hours, obviously. Uh on being an entrepreneur will never be nine to five, but you don't want your family life to suffer, and I get it, you know.

Adam Kalinowski 9:56

Do you yeah do you feel the the guilt sometimes of like I really like this, I'm having fun with it, you know? It's creative, it's the thing I like, and I'm gonna do it as much as I can, and then it's like, well, not everyone around me gets to do that, or maybe like your family's not always getting to do that all the time, you know.

Home Life, Chores, And Staying Present

Vipul Bindra 10:18

Like, I feel like I'm not playing with my kids, I'm talking to you over here.

Adam Kalinowski 10:23

What am I doing in the garage with your buddies, man? No, exactly.

Vipul Bindra 10:26

I mean, this is so so if you think about it, you know. I I had this more, uh I don't know, I forget the podcast episode this season I was talking to, but somebody asked me towards the end, like, do you remember Mario who it was? But like, do you regret or I don't know, something like that. But point is, yeah, uh, but see that there's two ways to look at it. Yes, I chose to shoot this podcast. I want this is my passion project, right? I make no money from this. I know that. So I want to do this, and I'm enjoying this, to be honest. Every conversation's been incredible and fun. I this is how I actually wanted to do season one anyway, so I'm so glad we're finally able to do it. But then on the other side of it, I'm like, this is days and days that my kids, I'm not basically seeing them, you know? Because by the time I'm done, my back hurts, I'm tired, I've I'm out talked essentially. I don't want to talk. Yeah, and yet it's not their fault. They didn't choose that, right? Right. So, so there is a little bit of regret that I was like, as soon as I start doing this, I was like, why did I have to pack the schedule so tight? And and you know what I mean? And I'm still like, and then look at my luck. We have to pack up this for our shoot on Tuesday, and we gotta load this up in the van. And I'm like, uh, if it continues to rain and we don't get until 9 p.m. then like when are we gonna even load the van up? I hope that makes sense. It's things like that. I'm like, why am I making this so hard on me? And I think again, the only person to blame is me. You know, it like you said, you had to catch yourself. Yeah, because the only person to blame there was you. Yes, it's awesome. You love something, you're having fun with it, you can provide a great living to your family with it. Then at some point you have to go, you know, where's the balance? Yeah, you know, and and I'm still finding it. To be honest, like I said, I've told you this before, why I think you and I clicked. Because to be honest, if you remember, we met at the first meetup and we didn't talk much because I was like, you know, you you're into veterinary uh filmmaking or whatever, that's pretty cool, right? That's about it. It had to be a couple of meetings before I was like, oh, this is who you are, right? And then that admired because you're basically speed running what I've done. And there's there, it's awesome because, like you say, you've already figured out, like, hey, I gotta have a work-life balance, and I'm still here admitting that I need to, but I don't because I have packed my schedule so tight. And uh, and funny enough, uh, like uh my family probably hates you right now because you know, you you had asked me to uh we were gonna come back in the 9th, and then they were like uh and you messaged me, like, hey, you want to go to the 10th? And I was like, Awesome, I've never been to that city. Yes, let's do it. Because you know, I genuinely love this, it's fun. I've if it's up to me, I want to be out there filming. And then I told Julie, she was like, you know, that's your birthday, right? You're gonna spend your birthday on the city. She was like, This is two years in a row, and I'm like, Yeah, for some reason he books me on that, but I was like, Okay, I'll be back. We're gonna be back in the evening, we'll do something. But you know, at my uh stage, I don't know.

Adam Kalinowski 13:13

I'm a birthday on my phone now.

Vipul Bindra 13:14

Yeah, I mean, you're good, but honestly, I like I said, I don't really do anything. I know to people, it's like very important to celebrate birthdays and whatever. I don't know. Do you care about your birthday anymore? I mean July 10th, yeah. Yeah, we're dating when the shot of the shot. But do you care about your birthday still? Like, I don't know, is that a thing to you?

Mario Rangel 13:36

I mean, I like to celebrate it, yeah. Okay. Well, what about you? But if I have to work, I love doing the this while we do, so I don't mind like if I have to work, yeah.

Vipul Bindra 13:46

Uh what about you? Do you care about like spending the birthday or whatever?

Adam Kalinowski 13:50

I don't no, I don't I don't really care about like flashy stuff for it, but I definitely try to at least take the day off and give myself a break. Like I uh like we were saying, it's hard to take a break, so I if there is a reason to, I try to grab onto that.

The Cost Of Entrepreneurship At Home

Vipul Bindra 14:05

Yeah. Um and and uh sorry, but I was like, yeah, that's maybe where I'm failing, you know, where where you're probably succeeding. Because to me, the way I looked at it was very simple. I didn't even think about it. It was like uh calendar available. Hey, I can do it, let's do it. And plus, I'm gonna be with you anyway the day before. I'm like, why can't we just drive there? Makes makes absolute sense. And I didn't even think about it until I told her I added this to the calendar. She's like, what? You're gonna be working her birthday? I'm like, what were we gonna do anyway? I mean, if we go out, to be let's be real, let's look at the other side of it. Sorry. I am the one who's gonna have to pay for food. You know, I mean, I'm just saying, family of your decision then what you want to do. I'm just like I'm saving money by actually. I'm not only making money, I'm gonna save money because now I gotta go take everyone out to oh my goodness, everyone's gonna think I'm cheap. I'll get you an ice cream count on the road. Yeah, that works. I mean, uh, you know what I mean? I don't know. Uh to me, and and I see it. Like I said, this is entirely on me. I honestly uh looked at it, and this is a recent thing, that's where we're talking about it, because it just happened. I genuinely was like, oh, day free, good shoot, like hanging out with you, plus I'm with you anyway the day before. I'm like, oh, we get some time, come home, you know, maybe switch over or whatever, and we can head that the way I was like, that's not bad at all. I was like, it sounds pretty fun. I've never been to that city, even though you know it's Florida or whatever. And I was like, yeah, sounds pretty good. But then, you know, I look at it from that perspective. Like, I like hanging out with you, but I also like doing what we do. This is the truth. Like, it is genuinely what I enjoy, otherwise, I wouldn't do it. Simple as that. I can say no. Uh, so so I didn't think about it even once. Uh, but I see their perspective coming back to where we talk about family life is important, and I like where kind of this conversation's gone because I have to take account of people who love me and who want to spend time with me. And I'm I cannot put them on the second, I don't know, side because I'm like, I enjoy, you know, uh, you know, they don't think you know I should be spending my birthday with you. That's just the truth, right? So I get it. Yeah, so next time maybe I'll say no. But I don't know. Again, see the thing is I'm like, what are we gonna do? If I'd stayed at home, I don't know what I would have done. I don't know.

Adam Kalinowski 16:11

So maybe that's where for me nine. So maybe you guys can go out to lunch.

Vipul Bindra 16:15

Yeah, because you know, like you, I am not just like I don't like to kick back and just do nothing. So I'm either educating myself, either I'm learning something new through either YouTube university or whatever, somewhere in our industry, or I'm out here in the studio doing something or prepping or whatever. So it's not like if I'm home, shopping on BNH. Yeah, shopping on BH, there you go. Uh, but that's not here, that happens on the other side. But point is like I even if I was home, to be honest, I would be doing something related to video production. Because if it's my day, that's what I enjoy. Now I do spend time sp I do enjoy spending time with my family. Absolutely would love to do that. But what I'm saying is outside of that, it's not like all day. I'm not like you know, you could only play for a little bit to till your kids get tired or whatever, and then you know, you go back to what I'm enjoying, which would be that anyway. So, but I'm what I'm saying, yes, you're right. The the summary of all this is it's important to find a balance. And I again have to admit to you, second episode, you know, in two seasons in a row, that I think the way you're doing it is the right way to do it, and it's good because it's good that you've realized that that you were doing that, and it's good that you're gonna push back because you need a balance. And I am still struggling with it, but I I'm I'm making an effort and I'm going to, you know, to find that balance.

Adam Kalinowski 17:32

I'm gonna call it a failure on your on your side or anything, or like I'm succeeding or you're fail, you're failing, but like wrong choice of words. Everybody's just finding that in a different way through a different path, and that's cool. I mean, your business operates at a different, you know, revenue level than than mine, so it's like, you know, and then if we're if we're talking about our good old pal David, yeah, you know, he he rolls a different way too, and like he operates in a different kind of capacity. But he's changed too.

Vipul Bindra 18:01

Like he and I talked about this because like when I met him, or well, we met him both together at the same day, uh, but like he was all adamant on like this is my lifestyle, I'm a free bird, I'm never gonna come in. And now he's fiance, you know, uh, with uh a retainer client that he's kept going for 18 months. You know, like he's not the same, left the downtown lifestyle he was so proud of. So everything that I and that's just only short three years. So everything I knew about him or when we met him is not the same. So people evolve. I'm saying it's good to change, and uh, you know, I mean, uh David, you've changed and we don't like you anymore. We don't like you. Yeah, let's uh let's not meet uh no anyway. But yeah, no, but it's it's good for him, I guess. That's what I'm like, he's not the same, David. Like you can go back to his vlogs and you can realize, like, but it's good for him, like it works for him, you know. And uh everybody's growing, and like he had a good way to put it, like he was free bird is one, now he's free bird is two, you know. You just take her with that is the most dated way to say that for sure. He'll take her with him, right? Wherever I guess I'm like that, yeah, that works. I mean, you both are happy, then uh I guess it works.

Adam Kalinowski 19:05

Yeah, no, I'm stoked for that. Yeah, that's great. And that's that's what I love to see too, is people that are you know doing the entrepreneurial type of things and also making cool life moves, like you got your house, you know, this is a great space, it's awesome. You built your your van and everything. So it's been I just like pe people seeing seeing people be able to do that stuff with that you know, with the amount of effort and commitment and um time I know what it takes to get an entrepreneurial endeavor like starting a business or freelancing up to a point where you feel comfortable enough to make those personal investments, personal moves, whatever. Um because I I've also went through that too. So I just I just get it, I respect it, I appreciate it, love to see friends you know, grow on the personal side too.

Systems, Processes, And Real SOPs

Vipul Bindra 19:55

Yeah. Same thing for me, you know. I I I really enjoy, you know, and this is kind of I love how usually it happens, you know, off camera. So I haven't had any memories, like I said, we've known each other for years and don't have any recordings of it, but now it's so cool we can go back and look every six months roughly, it's like, oh, this all changed, this happened. And no, and to be honest, that's like the entire goal. And I know we were talking about this when we were shooting a few days ago. Uh, that that is what's next for me. I I've realized that because you know, when you reach a certain level uh of business goal or whatever that is, it's like what's next. And then for me was these passion projects. Like, I want to start this. Now I'm trying the YouTube thing. This is very awkward. Uh, talk about that. And then, you know, and then just you know, putting myself out there for now, it's been like kept. And then same thing, the other side of it is uh kind of stepping away a little bit from what I love to be able to spend more time with my family. I already do that, to be honest. I'm not saying that I spent a lot of time with them in February, you know, you know that month. Yeah, but but you know, so it's just like it needs to be uh paid more attention to, is what I'm saying.

Adam Kalinowski 21:02

Well, I mean, it's cut there's waves too in this whole deal that we're doing, like there's ups and downs in work as we know. Um yeah, so you gotta have a strong connection and and understanding between you and your family on in like how that that actually works, and knowing that they have you when it's slower, and and if you spend more time there, then they're gonna have to give you up when it gets real busy. But that's when you when you pay the bills, you know.

Vipul Bindra 21:30

It's like they want to live in take house and they want all the toys and all the fun stuff because you know my kids that's what I was like, they have no which I get it, they're young, but I'm saying they have no uh concept of money because they just tell me like we I think I was telling you that too. I was like, they were like, let's go to K pot today 'cause they love that restaurant. I'm like, what's crazy is it's not the cheapest place to go to, but then they're gonna guess what they're gonna eat? They're gonna go to a all you can eat Korean barbecue place and they're gonna eat spring rolls and stuff that they have on the sidebar, you know, that's like you know, extra chicken. I'm like Why am I paying all this for, you know, all you can eat, uh, you know, barbecue, whatever, when you're gonna just eat spray. But it is it's a thing that you accept, you know, you expect like that's the what they want to do. They want to go to that restaurant, but not to eat what actually the restaurant's for, but some side things that they have. Uh and then as a dad, you know, you're like, well, this is how we spend time together, then that's what we're gonna do, you know. I wish they would understand like what it costs, what I have to do on the side to be able to go enjoy that. And I'm again, I'm happy to do it, but it's just silly. Yeah, you know.

Adam Kalinowski 22:32

Yeah, 100%. Give and take, man.

