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The Dutch Indies name is intended to denote "Dutch independent videographers". In our industry, the word "indies" has become a well-established label for professionals who produce their work in their own names and therefore work with rather than work for the larger post-production houses, broadcast facilities companies and broadcasting companies in the employment of which they may have actually started their careers. Many of these "indies" have in fact become their former employers' clients.
From an outsider's point view, the television production industry in the Netherlands may seem to have been marked by the consolidated growth of giant companies; from the point of view of the creative professionals, however, the trend has rather been towards fragmentation. This is because the larger companies have increasingly opted for the steady reduction of the number of people in their employment with practical skills in the creative arts. As a result, the standing army of video professionals has largely been replaced, so to speak, by a mercenary army of the same people. At the same time, most newcomers in our field, the people we call "starters" in Dutch, are all but compelled to likewise establish themselves as independent professionals as a result of the general reluctance of larger companies (larger in the sense of financial figures rather than staff numbers) to offer creative professionals steady career opportunities.
Dutch Indies Crews come in all shapes and sizes - each as pretty as the next (The crew in the second photo of the left column was actually a small Workstation team on location in the Telfort building - we will provide more detailed information in a later edition of this page.)
In everyday reality, most "indies" continue to work for the larger companies in much the same way as before except that they have now voluntarily or not assumed the burden of risk and underemployment. They can of course establish their own clientele but their ambitions are hampered by the general tendency of potential clients to automatically gravitate towards the larger companies of established fame. People prefer to do business with one of the "television format factories" most typically presided by former "soapies", often even with a total disregard of the actual quality of their work. In today's society, as in yesterday's, status is everything.
Left: "You call THAT a knife?!" The Dutch Indies Camera taking a stand at the Veteranendag 2006, June 29, The Hague. Right: screengrab from an HVX200 shot of Dutch classic sailing vessels taken on the North Sea off Hoek van Holland in April 2008.
As is size. It is fair to say that in the Netherlands a larger size generally inspires greater confidence. People readily expect camera trucks and cranes. They expect to see glamour behind the camera. And so we sometimes find that people on the set are actually disappointed by the physical size of our camera system. "You call that a knife?!" Size matters, to be sure, but the best size is not necessarily the biggest. It should meet both your needs and your budget. In other words: the best size is the best fit.
This is what a set might look like when our partners at the Workstation are mobilised.Whenever the requirements of the project call for a truly large crew, Dutch Indies will invariably team up with Workstation BV. This company has a solid track record in the organisation and management of complex productions, such as the production of the concert registration of The European Jazz Trio on DVD. Also see Projects List.
This note is not intended as a rant but rather as an explanation of the added value of small-scale outfits such as Dutch Indies and their preferred partners. It is our contention that clients are quite likely to find the best and most suitable professionals for the job at such small production houses precisely because they are staffed by people who know from experience how to best tell a story on video or television.
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Left: A most occasional indie at Harlingen, September 2008. Right: scaling the walls of the city (The Defense Line of Amsterdam).
