I dont think i have to say too much but has anyone been affected lately by what is going on. I am a wedding videographer and its getting harder to find work, I had to tailor a new super budget package just to keep working.

I am just interested to know what is going on everywhere and hope it settles down soon.

Moved to TCB.

Keep in mind that politics are strictly forbidden on this forum... proceed with caution,

During these economic "readjustments" companies and people withdraw towards their core requirements and the "extras" fall off the edge. People will reduce the frills, so may just go with the traditional stills wedding photographer and do a DIY video.

Companies and organisations will question the need to record an event that no one really looks at again, unless there's a real return on that investment. Advertising and PR budgets will be gone through carefully and everything will have to be justified.

Anyone purchasing kit will have ask the same questions, renting might make more sense for specialized kit or buying used kit instead of new.

The film industry has traditionally survived well through recessions and some of the best films have been made during these periods. How this manifests itself this time (with the new media and cable TV), during what seems to be quite a bumpy economic ride, remains to be seen.

It's during these trying times that "value added" becomes absolutely key to building strong relationships. I never give away the farm, nor do I lower my rates but I may offer incentives or do more hand-holding through the process than usual.

For example, I've approached one prospect and said "look, from the end of November until May 15th, I'm usually REALLY slow. I'm willing to offer a 15% discount on the full cost of my labour on any work we complete during this period as long as two conditions are met: we have a deposit structure in place and the billables for the period are greater than $x".

They are now looking at whether it is feasible for them to make a video six months earlier than they had intended. The work would have come to me anyway, all I'm doing is encouraging them to move it into an open time slot and free up a historically busy one.

Oh, and I'm still buying gear, I'm just looking for a lot more bang for the buck than I do in times of feast.

I'm still getting new clients and I'm still having difficulty finding new employees. We're in the middle of multi-year projects for two clients and neither has given any indication that they're pulling back or slowing down. Nothing's changed here.