Vipul Bindra 22:35

Yeah. So now that you know you're trying to give, I guess, time to both personal life and uh, you know, keep your professional life separate. Do you think this is gonna affect your business in any way as he drinks water? The timing.

Adam Kalinowski 22:51

Um do I think it's gonna affect my business? Do I think it's gonna make force me to um work efficiently? Make make my business even more efficient. Um force me to put better processes in place because um no, I'm not looking to take a decrease in revenue or income. I've in the past year uh increased my expenses greatly by having a kid and having a house. Uh so the minimum operating level is what I call it is is much higher. So I I can't be like I'm I'm not taking the approach of let me just not take jobs and spend more time with a family. It's like, no, let me just see how much let me see how how I can run this more efficiently, how I can leverage other people's skills more, and um work on those, you know, bigger, higher paying, better projects that are maybe you know, fewer of them, but they make up the whole that I need. Um so yeah, no, that's not you know, not taking little things, little tiny things and like you know, killing myself over going out like every day a week and shooting on every little project that comes across the table. Just because, yeah, you want to, yeah. I see the point. I mean that's how it would be at first. Like, yeah, you know. Granted, I do feel like I got a good taste and idea of what you should charge right from the get-go. Uh from my buddy Caleb out in Phoenix. He's got a production company out there, uh and I freelanced Spraim a couple times, and then he gave me an idea of what I should charge, and I just kind of went for that. Um, and it kind of worked out there. So I didn't really have too much of a period where it's like you're going out for 200 bucks for the day or whatever. Um I kind of got a running start as well because I had done a bit of photography, um mostly like weddings, engagements, and portraits in college, and then sorry, I'm missing around. Um I had made a little bit of money with that and had a little bit of a feel for how to how to manage that, how to invoice people, how to get them to sign a contract, manage editing photos. Um now knowing what I know now, I could have done that way more efficiently. But it's the knowledge, right? Dude, it was it was awesome weekend money in college. And at the end of the day, I was like at a wedding, it was like a party at every like on the weekends, not every weekend, but you know, maybe six to ten times a year I was shooting a wedding, and that was my like travel money or rent rent sometimes. You know, I had an internship as well, but um yeah, I got a little feel for it there, and then kind of just did my marketing job for a couple years, two years, three years, and then learned marketing stuff that way and figured out. Um got to a point where I was a little bit like on my feet out of college and or felt like it, and uh with a little nudge from my wife who was then my girlfriend, um, she was like, You should start now. Like, it's only gonna get more complicated in our life, you know. Like once we are we buy a house, have a kid, like blah blah blah, all this stuff. Yeah, life's certainly more complicated and harder. Yeah, you know, more expensive, more expensive, more responsibilities, and she was right. She was like, Yeah, they gave me that extra little push of like yeah, let's get her recording of clip of that and send it to her.

Vipul Bindra 26:30

She was right.

Adam Kalinowski 26:30

Oh, the funny thing they wouldn't hear, right? The funny thing is actually, uh she looked we love to tease each other and make fun of each other and stuff, so that's our banter is like that. And she sent me a screenshot or a picture of the TV, and she had the uh vlog that David posted where we were just sitting in the airport talking on the TV, and she goes, I'm dying with a bunch of laughing bases. I'm like, dude, said you better subscribe though. Yeah. So yeah, she is, yeah. I hope she watches this. I hope she pulls this up and says, Oh, look at all these plugs you gave me. The brownie points, brownie.

Gear Temptation vs Business Reality

Vipul Bindra 27:10

Yeah, and then the little clip, I think that's what the the clippable part is like she was right. She was and then every time you tell her you're not right, she displays that she was right. Um exactly. Uh, but no, I mean that's pretty good. And and then the truth is, um, you know, uh, like you said, it's all the learned experiences what you get that you can then apply to your business, right? And that's why, like, not that it's not doable. A lot of young entrepreneurs, that's why fail. It's not because, you know, they had a bad idea or whatever, it's just they don't have that much learned experience to apply. And that's where mentorship and knowing enough people around you that can guide you and support you, and then valuing that information is helpful because that's all this learned experience is what you're applying, right? The prop building your processes, building, building because it's one thing to go get clients. Like you said, if you just wanted jobs, there's enough cheap or whatever jobs out there. It's you don't want uh just a video job, you want to build a video career, and that takes finding the right clients, what to charge them, yeah. Uh, and make sure you're not burning yourself out because you know you're out there morning to light every single day.

Adam Kalinowski 28:20

So, yeah, that's that's pretty good that you're talking about that then. I feel like people like the business side too. I recently, this is an example, and I'm curious if you've done this for any of your creepy clients. Um those vet hospitals that I work at, I've been to like twenty of them now. And uh one recently asked, uh, do you have a like hospital prep doc like to get ready for the shoot? And I'm like no. Wow. Uh well, of course I said, of course, I'll get that right over to you. And that was the right answer.

Vipul Bindra 29:00

There you go. I was like, what? You said no, and but yeah, no, well, yeah. No, I'll get that right over to you as well.

Adam Kalinowski 29:05

I'll send that over to you shortly. Uh and I had in some form or another done that in emails, like kind of, hey, let's make sure you clean up this and put this away and have staff bets and on our pre-production calls. But it's like you didn't have a document, right? Create a doc and that every time. Like, so with repeat clients, do you have anything like that where you've developed a process, you've got kind of a repeat type of shoot that you've built either documents or processes around?

Vipul Bindra 29:35

Uh yes, and no. So exactly. I need to refine my processes. But for example, we shoot a lot of talking heads, so I have uh general notes. Anytime we're shooting like talking heads, for example, I'll send them and their team, because usually it's CEOs or you know, people with them that are hiring us. So I'm like, hey, make sure this, you know, you're not wearing a pattern shirt, or you know, uh, you're bringing two, three outfit changes, or whatever, whatever, whatever. It's a list of stuff that's and it's not even through Chat GPD, we've had it for years, is what I'm saying. But then every time I've realized, now here's the negative side. So have a process. Every time I'm gonna film someone, I gotta I gotta make sure I send that that that to them that they do not show up with you know something that uh you know that a pattern share or whatever that won't work for video. But then the negative is every time I have to go in my sent folder till the last time I sent it, like search who was the last interview, oh that person, then copy, paste, and send it. So, but I'm like, why am I copy pasting? Like you said, there should be either a uh a template or a rather a document that I just attached that's ready to go. So could I refine those? Yes. So I have processes, but they may not be done the best way, and that's where even I am like all the time trying to figure out like right now, our issue biggest is project management. So I've been using Trello for managing projects, and it's just too many now that I've added uh the ability to you know be just a freelancer as well. So we're a production company, but I'm also a freelancer, and it's a huge schedule. So projects, there's various types of projects, not everything needs post. Like, you know, the thing I was doing three days in there, but it's like it's just cam opping. So we need a better software, and that's what I'm on the hunt for right now. He's like, what's a better project management software that can you know define all this and make sure we know that hey, this project's only shooting, so it doesn't affect our post-production schedule or whatever. So you're always refining processes, but that's what makes this a production company versus a freelancer, right? Yeah. Uh being able to do that, but say, but then you talk about things like that. I'm like, yes, I should have put that in a document because every time you won't believe how many things I have to go and send email and find, and and funny enough, better proposal, the software I use, it uses a different signature than my email. That is not compatible. Point is I have it, but then every time I have to go in sent, find that signature to add in better proposal when I'm sending a proposal out. I'm like, that would be such an easy automated thing that I could just save somewhere, right? Or whatever. Uh, but no, it's it's an every time thing going to send. Not that it takes time, but you know, every minute saved is a minute earned, you know. So yeah, yeah.

Client Perception And The Big-Camera Myth

Adam Kalinowski 32:07

I mean, and it's it's funny like how it happens, like sometimes it happens by by force where the clients like ask for it, and like that would be very smart to have. You're right. I'll have that right over deal. And then other the other thing that's been helping me that I've I can definitely I need to be better at is having this project manager, um, shout out Corianne. Um, she's helping me manage follow-ups, some um information flow. Um, and trying to get her set up on to work a little bit more autonomously is forcing me to think about what I can write down in a document and give to her? What standard things can she send to the client to prep them? Like those are things I should have. I shouldn't have to do every time. And even if it's not like essential, it provides a better service. And I'm all about that, you know. I so by force from a client or by you know realization through trying to work with the project manager and get better at working with the project manager, it it's uh it's helping me get get the pro get the processes down, get a little bit better, get more efficient, a little bit, little bit. But um, it's still tough because you know, being that like owner operator kind of job, you know, you you're out there shooting, and then you're not thinking about how do I optimize this part of my business or my process, and then you have a c a week back and you're trying to catch up on puts and proposals and all this stuff, and it's yeah, it's not the fastest progression. I would as it's not as progressing as fast as I would like it to, but is keeping me on in the thought process of how do we um create you know standard oper operating procedures so that other people can plug into this down the road and it slowly becomes something that other people can plug in plug into easily.

Vipul Bindra 34:07

No, and that's the smart thing, and that's what separates you. Ultimately, the more things you can optimize and and make a process for, the easier it slowly becomes, you know. But then there's always new things, and that's what you as a business owner are chasing. But like you said, you have a project project manager, but she needs to know what all she can do before she can be most effective at her job, and as you build those, it'll make it easier for you. Now more time with the family, more time working or whatever. But until you do that, you know.

Adam Kalinowski 34:38

Yeah, the guy that does that the best that we know is I think John Bruce, which is the same guy.

Vipul Bindra 34:42

But I think his is the issue uh what I have is how to implement that into what we do. Though he has a production company and I looked at invoices and stuff, great. But the main automations he's using is toward his uh real estate, which is incredible. I love the way he's automated. Now he's even automated editing. If you saw since I last spoke to him, he's even uh using AI automated the editing process, so now it's only that's eliminated a whole team and you know, more cost effective, better, you know, value. Yep. Uh, but then you know, how do we implement that to what we do? I feel like what we do is very, very custom, right? And uh ours would be what his production, so he has also a production house, right? Yes. And then I was trying to ask there, and there all he had was VAs and stuff. There's not that much automation going on because that's it is what we do, and which is like based on project, based on scope, based on and until you know any of that, I don't know how to automate anything. I don't want somebody from Vietnam talking to my clients and giving them estimates or whatever. And not saying no offense, like they're they're very effective and it's processes, like you said, but when there's no process, I don't know how they're gonna do that because I don't even know the scope of work.

Adam Kalinowski 35:50

Yeah, I know it could vary a lot, but I think finding the common things that you are, you know, doing all the time. For example, if it's a niche of work, like I have these veterinary hospitals, it's mostly the same. We're working in the same environment most of the time, and we're shooting a lot of the same visuals. Um that, you know, there's there's that common ground there where you can start to build processes around what's the same every time with you know, option. Obviously, there's variability in in the shoots and the locations and the requests for deliverables and everything, but um, even on just a bigger picture, like across all um all video projects, like pretty much always have uh an assistant or like a DP or a camera operator with me. So every project hires a crew member at some point, but for the most part, unless I'm freelancing. So there's something you can build a process around. You know, I've got process for post, you know. Every project that has editing.

Vipul Bindra 36:51

I can't wait for the day. I get a document. It needs to be this frame rate, this resolution, everything, right? And that automated document. Oh, yeah, because I usually don't give you any information. No, but I'm thinking it'd be funny if I get a document this thing. DP.

Adam Kalinowski 37:03

It's not even it's not even from me, it's just yeah.

Vipul Bindra 37:06

Somebody sends me a document, make sure it's this framing. This is I don't know, it'd be funny. I mean, but I I see the point as a crew member number one. Yeah, you could do this. Um really chat GPT. Yeah, and then see you do all this to get efficient, all this to say a few minutes hair, and then I saw you eyeing the FX6 of the last shoot, and you go, and then you buy some expensive camera and it derails you all the few minutes and dollars that you save derails you. So, how many FX6s are you ordering?

Adam Kalinowski 37:36

It's been on my brain since that shoot, man. Just spent you know, three full days behind it and using it, or if you include the setup day, but yeah, man, it's just it was so nice just to have all of the you know ports and inputs and uh outputs and everything, and got familiar a lot more familiar with just popping through the menu, navigating the settings and and everything in there. Um because you know, I just work on FX3s for the most part, and uh yeah, you know, part of me that loves cameras and video is like I'm gonna get an FX6. The other part of me is like, nope, I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing uh because it works, and until it doesn't, then I'm gonna stop.

Vipul Bindra 38:23

I mean, to be real, I told you that the day you put the not nothing wrong with Cineback. I was like, as soon as you put a Cineback on an FX3, you might as well just bought an FX6 because the cost is the same. You know, Cinem the FX3 is like four grand and fx six is six grand, and then you know, Cinemac's like a thousand bucks. So by the time you add all that, you know, I'm like you're very close to just get an FX6 because you know it'll be better buy because it's already built in, it's part of uh the Cineback's like 400 bucks. Is it? But I thought the handle kit is another two, three hundred bucks.

