Repertoire on the Road!
AV Production on the road, that’s right, the video production company you know and love, Repertoire takes the show on the road. We’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel with some of our close partners, to their remote offices in foreign cities and foreign countries, to produce video content.
During these travels, we’ve had unique opportunities to learn a great deal and have taken away strategy we’ve used on every trip since. From packing gear to clearing customs, a heck of a lot can go wrong producing an event abroad if you’re not taking the proper precautions.
AV Company Packing for on the Road
Where is your event being held? If it’s not looking feasible to drive your gear, it’s looking necessary to fly. You’re not going to be able to practically fly speakers, tripods and other heavier items, consider locally sub renting those, but look to bring important, lighter items with you.
You won’t be able to bring many of your large road cases, but pelicans won’t be an issue. Flying with AV equipment is actually more affordable than many are aware. We’ll get into more detail on the secrets to that later on, but keep in general consideration less than 100lbs per case.
Take into consideration exactly what you’ll need for your event and what you won’t. Extra gear means extra weight. You don’t want to come into the venue underprepared, but road gigs push you to take that extra consideration. A little extra time on site before the event for setup and testing can alleviate these concerns.
Air Travel Remote AV
Traveling with camera gear via plane can be stressful and seem like a death wish for any remote AV event. Thankfully it’s not as terrible as it seems, plus with a few tips, it can actually be pretty easy and affordable.
Many airlines quietly offer a media rate for gear traveling via air travel. Southwest offers $75 a bag without weight restrictions, American offers $50 under 100lbs domestic and international plus Delta does the same at $50 and $70. Throw 75lbs in your padded Pelican Case and your camera gear is good to go.
Just print out a laminated “Media Credential” at your local Kinkos, just needs to have your name and face. Here are a few articles that are a tad more in-depth regarding airlines and their policies. We do always recommend calling or checking on the airlines website before booking, and ALWAYS FLY DIRECT, don’t let a missing case ruin your show.
https://fstoppers.com/business/flying-your-photography-gear-using-media-rate-60137
http://blog.storyandheart.com/blog/2016/3/14/filmmakers-avoid-paying-excessive-baggage-fees-for-good
Your SF AV Company on Wheels, Gear by Freight
Situations may arise where you have a large event in a relatively close city. We’re pretty accustomed to having clients host events down in Los Angeles, roughly 7 hours drive from our warehouse in South San Francisco. We wouldn’t typically fly gear in when working in LA, cost and practicality come into play, but this can make things simpler.
When we work in LA we’ll typically send as much as we can provide for the client in a truck to meet us upon arrival. Shipping gear via freight or sending down with your own team gives you the ability to send your larger/heavier equipment to your destination as opposed to sub-renting, which can be a bit more expensive and less profitable.
Costs do accumulate sending your gear on the road; it’s off the shelf for an extended time, you need to pay for gas, labor and vehicle costs ($3-$4 per mile) or freight when sending your AV equipment. Do your math and compare costs with your producers.
Event AV Delivery in Summary
All-in-All, there are quite a few elements that come into play when deciding how you’re going to get all the audio and video equipment you’ll need for your big remote event. Are you going to sub-rent it all locally, fly the gear with you via plane, or have it driven down and meet it at your destination?
Ultimately, distance is going to be the decider. Depending on how far away your event is and how much it’ll cost to fly will help you make that decision pretty clear. It’s going to be a crazy ride, we wish you luck and are always here to help if you need Audio & Video in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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