Dropping 10K On New Equipment | Financial Breakdown | Deity Theos | Sony FX9

[@davidmorefield]

‘7 FS5’s vs 1 FX9’ should be the next YT title 😂 This is an important discussion you’re having. Building a full kit vs renting/prepping, being able to shoot at a moments’s notice, getting your time back. Thanks for sharing.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Dude! I might have to do that! Thanks for watching bro!!

[@JulioBHJ]

That damn GAS... If only I could tune out that little voice that says "Hey you know what else would look good on your shelf?" 😄

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Man it's true! Major GAS sometimes.

[@CrankyCameraman]

Joel, you are doing great, I would say top 10% in video production. You are the only single income family I know in the video business. I just read the Two Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren, quite eye opening. Excellent work.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Thanks so much, David. We have definitely had some challenges over the years. Once we moved states, things have definitely been more manageable. I will have to add that book to my reading list. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki is another book I try to read once a year for motivation. Thanks for the comment, David!

[@CrankyCameraman]

​@@JoelGabrielsen Millionaire Nextdoor, Thomas Stanley is a good one. The numbers are out of date but the data and conclusions are solid.

[@babbishm]

Really great info! I’m 100% freelance at the moment but with a similar family size. One advantage of having a job is being able to have a W2 for getting approved for a mortgage. I found that it’s pretty much an automatic denial to get a mortgage with only 1099 income, even if you make double/triple the revenue that a full time job could do. Appreciate the content!

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Totally agree! This is a great point. It would be extremely difficult to purchase a home just based on freelance work. When I purchased my house they didn't even really account for the freelance work I had coming in to prove income. It was really the full-time employment that helped the process. Thanks for sharing!

[@FilmedByHendrix]

I’ve been all in on the new deity stuff. Been very around with it. FX9 is amazing. I miss mine all the time. Love the transparency in the breakdown. Keep it up brother

[@TheRealHarrypm]

0:20 one thing I do miss about the 7" Atomos I had for a while was using it as a 25-59.97hz pannel over HDMI they make amazing portable monitors for grading and checking when you got a laptop with suspect pannel quality.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Yes absolutely! I do love the Atomos products. The only downside with the old 7in monitors is they chew through power so much. I would have to keep a ton of batteries with me. Other than that the quality was amazing.

[@TheRealHarrypm]

@@JoelGabrielsen Yeah they are definitely power hungry and run hot compared to some of the newest stuff, not even weatherproof too! I do like my PowerExtra NPF bats though PD passthough and 73wh runs for hours, sadly newer brands don't have both voltage and a percentage bar, small rig have copied the PD passthough idea though.

[@martinhernandezrosas6686]

Great video! As of last year I took on a full time creative job but I’m still doing freelance. Mostly to supplement my income but also because I love the projects I’m taking on.

[@T8Jacob]

this is a good breakdown. sometimes people get really excited about the tax break of buying new gear, but forget you have to report the used gear you sold as income. so in reality, if you sell Camera A for $5000 in order to buy camera B for $7000… you are really only getting a “$2000” write off.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Yes! this is a great point! I sell mostly of my stuff on eBay. They provide me with a TAX document I can turn in. Living in Arkansas I don't get a whole lot of local sales. If I do I try to get some sort of "Bill of Sale" that I'll try to turn as well. But you're correct. You do got to think about this as well when purchasing new equipment and selling old equipment.

[@12yfilms]

I love those Astra 6x. I have the bicolor, too. It sucks to have to buy the v-mount accessory for it, but it's so worth it. Lately, I've been replacing my 6x with my Nanlite 240C. Whether it's Astra or Nanlite, the v-mount and the Ecoflow generators help me keep these lights on as long as I need them to.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

That's awesome! Thanks for watching! I really do like the Astra for the easy setup. Everything is built into the light. All you have to do is plug in the power cable or battery. I have the Aputure F22C but those things have so many little parts and a ballast you have to carry around and setup. They are also too big and bulky to leave fully assembled. Im not familiar with the 240C but I will look into those for sure! The "Chimera Pop Bank Small" diffusion soft box for the Astras are the best I have used. Better than the aputure quick soft boxes. I would highly recommend them - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1459610-REG/chimera_1624_pop_bank_1x1_led.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI%3A514&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD7yMh2jA4IARFSAqetZlQnUjH6mr&gclid=CjwKCAjwxNW2BhAkEiwA24Cm9AshmM8I5WlLB8PX7gxSNyqwQ_RX3lG1FeWGhBqsv8oKLFmaZRq5FxoCpzgQAvD_BwE

[@12yfilms]

@@JoelGabrielsen The C100 package was a great idea! So innovative to come up with a plan like that. Thank you for this breakdown and for always sharing such great lessons! I'll check out the Chimer box too!

