Independent filmmaking craft notes

Editorial desk

Get in touch

Contact the desk

Corrections, questions about a guide, and suggestions for what we should cover next. A real person reads everything that arrives.

Where to write

Everything comes to a single address, read by the same small editorial team. Mentioning which of the topics below your message is about in the subject line helps it reach the right person.

WHO RUNS THIS SITE

First Take Guide is published by Miami Video Productions, 13380 SW 131st St Ste 114, Miami, FL 33186, United States. Phone +1 (305) 305-3430.

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Postal address and phone

Post reaches us slowly, and we cannot accept unsolicited equipment or review samples, so please email first if your enquiry is time-sensitive.

Publisher Miami Video Productions, publisher of First Take Guide
Address 13380 SW 131st St Ste 114
Miami, FL 33186, United States
Phone +1 (305) 305-3430
Hours Monday to Friday, 9:00–17:00 Eastern Time
Response time Usually within three business days. Busy weeks can run longer; we are a small team.

What we can help with

  • Corrections. If a figure, convention or explanation in one of our guides is wrong or misleading, tell us which article and which paragraph and we will fix it on the page.
  • Clarifications. If a step in a workflow does not make sense, that is usually our writing rather than your reading, and it is worth reporting.
  • Requests. Tell us what you got stuck on. A large share of what we publish comes from somebody describing exactly where their first project stalled.
  • Reuse permissions. Ask before republishing our text or graphics; we usually say yes for non-commercial educational use with a link.

What we cannot help with

  • Personalised production advice. We cannot plan your shoot, diagnose your camera, or review a cut privately. Our guides are general information.
  • Legal questions. Permits, releases, music licensing and location rights vary by city and venue. Ask a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.
  • Paid placements. We do not sell coverage, links, sponsored articles or product mentions, so pitches of that kind will not get a reply.

Messages we cannot act on

Please do not send confidential material, unreleased footage, personal data about other people, or anything you would not be comfortable having sat in an ordinary email inbox. If you need to share something sensitive, write first and ask.