From the WZND studio at Illinois State University, Griffin and special guest Adam Rahn discuss their freelance video businesses—including LLCs and tax deductions. Plus, your questions about compressing video files for the internet, focusing effectively, and pitching your documentary.

Episode 15: Be a Financially Smart Freelancer

&quot;Hey Indie Filmmakers&quot; is a podcast about DIY filmmaking, cameras and technology, hosted by documentary filmmaker Griffin Hammond and tech expert Nick Bodmer. Watch video versions of these episodes on YouTube.

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Griffin keeps a full gear list at griffinhammond.com/gear – but 2022 brought some workflow changes, so it’s time to review and update his inventory. Plus, Nick decides to buy a new electric vehicle, and picks it up the very same day!

Time to update griffinhammond.com/gear for 2023!

Griffin didn’t buy the Insta360 Link 4K Webcam because it has a gimbal. But it turns out, auto-tracking movement is its most useful feature. Even better, the image quality outperforms the similarly priced 4K Opal C1 ($300), which is marketed as “The first professional webcam.”

Plus, Nick lets Lensa AI reference his selfies to generate “Magic Avatars.”
Nick is now on Mastodon: https://techhub.social/@ampsonicSo is Griffin: https://creators.social/@griffin

Also mentioned in this episode: Griffin uses this Westcott mini boom arm.

Didn’t realize I needed a gimbal webcam!

Nick has been writing prompts for AI images on Midjourney v4. Griffin’s been playing with DiffusionBee on Mac. Our faces may render horrifically in AI, but for many other use cases, the results are uncanny, with plenty of rapidly arriving ethical and copyright implications for artists.

Nick recommends listening to this interview with Midjourney founder and CEO David Holz.
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We look horrific as AI-generated art

Griffin shares his crazy experience filming Election Night in America—how much travel, expense and work hours go into building maybe 5 minutes of a television show. He earned a “Director of Photography” credit on Showtime, and safely navigated around a known COVID-positive team member on set.

The craziness of filming U.S. Election Night drama

The U.S. State Department has invited Griffin to teach DIY documentary filmmaking in Zimbabwe—should he do it? Nick says yes.We apologize for the delayed uploads. It’s been a rough month—Griffin’s mom Carol died mid-October, and he wrote this tribute to the positive impact she’s had.Many commenters have referenced previous episodes that featured Carol:March 2018 from the campus of Illinois State UniversityApril 2018, following Carol’s apartment fire

Episode 15: Be a Financially Smart Freelancer

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