In this YouTube talk, veteran producer Rob Perkins explains how the film and commercial production landscape has fundamentally shifted over the past decade. While companies now demand a wider array of video assets—commercials, social clips, vertical videos, website content—the number of paid shoot days for crew members is shrinking. Perkins walks viewers through the pre‑production budgeting process that forces producers to trim crews, re‑allocate money, and sometimes cut positions entirely, even before a call is made. He illustrates how last‑minute client requests for extra social‑media footage squeeze the same crew into longer days without additional compensation, and how this “more for less” model is now the norm. He also discusses the uncertain future role of AI, which could further reduce on‑set work by generating parts of a project in pre‑production. Throughout, Perkins emphasizes the enduring value of experienced crew who can improvise when plans fall apart, but he warns that reduced days translate into significant income loss for middle‑class film professionals. He offers practical advice on how crew members can stay relevant—by monitoring recurring client requests, learning emerging tools specific to their department, and preserving their core expertise—without becoming jack‑of‑all‑trades. The video ends with a call to action for a 15‑minute consultation and a teaser for a follow‑up video on the broader impact on filmmaking’s middle class.
Chapters
The film industry has changed, and I don't think it's going back to what it was. Companies are asking for more video than ever, but you may be getting fewer days. I know firsthand because I've been producing for more than 25 years, and I've hired thousands of crew members across hundreds of shoots coast to coast. So let me take you behind the crew list to what happens before it even gets made, and why good people still end up getting less work. If you understand what's changing, you can make better decisions before the phone stops ringing. 10 years ago, you might have been hired to make a commercial, and that was the only thing everybody was there to make. Now, a company may need a commercial, social content, YouTube pieces, vertical clips, and something for their website too. You'd think that would mean more work for you. So why are you getting fewer days? Something that would have gone through a traditional production company 10 years ago might be made internally now, or a creator might make it. Or a tiny crew. There are still plenty of jobs where you absolutely need a full department and experienced people in those roles. If I have a complicated lighting setup, I need a really good gaffer. If we have heavy equipment moving around, one guy with a backpack is not replacing a grip department. But on some jobs, I have to look at the budget and figure out what we can realistically do with the crew that we can afford. That's the part of this you don't get to see. All you know is that the phone didn't ring, but you don't know what happened before that. I might have wanted you on that job, but the budget got cut, or the client added new deliverables and I had to move some money around, or someone asked, do we really need that position on this one? All of that happens before the crew list is final, and when the budget shrinks, skill alone isn't what decides who gets that call. I start thinking about who I know, who I trust, who I've worked with recently, and who's good to have around when something goes sideways. Sometimes the job you agree to gets bigger after everything is already planned. We'll put the entire thing together, time out the day, agree on what we're shooting, and know we can fit it into one day. Then a few days before the shoot, and sometimes literally the day before, someone says, oh, by the way, we also have to shoot some social media scenes. And now I'm sitting there thinking, okay, where exactly is that supposed to go? From the client's point of view, I understand why it sounds easy. The talent and the cameras are already there, Just step off to the side and shoot a few questions. Okay, but they still expect it to look polished and match everything else we're shooting, even though we haven't added any time or money to it. We need somewhere to shoot it. It has to be lit. We need somebody to shoot it. And the crew doing that are the same crew already assigned to the main spot. They're not standing around waiting for another thing to do. So we're trying to find the time. And sometimes the answer becomes lunch, which I hate, or we start earlier and the day goes longer. Nothing magically became free just because the finished piece is going on Instagram. I've had this happen enough lately that it feels like part of the business now. Clients want more assets out of the same production, and somebody has to figure out how to fit that all into the same day. But that's only part of it. There's another change that could affect how many days I need you on set. By the way, if you want to talk for 15 minutes about how work's going, what to do if you're getting fewer days, or how to manage your money when work is inconsistent, I've got a few spots open. Click the link in the description if you'd like to chat. And everything I just described is happening before we even get to AI. Now, I don't know exactly what AI will do to production 10 years from now. I don't think anybody really knows. One way AI could affect production is before we even get to set. Say a client looks at a shot list and decides to use AI to generate part of the project instead. Those shots come off the schedule. You might still have the same position on the crew, but instead of 4 paid days, you're getting 2. But on the days we do shoot, I'm still relying on your experience for all the things we couldn't anticipate. The weather changes. The location doesn't look quite like the scout photos anymore. Obviously, the tech scout got cut out of that budget. Ouch. Somebody tells the camera you can't put it where you plan to, and now you have to figure it out. That's where your experience becomes incredibly valuable to me. When something goes wrong, you know your department, but you're also thinking, okay, here's what we can do instead. The tools may change, but I'm still hiring you for your ability to think on your feet when things don't go according to plan. Now, I wouldn't count on getting all your old workdays back just because production picks up. The film industry is used to working in cycles. Things get busy, then they slow, then suddenly everybody's working again. You could have a year where production spending is up, but instead of getting 90 days, you're getting 60 because some of those jobs are running with smaller crews and fewer shoot days. Clients can spend more and still ask us to get more out of the same shoot. And even if TV production picks up again, AI isn't going anywhere. You don't have to completely lose your career for this to hurt. If your day rate is $800, those 30 fewer days means $24,000 less that year. What happens if your lifestyle was built around the old number? If you've spent 20 years becoming really good at something and suddenly you're not working as much, your first thought might be, what did I do wrong? I can think just as highly of you as I did 5 years ago and still have fewer days for you. You already work hard. If you just worked a 14-hour day, you don't need me telling you the answer is to work harder. The economics around your work just changed. So, what do you actually do if you want to keep getting called for these jobs? I'd start with the last few jobs you worked. Were you hired for fewer days or asked to fit more into the day? You might notice people you know moving into a different kind of production, or clients asking for things they never used to ask for. When you keep seeing the same requests or hearing about that kind of work getting booked, I'd find out what those jobs need from your department. Say you're in the camera department and you keep getting asked to shoot vertical versions of the main spot. Find out how your department is handling that on set so the next time it comes up, you're already familiar with the process. You don't need to learn every tool that shows up, but when one starts becoming part of how your department actually works, I'd get familiar with it before somebody calls you for a job and assumes You already know it. I'd rather you notice those changes while you're still busy than discover them after the phone stops ringing. If you're a gaffer, you don't suddenly need to become a content creator, a salesperson, an AI expert on top of everything else. That sounds miserable. If you're a sound mixer, I want you to be a great sound mixer. I want to keep calling you for jobs even as what I need from your department changes. I don't know exactly what this business looks like 10 years from now, but I do want to keep working with you even as jobs change. And if production can pick back up without all of your old workdays coming back, that creates a much bigger problem because you can be good at your job, get hired regularly, and still watch the career you built become harder and harder to make a living from. That's what I get into in this video right here. What's happening to filmmaking's middle class, why I think it matters to you, and what I'd be doing about it now.