Adam Kalinowski 38:57

Yeah, and you're probably five, six hundred at least.

Vipul Bindra 39:00

Yeah, um but what I'm saying is at that point, and then your camera's this much bigger, you might as well have just bought that's what was annoying lately.

Adam Kalinowski 39:08

Is this a small detail is just packing that is it's annoying. Like when I travel, um, and really I don't I don't need to pack it, dude. I could literally throw just a blank FX3, like nothing on it, but a lens and a MLAV mic on it, and I could do that for all of my shoes. Yeah, you even use Road GoPros and dude. Yeah, I I could do that for all of my shoots and it wouldn't make a difference because obviously putting Cineback on is like not making a difference in the camera function, really. It's just the form of it. Uh, I do like being able to like press it up against my chest a little bit more or hold it up higher, carry it, sling it around like this.

Audio That Pays: Booms, Lavs, Loudness

Vipul Bindra 39:50

Essentially, what I do everything with an FX6. That's my point. Yeah, like uh uh and again it's too bad. Like, again, you could change it, but I'm saying ideally you would have been better started within one fx six and one fx3 than two fx six uh fx threes, don't you think?

Adam Kalinowski 40:05

No, no, because the fx six uh can't shoot mp4s. Oh, yeah, and uh that's isn't the stabilization in the FX.

Vipul Bindra 40:16

Yeah, FX3 has yeah, I FX6 doesn't. Yeah, see, so it's like maybe I'm t I I thought I was trying to, you know, uh you're trying to get me to buy one. Yeah, I was like, oh, maybe not.

Adam Kalinowski 40:26

He's about to pop a referral code on me.

Vipul Bindra 40:29

I'm not David over here.

Adam Kalinowski 40:31

Yeah, he's probably sending it to me right now.

Vipul Bindra 40:33

Yeah, he's already ready. He's like, here's the Amazon affiliate link. Uh yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 40:37

Yeah, you know, I'd I'll probably spend some money on something else. Um, probably something on the house or um honestly saving some money would be crazy. Uh is that crazy idea? Is the savings saving is just throwing a little bit more in the uh in the uh rainy day fund would be probably smarter at this point. And like I said, I just as fun as it is to buy gear and have a new camera and stuff. I've really held back uh on that. And yeah, I just am big on if if something's working, keep doing it until it doesn't. Like if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Vipul Bindra 41:14

Yeah, no, that's a very smart move. Yeah, because at the end of it, look, I've been to your shoots and they're very, very um FX3-oriented. Yeah, very high-level FX3 oriented. Uh no, no joke. I I'm not I'm not just you know trying to be funny. No, FX3 is the perfect camera for the world. Because like you asked me, for example, uh, the the one veterinary hospital helped you were like, yeah, take pictures with an FX3, and I'm like, that's great, but they can't I can't do that with an FX6. Like, you know what I mean? Like they that that was a better camera because you know you could take photos and video uh with the same camera. Now, ideally, FX2 would be better just because you know, higher megapixel, but at the end they say what you're doing, the even the 12 megapixels is more than enough. So kind of like that. So I see the point, like the shoots that you're doing, at least the ones I've been to, I'm like, yes, is FX6 nicer? Does it have a better roll off? Absolutely, but is it necessary? No, you know, because I don't think any of your clients have ever are gonna care that you brought an FX6 or FX3.

Adam Kalinowski 42:13

And even like that's not like all the work I do in those veterinary hospitals. Obviously, we're going out to the farms, we've been out to like tech companies and um what the hack house, freelancing at conferences, um all sorts of stuff. The FX3 goes you can go so far with that, and that's what I just tell everybody is like you can go so far with that, um, and it's very conducive to the the level of corporate commercial work that I'm I'm doing. Yeah. Um you know, I having an FX6 if I were to get one at some point would be more it'd be for me to have the option to shoot on it because I felt like I wanted to, I wanted the internal ND for some reason. Um, or I needed like or I'm doing something like we were doing where we're like plugging into monitors and we're plugging in.

Vipul Bindra 43:09

You want that X that SDI cable because you had to use the converter then for the FX3 or something.

Adam Kalinowski 43:16

Yeah, which is a small little caveat. Um, you know, and then having having those inputs for something like recording a conference would be nice too. But again, I've shot keynote sessions on FX3 too with the top handle XLR and HDMI, you know, little monitor, you can plug that into an ATEM. Like, dude, you can you can still do it all with that. Um and then what I was saying about packing down the Cineback FX3 thing, it's just like you take the V mount off, and in the case that I have, you have to take the monitor off, and then you have to um take the top handle thing off, and then at that point it's just like the back and the camera and yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Vipul Bindra 44:00

I can't imagine you're not going to be able to do that.

Adam Kalinowski 44:01

Like, I would love to just have this FX6 just exactly. Got all of the everything.

Vipul Bindra 44:06

Yeah, or just take the crap off your FX3 and just bring your FX3. Why do you have all that crap on it? That's why I never bought it. Like, again, no offense. If somebody wants, like you said, Cineback, it makes sense. Get it. Uh, you know, I see the point, but I also don't see the point for you. Because you're right. Like, uh, I don't know what it's adding other than the ability to go back, but then you can also use one of the small rig plates to add a V mound, yeah, and it'll do the same effect, but it's a lot more compact to travel with. Yeah. Yeah. I gotta show you one of those 30 bucks versus you know, uh, you know, thousands of dollars or whatever. Yeah. Uh, but either way, I mean that it's a good investment, like I told you. I mean, I'm just saying it's funny to me, or uh or rather ironic that you know, one way you're like, let me save every dollar here, but then here's a camera I'm buying that's gonna cost me, you know, five grand, six grand, whatever. Uh so it's like the things that we justify as filmmakers to ourselves. Yeah. Because you know, I do the same thing. I'm not saying it's just you. I'm like, oh, if I added this, look at the efficiency gain I would like. I just did the You're the King of Justifying justifying. I was like, oh, that we can do better B-roll. We can do this. Oh, it makes sense. Oh, the the image is gonna be beautiful, whatever. Oh, it does MP4, you know. Then you justify, justify, then you buy it. And again, to be real, I'm not wasting money. I deploy it, and if it doesn't work, it can go back. You know, that's the the way you have return time windows, and um, and everything, but you've you've seen me work though. I mean, everything I bring I use. It's not like something is for decoration there. Uh so it's not like uh, I mean, it's also not for that, but yes, I do see the point. Could I do everything I do, uh a lot of it with two FX3s? Absolutely. Uh I don't I don't see why I couldn't, but then also the images that I get, you know.

Adam Kalinowski 45:47

Yeah, and there is a little bit in my head, I think I mentioned this, uh, of like the client perception of your cameras. Like if you throw two little FX3s on like travel tripods, it's kind of like you need to yes, that is true.

Vipul Bindra 46:03

Tripods, you need to buy the moneymakers, man.

Adam Kalinowski 46:06

Matt Hope I have them, I have them, and I I don't really use them because I like the variable endy, Peter McKinnon screw on filters. Um but how well do you just throw in like two like if you had this, is this an FX three that's a three, those are sixes, and three over there, too. Yeah, like those two yeah, with the matte box look okay, but if you just had it but that's just the bare camera, if you notice, yeah, it's just the bare camera.

Vipul Bindra 46:34

There's nothing on it. I don't even think if if they have cages, it's just half cages, they're not even full, and then just the mat box, that's it. And that matte box is functional. We use the tilt um uh Mirage matte box with their IRND just because I like IRND better than circular. Yeah, but point is that they're actual functional matte boxes, but that's all that is. There's nothing, and they look pretty decent. I mean, for being FX3 with a lens and a mat box, that's all that is, and then time code.

Adam Kalinowski 47:00

That's literally yeah, the matte box really does help. You know, I've had clients comment on my FX3 with the Cinemac thing, oh that's a big camera, that's a nice camera. And I just am like, thanks, you know, like and as dumb as as it is, like sometimes it does matter, like in the in the how they feel about the value they're getting, you know, they don't want somebody sh I hate saying this because it's such it's backwards, but I I think there is definitely some value to bringing a larger camera out on a shoot because if you're charging a decent price, like around the 10 grand range for a shoot, like they're probably not wanting someone. Yeah, I get it, especially with those little sticks. Yeah, I think DSLR, just tiny little guy just popping out there. It's like, dude, my my kid has one of those, or my my cousin has one of those, and you don't want it that yeah, that perception. So you need this basically.

Vipul Bindra 47:57

Take an FX6 and rig it all up with the monitors and the handbox and beautiful the tilta cage and tilta v mount and all that.

Adam Kalinowski 48:04

Yeah, even just the body of the FX6 and then throwing a monitor on top, like is great, but yeah, I don't know. That's it's in my in my head a little bit of like the client wants to see something a little bit bigger and makes them feel like you know they're getting a little bit more out of it, even though it's the same exact thing inside all the time.

Mission Work: Six Minutes To Live

Vipul Bindra 48:21

And see that's the that's the internal debate. And and I know I again I'm different, but isn't like I eliminated that, but for me what I'm talking about is the internal debate on what to spend money on and what not to. But for example, I'll tell you this like having a shotgun mic over them, right? There's a visual part of it, right? Oh, look, there's a big mic on me. But then you can buy a couple hundred dollar mic or even a MKE600, like we saw, that's three, four hundred bucks used or whatever, right? That's mostly for look, right? And now you can go buy a Sheps mic or E or uh I don't know, or um I'm not forgetting, or even just a I don't know, Rycoat mic, something cheaper, I'm saying a little bit, or Sennheiser 416 or whatever, and that actually makes a real difference in your sound quality. But the visual appearance is the same, right? Because it looks like a shotgun mic. You don't know if it's 300 bucks or $3,000. Yeah. So as a filmmaker, I'm like, that's always a debate, especially corporate commercial. I'm saying, because you you are right, like as in not having any mic does have a visual thing, like, oh, you know, and again, it's not all shoot, but like they put a tiny mic on me, okay. Versus, oh, there's a big mic on top of me, right? Yeah, but then you go, does that mic actually better? Because it's one of those cheaper mics, so your road go is probably getting decent quality, you know. I'm saying comparative comparable, versus you could have actually a mic where where it makes audio quality difference, but the but the impression is not better, uh is not that much better. I hope that makes sense. So I'm like, like you said, uh uh bring in FX6, absolutely, especially all rigged out. You're right, they're gonna be like, oh, they used big cameras on me, whether they care or not, because some clients don't care to be real, right? But they will still see it and they will say they had big cameras there versus your FX3, and the image is so close, I would say 96% within each other that visually you're not making that much of a difference, right? It's a perception change.

Adam Kalinowski 50:17

You always know when the clients shooting some BTS and they're like by your camera and they're snapping a shot, and it's like, oh yeah. Yeah, so you're enjoying that big, bulky thing being there, and you feel like you're getting a production out of it, you're getting this exact big effort and these you know technical experts that know how to operate these pieces of equipment. Like, yeah, you know, I think it's just it's cringy to say it, but it is there.

Slowdowns, Tariffs, And Cash Flow

Vipul Bindra 50:45

Yeah, it applies to sticks too. You could buy, you know, those travel sticks, very skinny, look very cheap, even though different or not. Or you could buy a small rig tripod and you know it's like big, bulky. I'm talking one of those, and then for a couple hundred bucks, you can make your shoot look, oh wow, look at the even the tripod was huge. And then you can go, like I said, thousands and thousands of dollars, and it's gonna be the same pressure. But I'm saying as a business owner, you're applying that formula to literally everything because you know, like I said, there's a visual element, but there's an actual quality element. Like when I use these, it makes our life so much easier, right? The act that there's an actual benefit to it, but is your client gonna see how easy the stock lifts are to to to angle or to you know to to get a level or to raise? No. So, you know, the effect will be I'm saying the same, the bigger the tripod is. Uh so I don't know, and and and so I at least personally, and this is like I said, I don't recommend this to anyone. I was just like, I'm just gonna get the best stuff. I don't care. I don't want to adjust to my my client. Obviously, if I get the best stuff, they'll already be impressed, but it's not to impress them because then I could have just bought a big looking tripod for cheap. Yeah, you know, so I just decided, and then that was just again, because I wanted this to be a passion, not a job. I was like, I'm just gonna buy what I want to buy and I'm gonna charge what I want to charge, and we'll go from there, right? Because that made it easier, but you're right. A lot of this, you know, as far as do I need it? No, because I could do most of my corporate shoots with yeah, a couple FX3s. I mean, to be real, I could do them with FX30. The image is amazing, and the lenses would be a lot cheaper because you know, APSC lenses are so nice, uh, especially the new Sigma. They announced the 17th, I think 42.8. That's an AP that only goes on uh or two, I think, not even 2.8. Either way, uh yeah, 1.8 that only goes on APSC lenses. So I'm like, you pair an FX30 with a lens, it's like what? And the lens is only $900? Like, you know what I mean? That there's value to it. So you technically you could even save more money and they look the same because same body.

