FAQ

Q: How Much Does it Cost?

Well, it depends. But you knew that.

Unlike many companies that add big markups for "management", Alliance works basically on a time-and-materials basis. That means if you have modest needs, the expenses will be modest. And the more time it takes to get exactly what you want, the more the expenses go up. The good news is that with excellent planning, work gets done more efficiently, and costs go down. Sometimes dramatically. Once we shot 4 film-originated national network spots for a global company in 8 hours. Shooting budget was under $8K. Good planning by the producer.

Q: I need a training video for new employees. Do you do that?

Yes we do. We've done training videos for companies like Pepperidge Farm, Nestlé Waters, Perdue Pharma, Stew Leonard's and more. Generally they fall into two categories - Documentary style (two or more people act out the roles - great for sales) or Show and Tell (usually a laundry list of do's and don'ts - beneficial for task work).

Q: What kind of gear do you have?

A: More gear than we probably should, but we like to have tools at the ready. In production, we have small and large format HD cameras like the Sony FS-7, Panasonic AF-100, HPX-500, and HMC-150s, some GoPro cameras, a couple of DSLRs and a DJI Pocket Osmo, just for fun. In editorial, we're mostly Mac - Mac Pro cylinders (yes, we're waiting on Apple too) and an earlier Mac Pro tower. Apple Final Cut, Adobe and Avid Media Composer - the three A's are the basis of our cutting workflow, but we're getting used to DaVinci Resolve too. Too bad it doesn't start with an A.

Q: I need to get you some files. What’s the best way to do that?

A: We recommend WeTransfer.com.  Type in AVP.WeTransfer.Com - We also use HighTail, but we find WeTransfer is faster, and you can send larger files - their free service lets you send up to 2GB of files at a time.

Q: What about Sound? Are you guys just “picture” people?

A: Not at all. Remo DeNardo is our in-house "Golden-Ear" man. He has mixed numerous albums and videos, including the Emmy-nominated "Christmas is Coming" TV special all the way back in 1997 We have and support both ProTools and PreSonus Studio One, as well as Adobe audio products.  Our RealTrap-damped VO Booth is equipped for real-time phone patch for distant producers..