MZed to donate 20% of all new sales to Coronavirus fallout – plus personal thoughts.

It is hard to comprehend just how much turmoil our world and lives are in right now and how worse things are most likely going to get. Everyone I know in the business is facing a really challenging time with little to no work in the coming months and with most of us being freelancers, we have no backup from the government. So it’s easy to feel incredibly down… but it is also a time when you see the the real good in people come out. When individuals and companies step up and do something. MZed is one of them and I am proud to know them and be part of their team of educators.

During March and quite possibly longer, they will be donating 20% of ALL purchases, whether for individual classes or their MZed PRO membership to help people in need of food in their home town of Los Angeles via the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Many of these in need are children.

This is such a great thing that they are doing and I really want to thank Scott Emerton and MZed for being so generous at a time where all businesses, including theirs, will be suffering financially in the coming months.

I’ve done two masterclasses for them; my “Cinematic Masterclass” in 2017 and most recently my “Filmmaking for photographers”, which took me almost a year to make and ironically I was editing it for almost 8 months, during which time I had long spells of self isolation, going days and even weeks without leaving my home. This finally ended when I finished the mammoth series at the beginning of last month. Foolishly I followed that with my 2 hour review of the Sony FX9  that I put out a few days ago, which was also a massive amount of time spent locked in at home editing! I’ve spent more time at home in my edit suite this past year than I have in the past 10 years!

I was supposed to be back doing a number of shoots recently, which really excited me, getting back out there into the world and doing what I love, filming. Well they’re all been cancelled or delayed and who knows for how long. I am sure this sounds very familiar to you. So I guess I will spend my time catching up on those reviews I said I would do when I found some time…so there will be a lot more time editing in my edit suite to keep my sanity by trying to keep busy even if they are made just for the community and not paid work. It’s a really lonely old thing though… I can’t even go see my parents as they are in a high risk category and until I know that I have had this thing and beaten it I can’t go anywhere near them. It is just too risky and I would never want to put my mum and dad at any risk.

I am thinking of you all during this crazy time and hope you can find ways to keep things going, both financially and mentally, as well as stay healthy. The filmmaking community is not a big one and I am sure we will find ways to help each other out.  Hopefully we can get through  this as quickly as possible and with the least loss of life possible. None of us have gone through anything like this before, so please try and be strong.

There is an upside, nobody is going to be saying”When are Sony going to release that A7S III?” for a while now!

. If you are interested in any of the MZed educational courses or membership head over there to check them out. 

 

Anyway here is the official release from MZed:

There are many people who are suffering right now as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world, and we’re deeply saddened to hear news from our friends and extended family who are impacted.

With event cancellations and business closures shutting down a majority of film, TV, and corporate video productions, many of us in the filmmaking industry are suddenly left without work. While health is everyone’s number one priority, the financial repercussions of this pandemic are still hard to stomach. The hardest hit are the less fortunate among us who were already struggling before the cancellations began. We all need to do our part to help one another through this difficult time.

Right now, 20% of all MZed purchases will be donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. That means that for every new MZed Pro membership you’re donating $60, which equates to providing 240 meals to feed hungry children, seniors, and families. The same goes for membership renewals, and course and lesson purchases. We’re planning to do this at least through the rest of March but possibly longer as the current situation changes day to day.

LA Food Bank

The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest district in the US, with about 600,000 students. Over 400,000 of those students rely on free and reduced-price meals. With LA schools shutting down the sad truth is that many of these kids will go hungry.

In addition to the lack of meals, school closures means many parents have to stay home from work. For some parents who are already living paycheck-to-paycheck, the Food Bank plays an essential part in meeting basic family needs.

MZed is based in Burbank, California, and with the majority of the film industry located in Los Angeles, we want to do what we can to help our neighbors and community. However, we know the coronavirus is impacting nearly everyone around the globe, so we encourage you to help where you can, locally, nationally, and around the world.

Thank you for support!

 

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