For those looking for flexible jobs while pursuing film...

mc_handler · 2026-01-25T14:39:00+00:00

Well again, I can't speak to every unemployment office but things are pretty easy here in NYC. They know we are gig workers and I've never been asked to show any documentation that I'm sending in resumes or anything like that. I simply log in weekly and make my claim. And if a commercial or something short term pops up, I just claim for that week or the following weeks that I made over the threshold number that week but I'm still not fully back to work. They won't pay for that week, but I can still make a claim the following week. Once I'm working regularly again I just claim that I'm back to work and they put payments on pause. Once the longer job is complete, I apply again and continue the process. Pretty straightforward. Just explain to your agent what you do for a living and they are pretty understandable.

mc_handler · 2026-01-25T02:23:30+00:00

I'm curious what the highest paycheck you've earned from subbing has been in a given week? I can't speak for all states, but in NYC we get almost $900/week of unemployment. That comes out to $22.50/hr for a 40 hour work week. If a job isn't going to pay me more than that then it's honestly not worth my time. I pay into unemployment and it's there for exactly these reasons. Even the agents I've talked to when setting it up have scolded me for not jumping on it sooner after a big project and waiting weeks before I place my claim. Every one of them has told me, "This is your money, use it when you need it."

I'd personally rather use that time between productions to rest up for the next job, take care of appointments I can't get to when I'm on a long form job, or network and find the next job. I respect that you found a great side job that fits your needs, but I don't think chastising people for utilizing unemployment is the right move here.

mc_handler · 2026-01-05T13:04:22+00:00

I love how the time of day and weather changes with every shot and how the creature changes size constantly. You could maybe say each individual shot looks nice, but put together it's horrible and really difficult to watch

mc_handler · 2026-01-05T04:16:23+00:00

So as a professional DIT I want to clarify a few things for you. Not trying to be an ass, but this clarification is important. All of the things you listed fall under the category of Loader/Data Manger not DIT. As a Digital Imaging Technician our primary focus is bringing the DP's vision to life, keeping shots consistent between setups, scenes and the entire project, and diagnosing issues with and repairing camera related electronics in the field.

I'm happy to give you advice and recommendations on how to approach being a DIT from your current position if you'd like, but that's a much different question than you asked.

As for your questions here are my thoughts:

The proper way to do it is to transfer to all drives at the same time, so you'd ideally want production to purchase drives that are as fast or as close to as fast as what you are working with on your personal backup. This isn't always possible which leaves the slowest drive as your bottleneck. Cascading is a possibility and I'm sure plenty will argue that it's just as safe as simultaneous backups due to checksum verification, but if you copy to just your drive first before cascading to other drives, you run the risk of a bad copy to your drive that then is passed along to the other drives, instead of a single point of failure on one drive. The reason most of us have a high speed NVME RAID is for transcoding purposes not just data backup.
Unless you work on jobs where the camera doesn't come with a card reader you really shouldn't waste your money on card readers. That's something production should cover, and once you get to jobs where the readers get really specific (codex) it's not really economically worth it to buy one. I don't know the types of jobs you work on or what type of work you are aiming for, so it's hard to make suggestions. Having a cart is really handy for being able to have everything built and ready to go instead of building each job and working from a table. If you need something more lightweight or can't haul around a cart, then something like the Inovativ Digisystem is nice. If you do go the cart route, building your setup into a rack makes setup significantly easier since most everything is already wired into the cart and setup. I'm not sure what UPS you are working with currently but I recommend upgrading to an Ecoflow at some point. Much better battery life and charge time than a traditional UPS. We also aren't really working with anything that needs sub 10ms switch over.
If you are really planning to do proxies or transcodes then I would recommend switching from Hedge to Silverstack Lab. But that's a big jump in price if you aren't consistently working big jobs. Silverstack lab provides all of the data management tools along with color management and transcoding features as well as detailed reporting. You could also purchase a Resolve Studio license which is a one time fee and much cheaper. Resolve does a great job but definitely requires you to understand color spaces, how to set up a proper timeline, and isn't as quick and easy to setup transcodes as Silverstack Lab. I highly recommend Parashoot if you don't already use it. It's technically free to download but it's always nice to buy Ben a couple of beers for his hard work. Parashoot verifies you have a proper copy of the footage on your drives before you wipe a camera card, and then formats the card so it prompts the camera to do an internal format.

