on that note just because someone has a press card it won’t stop the cops taking away your flashy broadcast quality camera and/or demanding the hard drives out of your AVID – and it won’t matter for shit that all your clients ad projects are also on those drives

they have already done this to BBC manchester a few years back when some of the youth TV lot were being a bit too “rave friendly” in what they were filming – and other freelancers working for various media places were similarly treated

or they may say “we won’t take away your kit if you let us have your untransmitted footage”, and what will the filmmaker sacrifice, several grands worth of possibly hired kit or his/her integrity?

I don’t even mean here to imply its all a stitch up but I know how a lot of low budget projects are made – the camera op is often a freelancer and paid for the equipment out of their own pocket. The Insurance policies for such equipment cover some risks but not seizure by law enforcement as otherwise the insurance company could be accused of funding criminals. That camera is their livelihood, and even if they lose this gig keeping the kit means they can get loads of other less risky work like advert shoots and corporate videos. What do you all think a lot of them will do?