Adam Kalinowski 52:43

Yeah. But yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm not an advocate for I'm not advocating for doing the bare minimum or advocating for um buying things necessarily for client perception. I'm just uh acknowledging the fact that it does exist. Um and that I guess I'm saying as well, like that sometimes is the reason that I go through the hassle of like breaking down the Cineback thing and packing it into my case as much as I'm like, yeah, well, I don't know if you just have an FX6 that's got no cables coming off it and just multiple times where I've been with you.

Vipul Bindra 53:17

I'm like, why are why do we have that? Like, but I mean I get it again. If you want to use it, you want to use it. But that I have that's why like I was interested in Cinemac until I saw yours. And I was like, nah, I think I'll leave my FX six is just oh sorry, FX3 is just broken down into play and bodies.

Adam Kalinowski 53:33

I'm not like yeah, I don't regret using it or buying it. I I just was annoyed a little bit with packing it recently, um, and then comparing to how an FX six would be packing down. Granted, I with my case just I would still have to take the monitor off, the top handle off, um obviously the lens, the mic. So I'm still taking the thing apart like I would with the Cineback thing. So, you know, it's just a it would I don't know, maybe it would be a little bit cleaner, but again, it's not gonna justifying it to your I'm trying, I'm trying. Live, trying to do this live. Um yeah, but again, I'm just gonna stick with what I have and till it's not working. Um, and when it stops working, I'll probably hire somebody that has the FX6 or Ari or whatever the heck. What whatever the need is, like I'll probably end up hiring somebody for it because it probably won't be an all-the-time thing. Um the FX3 for me works pretty much all the time.

Vipul Bindra 54:39

Yeah, no, I mean these cameras are so good, and that's why like we people get hype over equipment. I'm like, unless it solves a real issue, and I'm talking a real issue, not a made-up issue, because we do justify to ourselves, like, oh, that'd be nice. You know, uh it's it's not an issue. You know, I had to like double take recently on a cheap item. So to be real, financially it wasn't that big of a purchase, but so uh Holly Land, you know, I've been impressed with their cheapo mics, they're just so good. They released the Lark Max 2, and the main reason I was impressed, uh the only thing I uh didn't like about the Lark, the other ones that we have, whatever the models are M2S, I think, was that there's no internal recording. And sometimes, you know, we do need that. Clients do walk away or whatever, or the connection drops from 2.4 gigahertz because it's not reliable. And I was like, if only these have recording, so they just release these mics, uh, the max two slightly bigger, but they have now recording. And I was trying to justify, but I was like, is do I need to buy a whole new mic set, you know, to uh just because they have recording? And then they announced at the same time, oh, by the way, we also have wireless earbuds so you can actually listen to it. It's like, okay, that justifies, you know, because I've had this issue where we literally forget, you know, because again, I'm if I'm bringing the whole van, it's one thing, but on a small shoot, like you said, conference shoot, you're just packing a couple of FXVs on gimbals or whatever. I always forget headphones, or I'm bringing these type of headphones and I hate them because they're too big, you know, um, for what we're doing. And I don't, I personally, I'm sure some people love, I hate the regular earbuds. So I was like, oh, this makes absolute sense uh because I can actually monitor the audio, they're wireless, I don't have any wires dangling, and they don't actually go your in-ear, like I said, because I don't want in ear, they go over ear, right? And I was like, oh, this actually makes sense. This actually solves all my problem. And then when you look at it, it's like 250 bucks or whatever, something like that. And I was like, compared to what I spend on my just my regular mic, it's like I'm talking just the lab is like over 350 bucks. So those types of costs I'm saying you can justify at least a little bit. Uh, but yeah, spending five, six, ten grand somewhere, that's a lot of money. Yeah. That as a business, you have to account for how I'm gonna recoup that back. That's harder to kind of get back.

Adam Kalinowski 56:54

Yeah, definitely. And they they gotcha with the features. Yeah, I know. Yeah, that sounds cool. I look forward to seeing those. You ordered them, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Vipul Bindra 57:01

They pre-ordered whenever they come in, so uh probably when people are watching this, they're probably in. Um, but yeah, you know, and I'm just giving an example, like, you know, we we justify it. Sometimes I'm like, I can at least make that up. I mean, first conference I do with them, because that's where I use the lower type of mics, the cheaper mics. I'm like, I can justify, you know, making that money back versus it's harder to justify uh you know a big purchase is the point of it. But at the end of it, you and I both know that we make money from doing a good job, making great videos with good storytelling any day of the week, then equipment. Equipment is just tools, right?

Small Crews, High Margins, Smart Pivots

Adam Kalinowski 57:36

Right. Yeah, and being efficient at that, which obviously the tools help with, but at the end of the day, good service, good communication, um, a good result. That's that's what's keeping them coming back. Um what was I gonna say? Oh, I was gonna say I'm gonna I'm gonna start booming more, I think. Um just try to improve. But you took that literally, you're gonna press it. Yeah, yeah. No, I actually want to just to get a little bit better um audio. Where does I mean because I'm not an audio guy? Do you think real-time Adam's brain work? Okay, that go ahead. Well, I was gonna ask you, you're much more of an audio guy than me. Yeah. I bought the Rode NTG3 way back when because I read this is like a kind of decent mic, yeah. Decent, like timeless workhorse type mic that you can use. You know, it's not like top tier and it's not bottom, like middle tier, use it for a long time. Where does that fit with like the is it in line with like the 600 and 416, or is that like it's would be somewhere in between the two, I would say.

Travel, Farms, And Practical Pre‑Pro

Vipul Bindra 58:40

Okay. It's above the MKE600, and then again, sound. Here's the thing sound is very subjective. So in if you and this is the difference between hiring an audio guy versus just somebody doing audio, each person has a different voice, right? And they have different tonality, different um siblings is the word, you know. Uh, so you want to pair the right mic with the right person. So a real audio guy, and I'm talking actually real audio guy, would bring multiple mics from different brands, and then they would listen to you and they would plant the right mic on you, right? That is the right way to do this. It's not a certain brand or price or money. Because you know, certain mics make somebody sound like Sheps is one of the best mics, doesn't mean everyone's voice sounds good on it, right? It's just how it responds to the frequency. I'm thinking that's the right way to do it. But what we do, let's be real, you are not gonna usually always have a sound guy with and that to a sound guy that's proper, I'm saying, with all those mics. Usually you get they have one or two mics. Yeah. So the so the the way to approach this from your perspective would be to just buy some standard stuff that's good. For example, like I'm saying, like LAV, Cause the Lemon D. They're the industry standard, they work, they're easy to cut to with most popular uh you know, boom mics if you need to cut between. So it's an easy buy. It's they're I mean, they're expensive for mics, they're actually not expensive when you think about how long they last because audio gear is not like they're coming out of the new version. You see what I'm saying? It's been the same ones for 10 years. I haven't had it to upgrade my labs because it's the same thing over and over again, right? So Cause 11D, 350, I think 360 bucks per lav. You buy two, three, you know, for what we do, that's more than enough. And now you have really good sound and you're done. I hope that makes sense. Yeah. Now, yes, ideally, would you have 10 different labs with 10 different voice patterns? Absolutely. But if you just can buy one, you buy that, you're done. For most videographers, end of the world, end of the, you know, done with lav mics. Obviously, transmitters are different. You could have a tracky, you could have a Sennheiser, you could have Sony. I mean, you could plug that within anything. Yeah, yeah. You do have to make sure you get the right end on it that works with whatever transmitter you're having. But the mic doesn't change. And technically, advantage of buying a pro-level thing is if you ever spit switch your transmitters, you can send that in and get it re-terminated to a different end. You know, you don't have to buy a whole same mic all over again. Okay. So you're not like, you know, interest, you know what I mean? Like it's it's pro-level gears meant to be repaired and fixed and changed. The other thing is uh, like, for example, same thing with boom. Ideally, you know, like I say, you'd have two, three booms, but if you can't, uh, you're really well off buying something industry standard. And like you said, technically, NTG3 is a good starter mic. I'm not a fan of road booms and how they this they make people sound. I'd rather have that control in post. I like a neutral sound, but some people like that boomy, you know, road type of no sound immediately, then you don't have to do much. Like I said, if you have an NTG3, don't spend money, just use that. Yeah, but there are better options out there. Like I said, 416 is the the very well known. You can find them used, they haven't changed that in 40 years. So used would be a very good deal. You have to be careful because it's a very popular mic, they're fakes out there. Uh, so you have to be very careful, you're not you don't get duped with like a china uh like a knockoff, basically. Okay, just because it's been around for so long and it's so popular, it's a thousand dollar mic. Um, um, but the the the problem with that is, and this which is why I wouldn't recommend it. Guess what would happen? They have such a narrow window where you sound sweet, and you again, if you're doing everything, you cannot, you know, you're not if you're a sound guy, you can keep an eye on it. That because that's all you're watching. Uh, as a videographer, what happens is you go to YouTube, you see that's a good mic, you'll buy it, and then people will, you know, move back and forth, people are talking, you know, and then you keep losing the sweet spot. So, and then a lot of time you go, that didn't sound like I thought this was supposed to be a really good thousand dollar mic. Because the sweet spot is so small, I'm saying, yeah, you don't want to be using, and then indoors you can get reverb on that, and you're like, this doesn't sound right. So I'm saying it's not a good buy for most people, yeah. Um, so ideally, my favorite mic, if you want to know any for you, would be like something like MKH 50. They've shot TV shows on it, it's it's resilient. It, you know, I'm talking it's like Sennheiser too. MKH50, amazing mic, $1,150 is very well spent. And most things we do is indoors, it will never fail you. No reverb, great sound, no like very large sweet spot. But you outdoors, you have to be careful with it because it's meant for indoors. You could use it, that doesn't stop you, but you can get a lot of environment noise and stuff like that. But that is the mic that will make you money again, been around for decades, it'll continue to make money. And even if they come out with 10 new mics, it's not like MKH 50 is going out of fashion. They have 8050, 8040, 86, they have tons of mics and Heiser. MKH 50 still sells. Like I said, again, in the real world, you would have 10 mics, find the right swing. But as a as a as a production company owner, that makes no sense. So you just buy the right thing. So that's what I would buy. I would buy an MKH 50, cost a couple of cost 11 days, and just use that. And then you have road ghosts for your backup or whatever, throw them in, put them in 32-bit flow, just so you know, just in case you never know with audio. And I think that's basically I think good for most people. Is that perfect for every scenario, every voice type? No, but that's where you you need an audio guy if you're gonna be able to do it.

Adam Kalinowski 1:04:06

Yeah, that's a highly technical like stipulation, or you're like uh yeah, you want to hire an audio guide if you're worried about their voice type.

Vipul Bindra 1:04:14

And that too right, audio guy, because I'm telling you, I was like, there's audio guys like who are like, I'm like, that's why like I was like, I'm not an audio guy, I just learned this because I realized how important I'm a DP, right? I'm I can make sure the visuals are good. How do I make sure audio is good? And if I'm not an audio guy, and then I had to slowly learn, and that's when I realized I'm like, I would bring on audio guys, I'm like, can you put you know this type of mic on them or something like that? Do you hear the white? And they wouldn't even consider that. Like, this is the mic I have. I haven't like MK6416, because that's a common one or MKC. I'm like, what about if something different and then they don't have it? And it's like, well, then I might as well do the audio. If I'm just gonna pick the common mic, if I'm gonna throw an MKH50 on them, then I might as well do it, save that funds and apply it somewhere else, right? That's how I slowly uh start acquiring audio gear. And the good thing about audio is unlike all these other things, I bought these mics years ago, like five years ago, and they're still amazing. Like my CMIT5U from Cheps, sure, very expensive. But that's not like they've replaced the mic. And if even if they do, the mic doesn't go. I'm like what I'm saying is cameras are bad investment. Audio stuff, especially mics, are very good investment because they are standardized, they're popular. Even if a new model comes out, the old one doesn't go out of fashion. But the transmitter now is the complete opposite that changes every six months. There's some new model out, right? Those are not that good investment. How do you send audio back and forth or whatever? Uh, but the mics themselves are actually a pretty good investment, and you can find, like I said, stuff like MKH50 that's been around for a while, very good price used, I'm saying, and it's not like mic was bad typically, as long as it works, yeah. Yeah, you know, it works. Cool, yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 1:05:52

I'll start throwing that MTG3 on on some some shoots.