[@oospagheti]

Thank you so much for this video man! Really got what your way of thinking! Thank you for the advice!

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks so much for watching the video!

[@scottsmokerx]

I’ve been doing freelance video work for 5 years now and still see myself somewhat as a beginner, so thank you for sharing! I’ve taken the same approach-I’d rather own all my gear for 2 reasons: 1.) The tax purposes like you mentioned 2.) I live in (rural) Montana, so I couldn’t rent even if I wanted to. It also means I can’t really rent my gear out either, but it still makes sense financially. I appreciate your insights!

[@JoelGabrielsen]

That's awesome!!! Makes total sense. Montana is wonderful. Try to get out to Flathead Lake every few years. Amazing. Thanks for watching!

[@gracecinematic65]

Joel thanks for such great videos and valuable information.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

Glad you like them! Thanks so much for watching!

[@Victor-Rojas]

I assume that your full-time job is extremely flexible. How do you manage to book shoots during the week, especially during regular business hours? I went full time with my production company 6 years ago, but I have actually considered taking on a part-time job to have consistent money coming in, but I think it would be kind of tough because I sometimes get booked on shoots very last minute and many times for multiple days at a time. It'll be kind of tough to get away with that if I have a full-time job or even a part-time job. Just curious how you're making it work. Thanks for the video!

[@JoelGabrielsen]

You're right! This definitely is a juggling act. My full time job is very flexible. I have been with them for over 12 years. I do have a lot of vacation days saved up to offset. They are gracious with me taking random days off. They have been supportive of my freelance work being more of my passion. That being said, I do try to look for jobs that take place outside of work hours. I found a lot of half day shoots work good as well. Lots of Saturday shoots. I also worked with a university and 90% of the shoots I did for them were after 5pm. There definitely is a fine balance but it is doable! Thanks so much for watching!

[@4icefilm]

Great video Joel

[@allen_bernardo_jr]

Man this is video came at a pretty opportune time, for me I've been pretty set on eventually leaving my full time job and just being able to someday be full time freelance, and granted I still am leaning that direction... though if anything it may be year or more away lol but your perspective has got me thinking, maybe keeping my full-time job and building up my free-lance like what you're doing isn't such a bad idea, considering things like benefits and all from a full-time job. And in a way I sort of even like my full time job, sort of. lol so maybe I won't be as quick to run away like I'd been thinking for a while now 🤔 I also like the one man band type of work more personally as well, not that I'd be averse to working with others but I just feel like I enjoy it more on my own. I know that type of freelance won't scale like a team would but I'm ok with not having a huge business with employees etc (at least with where my goals are now)

[@allen_bernardo_jr]

ps. darn it I just got to the part where you mentioned leaving California lol I still live in California so cost of living is astronomical lol but I'm still a bachelor so I don't have all the costs that you do 🤔

[@theloveproductions]

I'm so curious about your insurance for gear given you keep a lot the equipment at your home?

[@enriquegonzalez2674]

Do you collect Pokemon cards?

[@JoelGabrielsen]

@@enriquegonzalez2674 yeah! Ever since I was young. Always been collecting. Mostly vintage Japanese at this point but my kids love the new stuff.

[@enriquegonzalez2674]

@@JoelGabrielsen just got back into it when I found my original set from when I was a kid.

[@JoelGabrielsen]

@@enriquegonzalez2674 nice bro! Yeah it’s fun. I don’t recommend to anyone getting the “WhatNot” app. (It’s a slippery slope) But you can find some crazy cards on there.

[@enriquegonzalez2674]

@@JoelGabrielsen I went a little over board on eBay and picked up a bunch of vintage sealed product but it’s not as fun as opening up boosters imo

[@FilmedByHendrix]

I’ve been all in on the new deity stuff. Been very around with it. FX9 is amazing. I miss mine all the time. Love the transparency in the breakdown. Keep it up brother