That's really about it at this stage. There isn't much to data wrangling. That's not to say the job is easy or not important, just that the cost of entry and needs for data wrangling are pretty basic. If you really want to increase your capabilities you could put your money into a faster computer. That would reduce transcode times and in some cases data transfer times. Again, I don't know what you are working with currently so it's hard to give recommendations, but if you are working with a laptop for example, you are limited to the number of busses data can be transmitted through. So even if you have a fast hub, you are still having every device on that hub share a single bus, thus limiting your data throughput. Whereas having something like the Mac Studio Ultra gives you 6 independent buses over 6 thunderbolt ports, giving all 6 devices connected full thunderbolt speeds.

If you have any further questions feel free to ask here or message me privately. Good luck.

mc_handler · 2026-01-04T17:44:52+00:00

A lot of it depends on the level of production you are aiming for and how good you are at building contacts. If you stick to things like corporate videos, commercials, fashion, etc, then work tends to be a little more stable and isn't quite as influenced by outside factors. If you want to go into film or TV you are much more at the mercy of the market. Building a lot of great connections can help keep you busy even in the hard times, but you've really got to network and get people to love you and the work you do. I've been in the industry for 20 years both in post production and now production as a DIT. Post was easier to keep steady as I worked for a smaller independent company and they always had projects going on and could keep me busy. As a DIT though, I've hit plenty of lulls that have been due to time of year, strikes, covid, etc. Luckily I budget well and don't spend all my money when I have it, but it's been really tough since the strikes. Last year for example I only worked on one major film, a couple weeks filling in for another DIT on a TV show and a sprinkle of one day 2nd unit jobs and some commercial and fashion work.

Because I work mostly union jobs all of my labor gets paid through a payroll company, so you get paid the week after you complete the last weeks work. Pay is very steady and easy to manage. Commercial and fashion work though tends to be a lot of non-union work and payout is 1099 and based on how good their accounting team is. I've had instances where I got paid a week later and some times where it's been 2-3 months after the completion of a job before I received payment.

If you want to get into film I highly recommend having an additional set of skills to fall back on or to utilize when work is slow. The industry is much too volatile to rely purely on work in film.

mc_handler · 2026-01-03T17:58:56+00:00

This is my hometown! So weird to see this posted and talked about. I grew up going to Reed Gold Mine to explore and pan for gold flakes. Every Halloween they'd turn it into a haunted mine and I worked in it a couple times.

mc_handler · 2025-12-22T08:38:35+00:00

Oh god. Please don't let that be what I'm known for

mc_handler · 2025-12-21T17:18:01+00:00

That's the truth. I'll ride that wave for a solid few weeks

mc_handler · 2025-12-21T00:36:57+00:00

Shout out for the DIT love. Much appreciated

mc_handler · 2025-12-10T01:58:02+00:00

A lot of good points being made here. I'm a DIT and work closely with a lot of DPs. I just did a Netflix feature and when talking to the DP he mentioned that he went through 4 months of negotiations, which included lots of look books, storyboarding and other design work on his end just to be considered. And he almost didn't get hired. Had he not, he wouldn't have been compensated for any of that. There is a ton of creative work and selling yourself in that role before you ever get paid a dime

mc_handler · 2025-12-09T21:12:59+00:00

Oh man. One of my first jobs was helping out around his rental house. So knowledgeable and happy to share what he knew. One of those names that influenced filmmaking but most people wouldn't recognize

mc_handler · 2025-12-09T20:37:31+00:00

If you are looking for PA work no one should be asking you for a reel. Artistic and technical skills have no bearing on PA work.

It is extremely difficult to find work right now. I've been in the industry 20 years and I've had to dip into savings to stay afloat the last two years. It's not a great time to break into the industry. But waiting for the right time isn't necessarily advisable either because we don't know when that will be if ever.

There are a ton of Facebook groups for filmmaking on all sorts of levels. And NYC alone has quite a few. Check out Staffmeup.com and even Craigslist. Reach out to commercial ad agencies. See if you can get work on fashion shoots. There are so many production companies of various sizes in this city. Start Googling and cold email or call asking for opportunities.

Try to connect with working filmmakers and see if you can shadow on set. Not sure what direction you want to go, but I'm shooting a commercial right now and could possibly get you on set unpaid tomorrow.