Why Crew Consistency Matters

Vipul Bindra 1:05:56

Um, yeah, boom audio is so much better than LAV, man. There's not even competition. And you know a little bit about post, you sweeten it up a little bit and EQ. Uh you can make you know audio sound crystal clear, people sound good. And the biggest thing, oh, you want to know about way more than mics audio loudness control. Biggest thing I hate or dislike rather, hate the strong word, is when I go to YouTube or somewhere, like you know, having to keep changing volume, but like I go one video and I have to lower the volume because it's too loud, go to another one, the volume's too loud. People don't standardize their videos. Now I know some of these uploading platforms have a certain loudness that they'll uh process when you upload the video, but I think video professionals need to understand, just like we have a color, you know, you want it to be cohesive. You want the all your videos should have a standard loudness. Um, and and then it's a scientific thing, it's not a manual thing where you go, see you master the audio, right? Your editor, then it needs to run through a program that loudness controls it. Because then all your videos will be, let's say, I think we aim for, and uh Julie would be the right person to answer. I think we aim for negative 16 LUFS or whatever. Uh, but she makes sure no matter what video we do, after it's fully done, it goes to the to the software and we loudness control every video. That is, it doesn't matter what client, what video, or what I make, you're listening from my videos, they're all gonna be standard. So if we did 20 videos for a client, you can go from one to the other without having to ride the volume button over and over again. Because that that is the type of stuff when people stop watching, and I'm sure you tell me if you've experienced that.

Adam Kalinowski 1:07:34

Yeah, where you're listening, and you know, volume just straight up goes in, you're like, what? Well, especially us too, we're hyper aware of that kind of stuff. It's like, oh man, they really missed something there, or they really leaned into that mic real quick and they got really loud and blew it out, you know. Exactly.

Vipul Bindra 1:07:49

Yeah, and those are the simple things I feel like that can add so much more to your video and take you to the next level, right? Like those are the things that can clients don't typically notice. Uh, but that's the whole point. I don't want them to notice it. I don't want their clients or people listening to notice because people will tell them, people will be like, hey, what happened? It was so loud, or it was so quiet, I couldn't hear it, you know. Because uh you have to test everybody on a cell phone. That's like my final QC. Talk about John Russian. Wow, my QC is I have to put it on my phone, yeah, and then I have to watch it, and then I have to make sure I like it. Funny enough, yeah. If you make all that money on camera and audio to go and watch it on this little five-inch screen, that's where it's ending up, dude. On people's toilets, they're just watching our video. Can you imagine somebody on their toilet watching six minutes to live? We put our heart and soul into that documentary, and that's where where it's being consumed, you know.

Adam Kalinowski 1:08:45

Yeah. I'm actually gonna do a little bit of um unpaid stuff for them. Um, because they got this intern now that's here in Florida in like Melbourne or something.

Vipul Bindra 1:08:57

Oh, look at that.

Adam Kalinowski 1:08:58

Um, ironically, and she just like is a high school student that helped get AEDs at her um school and like did this whole survey of her school and like their comfortability, like the students' comfortability with CPR and all this stuff. So they're like very impressed with her, and she wanted to jump in and help out. So we were gonna go, or I am gonna go film kind of like a little bit of her story and uh her motivation, I guess, in a little I don't know, half day or something. Um so yeah, keeping that door open. They're working on the funding still for the dock, and um, they're also I may go to Phoenix with them in um December. Okay, because they're gonna be at a conference, they're gonna be speaking, presenting on on the Saturday, and you know, all my family's there too. So I got all the reasons to be there. Um so I don't know if yeah, I'll just go check that out, see see what that's all about, and like you know, continue that conversation because I I've told them like, hey, I'm very invested in like being a part of this and helping you guys succeed because it's it's a good mission that you're on, it's meaningful, it'll change and save lives. Um so let me know what I can do, even if it's being the like video consultant for whatever you're trying to do and just offering that advice for free, or you know, doing this free thing here that's local and close here in Florida, small stuff like that. Like happy to help out when I can.

Vipul Bindra 1:10:27

Yeah, it's a it's a good mission, it's a good video, though. Yeah, I would have thought they would have figured out funding my own because how powerful that video was that we did for them, but I get it, these things can take time. Uh, pull that up. I want to see how many views that it has. Can you go to YouTube and search Six Minutes to Live, Marty, and tell us how that video's been doing? But no, I had a I really liked it. Like I said, I liked how you guys edited it. Shout out to your editor, and uh obviously shout out to me and Manuel to yourself to us. Yeah, we'll take the credit. But no, I I I really enjoyed that project. And I felt like, like you said, it had a mission behind it, and all of them were.

Adam Kalinowski 1:11:03

Yeah, the one that shouldn't be a thumbnail of yeah, they need to change the thumbnail.

Vipul Bindra 1:11:07

Can't believe they have views. No, I did. I told them. Yeah, they have that much views with that thumbnail too.

Adam Kalinowski 1:11:12

It's like the top one that's it's like 12 minutes long.

Vipul Bindra 1:11:16

Is the first video 12 minutes long? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. How many views does that have? Click on it.

Mario Rangel 1:11:22

Three almost 4k.

Vipul Bindra 1:11:24

Look at that with that thumbnail to get 4,000 views. I even made a thumbnail for that. Yeah, and they that's great. We don't need to watch the video. People can go search for it. If you guys want to watch, go to YouTube, search for six minutes to live. Gives us an incredible video. Yeah, give us feedback, put some comments down there. Tell them this video sent to you there.

Repeat Clients, New Business, And Goals

Adam Kalinowski 1:11:45

Anyway, uh, but um no, I think um I think after July 1st is well, they're working on it, is what they've told me. And then uh after July 1st they said they might see some action on funding because of the fiscal year for a lot of the big organizations in that realm.

Vipul Bindra 1:12:02

I think they may also be affected by the whole tariff situation. Uh talk about that. Like, I I know it's bounce back, which is great, but like uh talk to me as a business owner with the new kid on the on the horizon, and then the whole thing happened. Um, you know, like the the economy slowed down a little bit, our our month our business was a little slower uh towards the beginning of the year. How did that feel?

Adam Kalinowski 1:12:25

Yeah, it was a slower start to the year, um which wasn't that fun. Ironically, January was actually a really good month because I had spent a bit of the end of 2024 talking to people. Hey, what do you want to do at the start of the year? Where you got anything in January? And then I had some spillover receivables. So the um my revenue in January was great compared to other Januaries because it's usually very quiet. You know, people have gone on their vacations and whatever. Um they're still ramping back up to the year. And then uh yeah, February was quiet, like you said, spent a lot of time with the family, uh, and it just was like looking a little dim, and then we got all the tariff thing, and you know, I don't I don't like to just blame you know macroeconomic things for my little business here in Central Florida and um being slower than normal, but every single person I talked to is like, yeah, man, it's been slow. And now everybody that I'm talking to, you're my editor, other people in other states um doing different types of work, they're like, it's picking up. I'm like, yep. Yeah, here comes the here comes the storm. I think people just uh held out, held on to their marketing budgets. They were a little nervous about where it was going and realized, you know, six months, halfway through the year, they're they're like, This isn't getting better. We have to invest in our marketing to get the return on that we're looking for, get the growth that we're looking for this year, or continue to compete in this market.

Vipul Bindra 1:14:01

Um because yeah, the thing is people just panic, and I think that was what it was. But yeah, for a minute, even I was like, you know, like you said, January is supposed to be the slow month. So I was January's really good. I was very busy and come start at February, and obviously I had some projects, but nothing like I'm saying major, right? And I go, what is happening? And I remember calling and talking to you and then a bunch of other people, and everyone was like, Yeah, it's slow. So I was like, okay, it's not just me. At least a bunch of people are saying, and even the the one or two people that were like, Oh, yeah, no, we're doing good. It was just DPs, you know, so they were doing day rate stuff, nothing, you know, like a project or whatever. And I was like, okay, a first it's not me. I didn't do anything wrong, you know. Then I was like, okay, well, then all you can do is ride the wave, you know. There's nothing you can do, spend more time with the family, invest in the business, fo fit feature, focus on what you want to do next. And like I said, it was just a couple months and then it bounced back, and it's at this point it's doing really well.

Adam Kalinowski 1:14:55

And um Yeah, I think I I always try to tell people that too, is like if you have the or like you need to manage your uh business and cash flow specifically to and that and obviously when when you're doing this type of thing, entrepreneurial type thing, like your cash flow between your business and your personal can be very similar, um, or very closely tied. So managing it on both fronts, um, so that in those slow times, it's probably still gonna be stressful, regardless if you're really good at that or not. But you don't have to quit. You don't have to go bail out and do some second job or like um get distracted with something else. Be what I did was uh double down on all of my follow-ups, double down on uh looking at where I can improve and put things in place for in the process wise and operationally for when it does get busy again. Because I I I knew it would. Like I I think as stressful as it is, you have to stick it out and you have to be able to do that. You know, if you have to pay bills and you don't have money to pay the bills, then well that's you know that's that's gonna be that might be that might be your downfall right there. Because I would I honestly tell people like, hey man, if you can just manage your cash flow well through starting your business, you will beat like 90% of people out that even try because like I said, they they like a lot of people I think you know spend it when it things are good and um they got nothing left when things are not good. And you know, that could be in the form of you know frivolous stuff or just dumping all your money into equipment or whatever, like then those are the people that end up like yeah man, I'm driving Uber Eats right now because it's slow, like I got nothing, or like they're you know, I don't know. I'm not trying to like dump on those people too hard, but I'm just saying that's a very, very, very important thing to do if you're trying to start your business and grow because it's gonna be like this. Like that's gonna be the that's gonna be the nature of it.

Freelancing Joy, Production Pressure, And Wrap

Vipul Bindra 1:17:08

And the thing is, um, like you put it very well, business is cash flow. A lot of people, yes, revenue numbers matter, profit matters, all that, but ultimately the only thing people look at is is cash flow. If your business has money coming in and going out, it's a healthy business. If your business has no money coming in, uh, you know, or uh, you know, it just doesn't look healthy and it's not good for you because you cannot manage um your expenses and things like that. So you gotta make sure you always have cash coming in and times when it you know goes down and maybe you have less cash coming in, that's exactly when you need to have enough in reserves that you can still have money going out because that's just again what business is. And most people go out of business not because they were not talented or they did something wrong, it's just simply because they didn't have they didn't manage cash flow really well, right? You gotta always be prepared for um you know these type of dips. And then here's the thing the most people that are gonna make it are the ones who were prepared for it.

Adam Kalinowski 1:18:08

Yeah, and I'm not claiming to be, you know, flushed with cash or anything or trying to you know put that out into the world because I'm definitely not. I got a house and a kid, man. You don't want people asking you for money. I got enough. I had a house and a kid.

Vipul Bindra 1:18:22

That's all you need to know. Sean was there. He was like, Yeah, I know I'm doing well or whatever, because now he is in front of people asking for money. I was like, Yeah, I was like, that's good, but also bad. I don't know. Uh, because you gotta be prepared for it when you need it, you know, because there's always downtimes or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Same thing with me.

Adam Kalinowski 1:18:38

You know, you have responsibilities in your personal life, like a house, kids, family.

Vipul Bindra 1:18:41

Yeah, last year I was like, oh, life was so easy. I had no like, you know, no fixed expenses, I had project expenses. Uh, you know, rent was low, and now I'm like, oh, I gotta pay for the house. Oh, I gotta pay for the van or I gotta pay all the the higher expenses that come with owning a house. Like you were pointing out earlier to me, it's like, oh, do I want to go out and clear, or do you want to hire someone to go clear? Less expense, you know, anyway, things like that, you know, that happened as also homeowner and business owner and things like that.

Adam Kalinowski 1:19:07

That's another one of those things where I was I'm I've been kind of saying a couple times like it's like a forced uh evolution, or like you have to change. Uh, you know, ultimately it's not force, you chose to buy the house, but like because you now have the mortgage, you have to keep up with the maintenance of the house or whatever, like that forces you to spend your money differently, it forces you to operate a little bit differently so that you can keep that up.

