How to rent AWESOME equipment without spending your whole budget

You’ve got a great script, a good crew, and a bit of money to put towards a project. Woohoo! And you want this project to look good--to look great! So your crew says they need some equipment. 

GULP

Lenses, filters, a camera, monitors, a card reader, a follow focus, mics, c-stands, kinos…a long list of items, some of which you might not even know what they are. 

BUT 

You want to make the project look good and give your crew the items they need. 

In a perfect world you’d have all the money to get everything and not even worry about the cost. And maybe one day you will! Today though, you don’t. 

SO

What do you do? 

EASY! 

First, look at places like ShareGrid and KitSplit that are essentially Airbnb for film equipment. You can find a lot of great items for affordable rates. They usually offer weekend rental deals where you can rent over the weekend and only pay for one day! 

A FEW HACKS

If you put in the biggest item first you can click on each listing to see if the renter has other items on your list that you need! (They might even cut you a deal if you rent multiple items) Does this Alexa come with lenses? Does the person renting out their tascam also have a boom pole? Does the Arri 2k come from a person who rents c-stands? 

Not only will this save you money, it will also save you time from driving all over town picking up gear! 

RENTAL HOUSES 

Are a great option and are not as expensive as you think! Another bonus of rental houses is you can copy and paste the equipment list from your email and not worry you are forgetting an important piece. 

ALSO 

Rental houses will general cut you a deal if they can and if you ask nicely. Even 5-10% off an order can save a few hundred bucks. 

A great and easy way to ask is “Thank you much for your help on this! It’s a bit over our budget at the moment, we were hoping to spend $600, any chance you can work with us?” 

They might or might--or maybe they can do $650 or $675. The point is--ask! You never know unless you do! 

LASTLY 

Don’t worry about not knowing what everything is or what it does. I’m still learning on every shoot! Ask questions and make sure all departments get the gear they need to make the shoot a success.

Are you working on a project at the moment? Got an idea but don’t know where to start? I’d love to hear from you! Set up a call!