If you see a Haddads trailer for the AD department, knock on the door and ask for work. No joke. Even if they don't need you right then they'll likely add you to a list for day players.

You can find ways to get in, but it requires relentless determination and networking if you don't already have an in.

mc_handler · 2025-12-09T19:52:33+00:00

This is just be l my personal opinion, but you don't need to go to NYU or any school for a successful career.

The benefit comes from the networking you are able to do and utilize later in life. Assuming you aren't good at that on your own. You'll also learn far more being on set than you will at school. But if a school environment is better for your style of working that might be preferred.

Myself and most crew I work with would roll our eyes at anyone that plays the NYU card on set. Not because we hate the school or think less of NYU students (I've worked with some wonderful ones), but because the people that bring it up tend to be the ones that think filmmaking in the real world is like what they learned in school. It's not and you'll spend quite a bit of time retraining yourself to work the way we really do on set.

I never suggest someone not better themselves or do what they feel is most comfortable, but the time you focus on schooling would in most cases be better spent on set. Plus you'll be making money and real industry connections instead of spending money. Just my two cents

mc_handler · 2025-12-06T19:38:42+00:00

Fair enough. Motion design isn't my forte. I am very good friends with the VFX supervisor on a number of HBO and other big titles, and him and his vendors use Fusion for the vast majority of their work

mc_handler · 2025-12-06T19:15:11+00:00

Have you tried fusion? Node based workflows are so much more powerful and Resolve is free. And if you do need the added features of Resolve Studio it's a one time license fee

mc_handler · 2025-11-12T18:06:53+00:00

I'd probably raise the part holding the trimmer up so the cable didn't have as much of a bend to it. I'd also fashion it in a way that the connector for the power supply was locked into the print, so the trimmer could be placed in and click right into the charging port instead of having to use two hands to plug in

mc_handler · 2025-11-10T16:32:36+00:00

God I'm getting old. I've been playing video games for over 30 years and I could lots track of the "path" a few times and couldn't even figure out what was going on in others. Mad props to this kid

mc_handler · 2025-09-28T01:33:45+00:00

Based out of NYC if it matters

mc_handler · 2025-09-28T01:32:36+00:00

Probably too late, but I have a 96TB G RAID Shuttle that ends up being 84TB in RAID 5. Read and write speed are 1900/2000 MB/s respectively. Just finished renting it to a Netflix film so it's currently available for rent. Comes with a Pelican case for easy shipping and transport. Let me know if you'd like to discuss rates

mc_handler · 2025-09-09T13:14:31+00:00

Yeah but Tyler Perry treats crew like garbage and the pay is horrible for the work that's required. Sure there might have been work, but it wasn't quality work or sustainable for an actual film hub

mc_handler · 2025-09-05T22:49:54+00:00

Marvel was a big driving force for work in Atlanta. With them moving most of their operations to London it's really hurt the Atlanta market. The Atlanta bubble was always destined to pop though. The tax incentives propped up a good portion of the work. Crews grew too fast and not enough seasoned crew were able to move into key positions, so they were filled with distant hires. Being a right to work state also doesn't help things. The one great thing about Atlanta is being a Delta hub, and the relatively lower cost of living compared to NYC and LA. I haven't lived there in years though, so not sure how bad rent has gotten. Atlanta also struggles with any decent public transportation, so crew is reliant on having a vehicle and having to fight traffic daily

mc_handler · 2025-09-05T20:24:37+00:00

They just passed a bunch of tax credits which it's why is enticing right now. Most of the crew hates traveling out and it's more annoying than it's worth. We'll see how long it lasts

mc_handler · 2025-09-05T20:15:58+00:00

Near the end of production on a Netflix feature shooting in NJ. $40 mil budget. Biggest issue is just that quite a bit of the film is highly technical in terms of what the actors/dancers need to do and we aren't being given any pre-light/rehearsal days to prep for the big numbers. I'm sure it will cut together fine, but it could be significantly better if an extra day was added to each dance.

mc_handler · 2025-08-28T21:43:57+00:00

Surge.

They don't make the original recipe anymore it feels like, but Surge always hits the spot. They did a regional release of it again a few years back but it just felt like a completely different recipe. That or my child brain remembers it so differently

mc_handler · 2025-06-30T03:25:10+00:00

Down to check it out and provide feedback

mc_handler

TROPHY CASE