Vipul Bindra 1:19:31

Uh find out that the arborist exists, and I need to call an arborist. And I was like, what the what what is an arborist and what does he do? You know, anyway, but yeah, there's things like that, yeah, that I've learned about that I was not prepared for. Because you know, I did own a home before this, but the home was brand new and it was in a new community, so even the trees were small because you know they grow with the community, so I never had to deal with any of this. No, even though we had like no clock gutters, none of this tree issues and stuff, like storms came. I'm not worried, like the tree is like I don't know, six feet, like it's not gonna damage anything. And I'm sure obviously now the neighborhood, much older, probably is even issues. But point is I grew up in a home where I was like, there was maintenance, but that was at most like you know, fixing a yard or fixing some minor things, yeah. And now I'm like in a home, even though this was renovated, because I'm in a community established, there's leaves everywhere, like you said, like there's there's freaking trees everywhere. There's like you know, and then there's uh you know limbs falling here, or there's a gutter issue here, and I'm like, oh my goodness, this is a lot to deal with. But I'm also trying to run a business. How long do you think you'll stay here? Oh my goodness, stop asking me deep questions. I don't know. I I tell that and my family gets mad. I was like, five years is the minimum I set, like I said, for it to be just to be real, here's the thing you know this. I want to buy a home in Dr. Phillips area. That's where I was, you know, hanging out most of the time. So I was like, this is where I want to be. We like going to the parks, it's easy access. I just couldn't find anything that was reasonable and kind of fit no way, and I also needed no HOE, which is hard to find in Florida, especially Central Florida. So uh when I eliminated the area where I wanted to be, that's when we started to look out. And this kind of neighborhood was perfect to me because it's easy access through 408, because you know, easy access to airport, easy access to locations. Uh, there was a lot to do here, thanks to Winter Park and uh full sales right here. You know, I mean there was a lot of things, and the neighborhood had no HOA and it was well established. I like that the neighbors have been here for decades, like they're not you know, coming and going all the time. Point is the schools were nice, you know, that Julie liked that. Point is that's why we ended up here, but this wasn't the intention. And the intention was to stay here five years, sell and go. But the the crazy thing is, I've been here now a long time, or not long, but you know almost a year, yeah. Well, in October, yeah, probably by the time people see this, yeah. So it'll be almost a year. And then I was like, you know, now I'm starting to grow on this, you know. I'm like starting to like restaurants that are nearby, or you know, the community or we can go see get Kelly's ice cream, or you know, stuff like that. So there's a lot to do, and then you start to like the so I'm like now. The initial plan was that who knows now?

Adam Kalinowski 1:22:11

Because I'm like, do I have to leave? You get so attached too. Like you've put all this work into this place, man. Yeah, you've spent then you make memories in the place, and you're like, ah, this is gonna be tough to leave. Honestly, I don't know.

Vipul Bindra 1:22:22

Currently, like I said, the only thing left that I wanted to do was fence, and I'm gonna do that. It got delayed last year, uh, thanks to the van and everything. But now I'm gonna go ahead and do that this month or next month, and then that's really it. Because you know, there wasn't much to do. Like I said, they did renovate it other than general maintenance that you have to do. The uh, this was the area, and I said, go watch the video. You guys will be amazed how uh nasty this garage was, and we we converted it. But outside that, the rest of the home was fully renovated. This was the only thing we had to do, and then the whole van thing. So, like I said, currently we're happy. I'm not even thinking about moving, yeah, I'm just thinking about paying it off. You know, that's a whole thing. My entire thing was uh finishing the plans I have for this business, and I think like like next year's that, like I like to work on uh you know the the home and stuff. Um uh but yes, currently the initial plan was five, now I've stopped thinking about it. So I don't know.

Adam Kalinowski 1:23:16

What about you? Yeah, I mean same, and I try not to think about it too much.

Vipul Bindra 1:23:19

Because you went a little even farther away. You were you know in the in where you bought the house than Orlando. But are you happy in the area? Do you like it?

Adam Kalinowski 1:23:26

Yeah, yeah. It's the area is great. Um, a lot of the stuff that we like to do or like take people to do when they come from out of town is over in the winter park area. Um, my wife drives over here and goes to like her little baby bunch meetings and stuff like that. Um so a lot of the stuff that we'd like to do is over here, but the area is great, the neighbors are great, super safe, the schools are great, the house is a great size, the yards, all the things are great. Uh our thing is like probably or like the conversation is often comes up of like, are we gonna move back to Arizona at some point? Um, because all of our family's there, so you know the answer is probably yes in in the mid to longer term. Um but we're trying to enjoy it here. You know, we've been in the house for a year, we're trying to enjoy it as much as possible here um before that probably happens, and then also not dwell on the fact that like, oh, maybe our time here is does have a limit or like uh an end to it because we like it here, we like for it. I mean, a year's not that long for for a home purchase, right? And it doesn't have to be like set in stone that we're moving back to Arizona, but just we like we love our family, you know, want to be around them, we want to have them around our kids. It's hard, you know, when they can only come out for a couple days and then they gotta go away, or they can only FaceTime in and see uh my son, and it's um yeah, I think longer term that's like our biggest um priority, but we really like it here, so we're gonna soak it up in Florida for several more years.

Vipul Bindra 1:25:07

Yeah, and I also I see that. Uh and then the obviously, like I said, you may like it at that time, like you said, you have your own roots. I do see you moving to this side, because like I say, you you were already happy on this side, more on this side than I was. I was uh the the Disney more area side than you know, you I'm an East Orlando guy, man. I like each other. So you so I'm saying I do see you moving to this side of the town if you decide to stay longer. But like you said, going to family, that's uh the big thing. Having a support system is a um is a huge thing. And uh, you know, that I felt that, you know, when I moved here initially, I was like, I just left everything behind, you know. Like I don't know any much. I had few friends, but you know what I mean? Like I had no one. I'm like, I literally came here, you know, in a suitcase, and I'm like in Orlando in 2010. I'm like, look at me. Good luck putting anything in a suitcase. I can't put a couple of cameras in a suitcase now. But you know what I mean? Like, this is this is I built this, which is awesome. But then I'm like, holy crap, can you imagine if I have to move again? Oh my god. I can't I can't even imagine. You helped me move, Mario. And it was even less than this. So how was that? I'd already eliminated it because I knew it was gonna move. I had like a lot of like sold or removed a lot of furniture, so we bought a lot of the stuff new when we got here. So how was it? Um helping you remember the move?

Mario Rangel 1:26:28

Yes, yes, we did it with well, Natalia and uh and uh Jared. Jared, right? Yeah, no, you and I remember you said no, yeah, we'll do just one trip. We made like biggest lie ever three? Yeah, and that's not even counting the storage unit.

Vipul Bindra 1:26:45

Yeah, but we didn't get enough. We went back after I'd moved here. Uh, was that a lot of stuff? I still remember, I don't know who it was out of the three of you who uh you know they were loading and loading, and I was like, I already packed most of the stuff, and they were like, How much more is there to go? I was like, there's a lot, it just comes out of every crevice.

Mario Rangel 1:27:03

All of our three we were asking the same thing.

Vipul Bindra 1:27:05

Yeah, and I so it was supposed to be a one-day move. It was literally midnight by the time we even got here with the first thing, and then it was like, okay, we're gonna do this again tomorrow because uh this it was an it was added because it wasn't there, it wasn't the initial plan. And uh yeah, that was a fun day too, and that wasn't everything. Then we had to go make small little trips by ourselves, and that's not counting multiple times. We went back for the storage units and stuff. It it was just chaos, and I was like, I don't know if if I would want to do that, and like I said, now it's way more if I keep the furniture because like I said, I just added this couch or whatever. You know, there's always new things. I'm like, do I wanna um I don't I want to think about the move. Currently, all I'm thinking about is uh the cash flow situation. What I do not like is like you said, buying a home adds more expense. I don't like that constant uh expense thing. Because what makes me a like I said, good at what I do is because I have no obligation. I go to my client. I help them if I can. If I can, I just say no and I walk away. And I feel like it's a genuine relationship. Like I said, I don't like to talk about it, but let's be real. I'm uh no matter how long I've been in America, there is a slight disadvantage to you going to a meeting than I am, right? It's people have inherent biases. So you know, they want to work with a you know white guy, you know, from Arizona, then uh who are you from India? Because you know, they that never goes away, right? So I'm just saying, not saying that it's that much easier, but there is an inherent bias there. So uh, you know, it's slightly harder. And um, I don't know. I I'm just saying, like, I just don't want this to be over my head. So that's where I'm looking at next. Like, how can I eliminate that? Because then, you know, I'm not worried about like, oh, I have to get so many projects every month or whatever, like to to make sure I over cash flow is good or whatever. That'd be nice. Uh yeah, and then once that's not there, then it's like, oh, back to you know how it was. Because last year I was I genuinely funny enough, I did the most amount of revenue last year, and I did not care for a single job of like worrying about like do I need it or not. Like, I was genuinely just doing what I loved, and obviously I had a good support system, like you said, you know, it's somewhere to take care of the kids. So I have the schedule availability where you'd ask me or anyone else would ask me, like, hey, you want to go to Philadelphia? You want to go to Hollywood, you want to go here, you want to go, uh, you know, wherever, California. And I'm like, let's just go. Like, you know, I was just saying yes to everything I was enjoying, and and not one point did I take a job. I would say that was like, uh, you know, I like I wish I had not taken it or whatever. And I think somehow ended up being the most revenue. Like it's and now this year I'm like, oh, I gotta make a certain number or whatever, because I have expenses, and now it's like it was uh well, I mean it's good now, but I'm saying a couple months I was like, huh, that's it's strange because that brings a pressure where I'm like, oh, I gotta take jobs because I need to make sure that you know the blessing can occur. Exactly. You you get that. That's what I'm saying, and that's why it's good talking to you. The point of this was always to bring people, you know, who are um, you know, from different lives and different paths, because I want people to listen from a photographer or from a wedding videographer who don't live the lifestyles you do, but you at least somewhat can relate to you know what I go through because it's yeah, it's this it's a different cycle struggle. Do I love freelancing? Do I love going out and just doing a shoot but coming with nothing? Absolutely. But could my purchases support that? Probably not. Uh, but it was fun talking about that, hanging out with you for three days. So we you called me. Uh, I can't wait for people to watch. I hope that video is already out when they watch it. So I'm gonna make a video, a vlog about that. Uh so it may be already out, but it's funny, like you reached out, so that clip is in there of you know, you hiring me. You reached out of me, and I was like, uh something about you. You're like, hey, yeah, we we can add another camp over whatever, it's a lower rate, but do you know anyone? And I was like, yeah, I know this person and this person and this person. Then I was like, what are the times? I'm looking at the calendar, I was like, Oh, I got this, I got this, this. And they're like, this time, this time, this time. I was like, you know what? I could probably move that here, move that here, ignore this person. I'm just you know, I was like, I can make it. I was like, you know what? I could come. I was like, did I just recommend to people and steal their work that they could have probably gotten? But I was like, hey, you know, I you're telling me I gotta hang out, and I had to make sure I was like, You're sure, right? Because I knew for a fact I wouldn't have done it because we wanted to do the podcast, like bringing the equipment. Um, and I was like, especially for that rate, but anyway, you were like, No, there's no equipment. I was like, you know what? You're telling me, sure, absolutely, because I I don't have to. I wake up, I go, I come back, and I still do the task that I had for the day, why not? And to be honest, like I said, I was very a little bit in the beginning, but I had such a good time. I was like, you can't tell me it was you're paying me for that. Yeah, I know. Not even 10 minutes. Yeah, half of that was just sitting in the traffic light.

Adam Kalinowski 1:31:45

Right, yeah. No, that's great. I'm glad you took that. I mean, that's just it's just a good reminder, too. Like, you know, it can be that easy sometimes. And you know, that one was great, you know. Shout out to Mike for how well he planned it and produced it and directed it and everything. Um but yeah, it can just be that easy sometimes, and that's like vacation almost. Like you can just kind of go. I mean, I'll the most we we collaborated on like the lighting and whatever because we like to do that. I like to get your thoughts and just bounce ideas and whatnot, and how would we do this? How would we do that? Um, but at the end of the day, if you wanted to just sit there and press record, like yeah, I mean you were really supposed to do.

Vipul Bindra 1:32:30

I know, and and again, I don't mind. I rather felt weird. That's what I'm saying. I'm so glad we did lighting because yeah, I mean, at most what I did was uh helped you with again. Again, I don't want to discount it. It does take experience and stuff to know what to put light there, where but what I'm saying is at the end of the day, I helped you basically come up with a lighting plan and you know, execute on that, move some lights here, change them, whatever, and then hit record a few times. So, not to discount much, but to be real, I was just saying, like, you're telling me people can get paid to do this, but like you said, there's the other side of it. It's what we do on our shoots, where Mike had pre-production, he had figured everything out, he knew what shot when, and you know, they had a plan of action. So it didn't just happen out of nothing. Somebody did the work that we do on our shoots. Yeah, and and also you came even an extra day to help them set up and everything. So, like I said, it didn't happen out of nothing. But if you look at it from my perspective, I'm like, you're telling me I wake up, I show up literally like as close as close as it gets with my coffee, and I I I just uh you know help you with whatever you need. I mean, because at that point I'm like, I'm here, I'll do whatever. Because I'm just yeah, you know, why not? I'm not gonna be like you hired me to be a camp. I am not touching anything else. Yeah, to me, that's just a bad attitude. Anyway, I'm like, I'll help you. And then literally, there was so weird. I'm always the last person to leave from set. So I had to multiple takes. Like, I hope that didn't get annoyed. I was like, So are you sure I can leave? Okay, yeah. I was like, are you sure you're like, yeah, you know, and you're still like doing some things, and I'm like, I feel so weird, yeah, and bad, but then I'm like, hey, people do that to me, so I'm just going.

