Screwed, Koobed and YouTubed

A few years ago we were working for one of our favorite clients- WJE. We were going to drive from Chicago to Omaha and shoot on the I-80 bridge crossing the Missouri River. From there we were going to continue on to Lincoln, NE and shoot on top of the capitol dome. Mike Koob was our WJE connection, and coincidentally a neighbor of Jim's in Lake Forest. We scheduled an interview on the bridge with a man from Iowa D.O.T. and
were going to shoot from a basket hanging off the bridge. It was a big production- a lot of time and favors called in. The day before we were going to head west Jim ran into Mike at the grocery store. Jim said, "See you in Omaha," and Mike casually dropped, "Oh that job was canceled."

Thanks for telling us. We had to scramble to cancel everything we had lined up. Since then whenever something breaks bad for us we say, "We've been Koobed."

I am reminded of this because You Tube is doing to the local film producers what Mike Koob did to us. We are getting screwed. With great regularity we get phone calls from clients looking for on-line content. More than once we have heard, "My son can do that." Sure, he can. But there is something to having experience. Film production is more than point and shoot and crap it on to the internet. There is a big difference between a cat flushing a toilet or a fat guy lip-syncing opera and true film production. Sophisticated- and not so sophisticated- audiences appreciate the difference between professionals and amateurs.

Please, we are tired of getting Koobed by anyone with a digital camera.

PeterH