We were lucky to catch up with Isaac Crane recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Isaac, thanks for joining us today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.
My business three years ago looks nothing like what it does today, and I would be foolish to say that was all because of me and my hard work. Although I put everything I have into my work, the only reason I have been able to scale up is through the generosity of others. This is not to say that strategy and grit are not crucial aspects of my business, but the only way to truly have some form of independent business in the entertainment industry is to help out others and receive help from others who are on similar journeys. You can try to cheat, steal, and scheme your way around the system, and that may work for a while, but there is no long term success and definitely no fulfillment.
Becoming an owner/operator and a rental business was not even a thought that crossed my mind. I genuinely just thought it was so fun having lights. For every birthday or holiday, I would only ask for lighting gear, and my family did not understand it at all, but it definitely made it easy to get me a gift. As time went on and I started working more professionally after graduating, I noticed that I had to rent gear on almost every project. I would offer my lights, and they would usually accept, but then I would have to sub-rent a massive amount of gear. In fact, most times, I would just use money from my rate in order to sub-rent gear. At this point, my friend who I was sub-renting from noticed how often I was hitting him up, and he presented me an extremely generous offer. He proposed that I can tell people I have all of his equipment as if it was mine, and then he would give me a discount on the rental too. Now that I do run a rental business, I realize even more-so how kind this offer truly was. I agreed, and it was off to the races. Work started flowing more and more, and I was able to fine tune exactly what people seem to be renting the most: items I would used on every single set. I realized quickly that the big items are great, but the most consistent thing I’m renting is C-stands, stingers, and sand bags, so I finally caved and bought some. That was the first step of many, and it is largely thanks to my friend.
Simple purchases like stands and bags started to shift the flow of money in my direction over time. The bigger lights were not needed on every set, so it still didn’t feel worth it to make a huge purchase like that. The problem was that when they were needed, I would still lose 90% of the rental to sub-renting. At this point, one of my good friends who I worked with on almost every set was in a similar situation in terms of equipment. He had plenty of work, but was always losing the rental battle. We decided to pool our money together and make some of the bigger purchases just to try it out. Piece by piece we were able to put together a semi-complete package that we were happy with, and the results were immediate. The projects we were able to work on and supply equipment for seemed to grow in size very quickly which was fantastic, but there was one problem…. our cars could no longer fit all of our gear. I knew I was going to need a van at some point, but I had no idea it would be so soon. At this point, we still didn’t have money for a van either, so the business went stagnant. There was a line we simply could not cross without more space.
The van ultimately did come, but it was not of my own accord, and I admit that with full humility and gratitude. My parents had just sold their business and were finally able to crawl out of debt and then some. They told me they wanted to help me and asked me how. I told them about my situation, and they were able to help me buy a van. That single act of generosity changed everything for me. The van completely doubled the business almost overnight. Now, there is a bigger future for this business that I never could have even imagined 3 years ago. All of this is to say that I am extremely lucky with how people have freely given me so much. Whether that is Christmas gifts from family or generous help from friends or a life changing gift like the van, I am just so thankful. I try to keep that same generosity flowing in my business now. Any way I can get people a discount or bring gear for free, I try to do it. This industry is dead if we are not helping each other out.
Isaac, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Isaac Crane! I grew up in the small town of Loveland, Colorado, but I somehow made it out to Los Angeles. God had a plan for me that I never could have expected, but it has been an amazing adventure seeing it come into fruition. I never thought I would work in film, but every step of the road led me here. I graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2023, and I have been working professionally ever since.
I primarily work as a cinematographer and gaffer, but I am also a gear owner and run a small rental business. While my business does rent out gear often, the primary focus of the business is to be a owner/operator. I absolutely love working with my hands and leading a team on set, and I don’t think I could ever see myself giving that up. Additionally, I love the gear, and I want to take great care of it, so I prefer to be on set with it.
The most popular productions at the moment are vertical drama series, so I do find a lot of business gaffing and supplying equipment for those projects, but my services have been used for any and every kind of production. The equipment package is still growing, but it is certainly enough for almost every project I have worked on so far. I think what sets me and my business apart is the efficiency that my crews tend to have as well as the generosity I do my best to offer. I never want to overcharge or leave someone with crumbs because they spent all of their money on gear. I truly want everyone to be successful, an I’m willing to work with everyone to try and find a deal that works. At the end of the day, I just love cinematography, and my goal with all of this is to make beautiful images.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
In an industry where word of mouth is the best marketing there is, reputation really is everything. I believe my reputation was built upon kindness and efficiency. While my business is important to my life and income, I really do just want to help people at the end of the day, and I love making things work with projects even if they don’t think they can afford it. This is especially true with friends, and they all know that. Because of this, I think people generally know or at least I hope they know that they can always reach out to me, even if they feel that my help or my equipment might be out of budget. I always want to find a way to be helpful even if that is recommending other friends who might be a better fit for the job. Secondly is my work ethic. I come from a sports and training background where work ethic was everything, and I believe that carries into my work on set. Additionally, I have so much experience working quickly and even doing solo gigs with big set ups and not a lot of time. People often comment on how fast my crews and I tend to work, and that means a lot to me because time is money in the film industry.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
When it’s all said and done, I simply love lighting and cinematography. I could be making $10,000 in a day, and still feel disappointed at the end of the day if the footage was subpar. With that being said, I believe the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or a creative is when the stars align on a shot, and it looks exactly how you envisioned it. This means the location is perfect, the light is motivated from the correct place, the production design is shining, and the actors nail their marks. In these situations, you usually have to do the LEAST amount of actual lighting; you just shape what is already given to you. Nothing makes me happier on set.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://isaaccranedp.godaddysites.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isaac.crane16?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