Adam Kalinowski 1:33:59

Yeah, I mean, yeah. I I just stayed back as the last one just to like because we were dumping cards and stuff like that. And you know, I was the the DP on that. And I do air quotes because it's like we all just collaborate on lighting at the end of the day. It's not like I have any you know super directive say and how the lighting's gonna be. Go to creative director there, director, me, you. We always have great input.

Vipul Bindra 1:34:24

You know, yeah, there's enough people too.

Adam Kalinowski 1:34:26

I'm saying maybe every well, every they're all gonna chime in at the end of the day. So it's like I you know, the streak across the background. I I I I was like, that would be great. Let's try that and see how it looks. And Mike actually texts me, he's like, I actually really liked that streak. I'm like, hey, I can do DP things. Yeah, look at that. Yeah, cool. It can be a DP, yeah. So it's it's I don't know, it's funny. I always look at the DP job as like, or that title, I guess, as like that's the person in control of the lighting, they're gonna tell you where every single light's gonna go.

Vipul Bindra 1:34:54

And I yeah, and you don't have to be exact as a DP, it's mostly, and again, we work in smaller sets, so it's like you do everything. But typically, as a DP, you're expected to be in charge of the the camera and lighting department, but you usually will have gaffers and other people to set them up. You can say, like, I want a streak there. You don't have to physically climb a ladder and actually set the light up. But on a small set, guess what we're doing? We're on a ladder, yeah, we're fixing it. You know, it's it's the nature of the job in the world. Which was fun because the things yeah, that helped a lot. I was that uh that it was automated, so usually you have to climb, you know, there's a grid. So it's really nice to be in a place where uh you know we had automated, we could roll or bring it down. We didn't have to uh climb unless we didn't want to. We did for the I think the backlight or whatever, a couple of the spotlights that they had there. Um, but no, that was that was a really fun experience. Thanks for having me. And it's funny for me. Most of the time, I'm like, every time I pull a uh you know phone out, I'm like, I'm trying to, you know, do this new vloggy thing. I'm still getting used to it. And then I'm just like, all the time, I'm just like, look at that. That's that's the life. You're just on your phone. I'm like, every time you're on your phone, I'm just like, this is the clip. The entire video needs to just be a montage of this is how you get paid big bucks to be a DP, right?

Adam Kalinowski 1:36:02

And it's just you and my uh what is it? What do they call it? The uh reaction video or the response video or whatever, right here. Defending myself, yeah, recording horses. So once it was set, it was just listen and monitor and just chill.

Vipul Bindra 1:36:18

Yeah, I'm not saying you'd do anything wrong. I was on my phone technically too. I'm not saying I wasn't, but I'm just saying it was funny. I know that that like every time I'm like pulling a clip, I'm like, uh, there we go. There's this is this is the life you know you want.

Adam Kalinowski 1:36:32

I would say that that goes to another nod to Mike and how well it was produced and directed and set up, and we had a setup day. So it wasn't like the normal, like, all right, here's your space. We have an hour until the first interview. What are we gonna do? We had a whole day where there was five PAs building the set. I got to come in there, set up the cameras, get them roughly set. Yeah, you know, lighting was roughly set. We brought the subject in the next day. We still had an hour to set everything up, even though everything was on sticks, plugged into monitors, lights were on. Like we still had another hour to like get that subject in there, get the mic in, you know, just dial everything in. I'm like, dude, this is like so nice to have the time and the you know the the yeah, just the the stress, the pressure of like a limited amount of time is just like not there.

Vipul Bindra 1:37:29

Yeah, and I was surprised how it was. So when I when you tell me training videos or courses or something like that, they're generally, you know, what we did, which is the intro, outros, like bookends, whatever, and then uh some you know b-roll or whatever. But I was surprised we didn't actually record the course. I was like, we were there the three days, and at no point did we actually record each because they they they did the intro and outro, right? For each chapter, like in this thing you learned this, and this thing you learned this, and I was like, when are we actually shooting the thing? Yeah, so I don't know how he planned that was unique to me. I haven't I done one where we just did that and we didn't do the actual course in that time.

Adam Kalinowski 1:38:06

I think they have it in an LMS and they already have like the material in so it could be that they've already made that, yeah. Yeah, and then the these are literally front and back end, um, maybe some transition stuff. Um, and then the podcast interview type thing at the end was uh maybe supplemental content. Yeah, that's what it felt like.

Vipul Bindra 1:38:26

This is supplemental to something they either already have or are gonna do later. Because of general, like, okay, that sounds good. When is the course? And then we were done with the two days, and I was like, oh, next day is this podcast style interview stuff. I'm like, I don't remember doing the course, but hey, this is this is the agenda. I mean, we we did everything we were supposed to. So that was very unique, but like you said, that goes on to again how well they pre-produced it, produced it, post-produced it. So I think uh or we'll post-produce it. I think it comes down to is like how many avenues there are. Look, here we are talking about like our projects where you know you have to come up with uh a guide to send them how to prepare their hospital for your visit or whatever to come film, and then here you are. Here you show up, set up a couple cameras, hit a record a few times, make sure the lighting is good. Again, you do some stuff, but mostly you sit there, right, after you've executed what you needed to execute, because they do need that. I mean, it's not like that got executed out of nothing, but once you've set it up, it's there, it's ready to go. You just hit record until the setup needs changing. Yep, there's not much you know that's expected of you. So I was just um I'm just saying that's another way to make money because I didn't bring any equipment. Yeah, so if you just want to be a camera operator or a DP where you don't bring any equipment, which on this one I think you did bring some equipment. Yeah, I brought gear, yeah. Yeah, but but I'm saying there's jobs out there where you can even be a DP without bringing anything, and that's another path where we talk about cash flow. It's only coming in, it's yeah, there's nothing to go out, you know, it could be as as simplified as that, and I think people just have to find their path. Um, yeah, yeah. And I have one gripe with you. I think we have time to go over that. Why do you why do you hate me so much? Why is it that David goes with you on projects and you bring all the gear and he just shows up, you know, in a backpack, like, there you go, I'm here, and then I come with you and I'm just like packing for a day. I'm bringing bags full of gear, and and you know, I don't know. I mean, sure, you do give me a gear rental rate. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying.

Adam Kalinowski 1:40:23

I'm not complaining about the rate, I'm just complaining about why do I have to work extra hard, then they uh that's you know, I do need to even it out a little bit. Um glad we got you on this one. Wasn't my job, but yeah.

Vipul Bindra 1:40:34

Yeah, no, this was to be real, yeah. This was a pretty chill one, yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 1:40:37

Yeah, I don't know. I mean I feel like I make that guy work. I always tell him, man, the rest of us gotta work. Yeah, why are you not making him work?

Vipul Bindra 1:40:43

Exactly.

Adam Kalinowski 1:40:44

David, work. I mean No, I'm just I'm just messing. I don't know, man. You because you always have nicer gear and uh So owning a gear is you're very you're very dialed with uh with your equipment, so I always trust not that I don't trust David to bring it, it's just like you know sometimes when I bring you I need more gear than I have, right? Um sure David has a camera too as well, but you can say it.

Vipul Bindra 1:41:13

He doesn't have enough gear.

Adam Kalinowski 1:41:14

David needs more gear. No, I don't know. Uh yeah, I don't know.

Vipul Bindra 1:41:21

It's a good question. I don't know. Yeah, he has no answer. He has admitted he's making me work harder than David.

Adam Kalinowski 1:41:28

Yeah, yeah, now I gotta think about that. You gotta go figure out. We gotta figure out our game plan, like I said, for the uh farm shoots. Yeah. I think I will bring most of the gear.

Vipul Bindra 1:41:39

Look at that. Oh my goodness, we have made a change. I mean, to be real, I don't mind bringing the gear. I'm just kidding, but I'm just saying it feels like you make me work harder than David. But that but but we'll keep it at that. Uh but you know, I do like gear. I do like bringing things that are dialed in. But that's good. Okay, so you're gonna bring all the gear. What am I bringing?

Adam Kalinowski 1:41:56

Anything? Anything? Yeah, yeah. I think uh maybe the tripods if that's if that's doable. Um couple of sockers. Yeah, that might be nice to have those, just for quick pop-up and breakdown. You said you might want to bring the new camera, the new Ronin. The Ronin 8K might be nice to have. Um Yeah, and just thinking about how we did it last year, you know, they're outdoor. I have a crew going out in California next week that's gonna, you know, be shooting in an almond orchard. And why aren't we doing that? That sounds more fun. I mean, truthfully, I just couldn't squeeze another travel in. Yeah, like trying to keep this balance, work-life balance. It was like no.

Vipul Bindra 1:42:38

Yeah. No, almonds are pretty nice. But even we did last year, it was what watermelons? That was pretty fun. Yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 1:42:43

We were on one, yeah, we were they were doing watermelons. Uh the ones we're going out to this year will probably be um, I'm guessing it's corn and soybeans out in Missouri, and then Florida will be more specialty crops like tomatoes and um what else they might have. Stuff like that, specialty crops, fruits and tomatoes and little things like that. So it'll be a good good variety. Um but yeah, that I was gonna say they're gonna bring um like diffusion and flags and stuff. Um, they are yeah, two-person crew, and they're gonna throw up a couple couple things like that to create some nice light out in the almond orchard. Um I'm yeah, I don't know if we'd if we go that route this time or if we just kind of stick to what we did last time, which the one that we did was in Delaware and we were in that garage, which was a nice pick on location because we already had we put them on the edge of that. Yeah.

Vipul Bindra 1:43:40

Rather, it was interesting to me because we were expecting to have to cut light because we found that garage, we were having the opposite issue, not having enough light. Uh, because you know, we wanted to throw a little bit and you had your panel, but it wasn't bright enough. But then I saw how you and David did the next one. That was really cool too, because you guys found a shady spot but in the farm, and then that made it easier when you don't have flags and yeah, frames and whatever. Obviously, if you're not flying like the one we're driving to, we can bring that type of stuff. Yeah, makes it a lot easier, but then you can also be strategic about where you place people, right? Yeah if you find a a spot that's not you know sunny or or whatever, shaded spot would be nice.

Adam Kalinowski 1:44:18

The other thing is too that we you have to think about power. Yep. If we don't have wallpower, you gotta get a truck with a plug in it. That would be nice. Rental. But you know, again, that would be nice. Um yeah, and then the one we drive to, I'll bring my little um I got one of those banks. What's that? Ecoflow. Yeah, ecoflow. Are you able to fly with that? No, no, no, no. The one we drive to the one drive, okay. That way we can drop in anywhere and plug in, um, you know, and run like a 300 watt light for which I don't know how much that would do for us out in the middle of a field. But honestly, using the sun's probably our better call. Yeah, exactly. Using just fold up some five and ones and forget about it. Yeah.

Vipul Bindra 1:45:03

I mean, that is the easy way to go. But the good thing is the local one is be a lot easier because uh we can grab whatever we want. Like if you see, I've got a 1500 watt or whatever power bank right there on the cart. So I'm saying there's ways to get power and uh uh monitors and cameras and whatever. Local, not that it's local, I mean it's still a four-hour drive away, roughly, but the point is it's a lot easier to grab more than when you travel. Yeah, yeah. Not that we couldn't, but you know, we just have to deal with those big cases over there. That can be a hassle too. So hey, here you go. This is how many people did we lose because we're having a pre-production meeting live on podcasts. But this is how a pre-production meeting goes, right? Yeah, there's only so much time in the day. Basically, he just tells me what I need to do and I do it. There you go.

Adam Kalinowski 1:45:46

That's basically I got slammed with a bunch of projects recently, and I'm trying to last minute make plans for him. So I like it.

Vipul Bindra 1:45:54

Like I said, I like going out to farms. That's pretty cool because I said I like doing different things. I like going to different states, plus again, Minnesota. That's pretty nice. Um, I think it justouries Missouri. I don't know why I keep saying Minnesota. Missouri sucks. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, apparently they're having a heat wave. Yeah, yeah. So you're gonna kill me from the heat. Yeah, yeah, bring it. Bring a cooling towel. I need to I need to order that, and I need to make sure I don't forget. Yeah. Uh, but no, it's fun, man. Like I said, I like actually doing what we do. Otherwise, again, I wouldn't do it. It's always an adventure, man. It's fun. Yeah, it's always cool to just hang out, create some great images, and again, tell great stories.

Adam Kalinowski 1:46:32

Um, because you know, uh I was I have an answer for you now on why I uh why I David doesn't bring much gear on my on the shoots that I bring it on. Yeah, I bring him on a lot of the veterinary ones. Oh, where you don't need much. I don't need much. I have my kit mostly dialed for those. And we're working in such small spaces, you can't bring that much anyways.

Vipul Bindra 1:46:54

No, I had such a good time, the one I did.

Adam Kalinowski 1:46:56

Yeah, and then when I bring you, it's usually on something where I might be less comfortable in that environment or less um my my kit may not, I may not think my kit is as dialed for any variability that might happen within this new environment. So I bring you for that comfort level of like, oh, he's got his gear totally, you know, laser dialed in, and I I don't have to worry about that I can be more on the producer front and I don't have to fail on the gear front here. And that too, if I if I have like a way heavier like director-producer type role to play, and then I want to bring someone that's completely tight on their gear, and not and I'm not you know saying that David isn't, I'm just saying that that I think is why it's looked that way because it's a lot of the veterinary ones that he'll travel with me. And honestly, uh that's because he's been to so many of them. I I like to keep the crew the same as as much as possible.

Vipul Bindra 1:47:52

No, absolutely. I liked having because the one you sent me to with him, it was so weird because it was just one suitcase, and I was like, that's everything. And so it was a lot easier um to travel versus these ones. I know at least last year we bought a lot more gear, so it's it's a lot more gear. No, I'll I'll accept that. I think that's a fair answer, and I don't mind it. I'm just playing with you. I like bringing gear. I like plus, you know, to me it's familiarity because uh the problem I have with a lot of other people's gear is like they they cheap out on, and maybe I'm calling you out here, on the stuff that matters. Like you buy an FX3, you spend four grand on it, then you'll buy a $200 monitor, it's not bright enough, and you then you'll say, hey, go to this, you know, hot day in bright sunlight and expose it correctly. And I'm like, I can't see, you know, like how am I I'm not a magician. Like, I don't if I can't see what I'm recording, how am I supposed to expose it right? And that's not just you. I'm just saying a lot of people do that. They'll buy a very expensive like camera and then they'll cheap out on the memory card. And then it's like the memory card's running out and the interview is still going. I'm like, that's not on me. Yeah, yeah. And I'd rather bring my gear where I know I have the the most like largest memory card, I have cameras that are dialed in, the monitors that can actually get bright so I can see what I'm doing outdoors. Indoors it's a lot easier because you know you don't need a expensive monitor. Yeah, but I'm saying those are the things I think people cheap out on. It's a good monitor, good uh, you know, good memory cards and good sticks, you know, so you're moving fast or or things like that anyway. So that's why I I see the point because it makes it a lot easier because I'm using a familiar gear, yeah. Um things like that. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Adam Kalinowski 1:49:29

Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes it you know, yeah, availability, like there's gonna be a lot coming up for for everybody. Um yeah, I'm looking looking forward to that. Uh I want to get some new stuff too, like some different stuff um going. I love the repeat stuff. I love you know, feeling like I know how to do this. The client's like, yeah, he knows how to do this. Um, but getting into some some different stuff will be fun. Like doing some more of the doc work with six minutes to live would be cool. Um Doing some um yeah, just like some of this other like tech company type stuff would be kind of fun to do. Trying to think about what else is kind of in my my pipeline coming up.

Vipul Bindra 1:50:14

So how are you finding these clients? So these are all repeat clients?

Adam Kalinowski 1:50:18

Yeah, most of them are. Yeah.

Vipul Bindra 1:50:20

So how are you planning to find those new clients? What do you what's your plan of action?

Adam Kalinowski 1:50:24

A great question.

Vipul Bindra 1:50:26

Oh my goodness, did that caught you off guard?

Adam Kalinowski 1:50:28

Like no, it's it's it's the question. Yeah. Everybody's one thing, you know, ask, you know. A lot like I've all like I said last time, you know, it was it's always networking, and um, I haven't done as much networking because I've been I've been on my follow-ups and I've been on you know actually working. So it's it's not been too good in terms of new business. A lot of the new business that I've had this year is freelance work. So which I've enjoyed and I've gotten a lot better um at you know being a DPA or camera operator. Sure.

Vipul Bindra 1:51:04

I mean, we'll we'll give it to him, sure. Uh it's interesting. Yeah, yeah. But so here's the thing. Last year, uh last time that we met, you know, you had crossed, you had done about 300 something, right? In your year 350, I think was it close to, yeah. And you had said around what 500 was your goal this year. But we know we had a couple you had a couple months slow, m just like everyone. So do you still think you'll be able to trend to the number that you were aiming for, or is it gonna it's gonna be hard?

Adam Kalinowski 1:51:31

It's gonna be hard. Um we'll see, like, you know, things have really ramped up in the last month. Um and there's a lot of stuff that's gonna be put on the calendars, a lot of the clients that I was following up with, like fortunes in the follow-up is what I always is rings in my head, like just keep following up with them, not to be annoying, but like, you know, in a reasonable you know, cadence and staying in mind and keeping those keeping track of those projects in my pipeline uh over the past over s from the beginning of the year, that stuff that was like not a complete no or scrappingness, but like a not right now type thing, all of that's coming out of the woodworking, and because I continued to follow up and stayed on them um now that they're halfway through the year and people are realizing, oh man, we gotta like use our marketing budget, we gotta invest in order to continue to grow or compete. Um that's all coming back. So that's what was your question?

Vipul Bindra 1:52:38

You're gonna hit your target.

Adam Kalinowski 1:52:40

Seems like you're not I'm not gonna hit my I will it would take a lot to hit my target, it'd take a couple really big projects to hit my target, but uh what I'm at where I'm at right now is on track with last year, but aiming like hoping for a solid second half of the year to achieve some level of growth on the year, and I will be very happy with that. You know, my my goal is at setting 500 wasn't you have to hit that or you failed, it was just a aim. Pretty high. That's a pretty good growth, like especially the kind of like growth that I've seen over the the past couple years since I moved to Florida. Um you know, I can't expect my business to like double or grow 80% every single year. Uh so setting it at 500 was a high aim. And if I can land where I was last year or a little bit higher, I'm not gonna be mad about that. Yeah. You know?

Vipul Bindra 1:53:38

No, absolutely. That's the that's the right way to look at it. Look, you have to set realistic goals, and I think your goal is very realistic when you set it. Because you know, we met beginning of the year, things were going very strong, nobody could have predicted what's gonna happen. You know, things are doubling. Like, I I I wanna, you know, talk about some things. I was looking at some equipment. It's quite literally some of the stuff from China, especially the originating from that, is like doubled in price. That wasn't even the tariff level, but I guess the companies are either taking advantage of it or whatever, but like things are things are expensive, you know, costs are going up. And um, you know, you you have to then look at it and go, okay, like let's get realistic here. But at the same time, like we talked about, companies can only hold for so long, they have to do business, their budgets are approved. They need uh also to ramp up marketing because when people spend less is when you need to actually do marketing to gain the little dollars that people are gonna spend. So, like I said, now that's why both of us are just full of work, and I think that's because uh these companies have realized that hey, they need to come back and and get back on the the grind, yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 1:54:44

And I think freelancers and small production companies are well positioned in that kind of environment because you know, if people are spending less in these companies are trying to fight for the the little dollars that are out there with with their audience or their consumer base, you know, they're gonna want to have a cost-efficient option and going directly with a small production company is going to be much more cost efficient than going through some big agency that maybe they normally work with. So it's almost positioned well for a slight like slower economic environment, but yeah, whatever. This is all speculation.

Vipul Bindra 1:55:23

Yeah, exactly. We're not econom uh economic experts, we're video production experts. And you know, the the good thing is yes, to lean to that, you know, when it was slower, uh, I did the best thing. I just leaned into the, like you said, existing clients, local clients reaching out. Um, follow up is very important, and then being able to take on those jobs that normally, you know, I would say are small, where it's just me and an assistant, some post, you know, but but the there's so much profit in those projects. Yes, they're not large uh volume of projects, but you can charge five to ten grand and you can pull in 50-60% profit, which is not normal for my bigger projects. Profits are only 20% roughly on average, so it's like sure the numbers are higher, so it matters, but here the numbers may be lower, but the profit margin can be higher because all I need is one person to help me with, and uh, you know, they can take care of everything. Yeah, and the two-person projects are perfect for if you're trying to make money, you know. Um, so I think then leaning into, like you said, the smaller budget projects where uh you know you need to be more nimble, you need to be more efficient, and at the end of the day, you just gotta pass through that time until these projects have that have come back for us. Yeah. Anyway, before we go, anything else you want to touch on um and talk about.

Adam Kalinowski 1:56:39

Not really. I mean, I was pretty good. Got it. We went all over the place.

Vipul Bindra 1:56:43

We went all over the place. I have no idea who's still listening or watching or anything. Mario's already asleep, right, Mario?

Mario Rangel 1:56:50

Look at him. Wake up. I'm I'm hungry. I'm hungry.

Vipul Bindra 1:56:54

Yes, we uh I I totally agree with you. I'm I'm the same way. Uh so we can eat after this. That's what I told David. We're gonna do the same thing. So, next time plan for you is to bring, since you both talk smack about each other, might as well. I'm just kidding. We can beef it out. Yeah, we need to be rocks. Yeah, we need to bring it out and have you beef in studio B. And I think that'd be the way to do it. That'll be fun. I think um, let's see how that goes. It could go off the rails. I mean, this one I fent thought we went all over. But again, the whole point is for people to listen to from people who are in the grind. The truth is not to discount what you do. Yes, you have lazy shoot days like the la, you know, the three days we worked together, but then you are working very hard to make sure, you know, you are you know running your company successfully, you're taking care of your family and you're taking care of your clients, you're giving them high-quality projects. So, so you know, people can there's a lot of value to be had there, you know.

Adam Kalinowski 1:57:52

Even if it's an easy shoot day, I mean, it was still I was still gone for eight, ten hours or whatever, and at in the evening I'm catching up on my emails and I'm queuing up these like proposals I gotta put together, and now this week I gotta do all that work. So there is no like a week.

Vipul Bindra 1:58:12

Yeah, no, exactly. And that's why I think there's a good balance. I think we talked about this, like being able to, like for me, like your you know, being able to do on my own production, sure, that's majority of the revenue, but I cannot always take on projects that we can do post. There's only there's a limit to how much we can handle. So being able to throw days like what we did together are perfect, where you know it didn't add any more stress or uh work on Julie's plate uh or my plate sending to having to proposals, but then I was able to still, like you said, come back, follow up in emails, get this podcast set ready or whatever I had to do. And it kind of worked out because um, you know, those are the the less stressed days are good, so you can do the stress days. And I think it's good to have a healthy balance, you know, of uh freelancing to your production company owner. I at least I've realized for me, I don't think I would go back to ever just being strictly a production company owner. Uh, because it was so much fun to just freelance for a few days here and there, you know, like I said, go with you and and hang out and then go back to being my production company, like I have my own shoot, uh, though you don't want to come to my shoots anymore. I tried to bring you on to what at least two, three shoots recently. I was purposely trying to, I even tried to take him to Chicago with me. The guy's just not available. So, you know, we had such a good time. You missed out. You missed out. You for real. Yeah. No, it's okay. I'm uh booking for 2026 now. I don't even know what I'm booking for in 2026. Anyone want to hire video production company? Anyway, uh, but no, I I mean, so at least if you're not available for my shoots, I don't mind coming to your shoots. I want to be. We'll make it happen at some point.

Adam Kalinowski 1:59:47

I'll try to get somewhere. It's me, you, and David. Uh hopefully, just so we have some stories to tell.

Vipul Bindra 1:59:52

Yeah, because it was it's been a long time. I think last time was Jacksonville when it was uh all of us together. Yeah, yeah, because I have a really good team and this shoot, so it's gonna be Mario, Alex, Emmanuel, Andrew, and me, right? The five and Julie, six people. That's gonna be a pretty fun shoot. You could have been a seventh, you know, good crew member. But hey, you're busy. You're doing your thing. So I don't even know what I'm doing. Yeah, but you said some DP thing, yeah.

Adam Kalinowski 2:00:13

On the first? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Vipul Bindra 2:00:16

Yeah. Yep. All right, anyway. This being another episode of Studio B sessions. We had the ever-boring Adam Kalinowski with us. Thank you. Uh thank you. What's your name? Mario for making this okay. Thank you, Mario, for making the second one. Thanks. Until we see you next time, we will bring it back to normal. All right, see ya.