According to legend, an ancient Persian king tasked one of his wise men with coming up with a phrase that would make a sad man happy and a happy man sad.

A couple of days later he came back with this: "This too shall pass."

It's the kind of phrase that will get you through that dreaded dental appointment. But also bum you out on day three of your perfect vacation. And it's the sentiment that the 300+ cast and crew have felt in the final season of NBC's Grimm.

Back in 1923 motion picture film pioneer George Eastman made a famous prediction about movies with sound--then known as "the talkies." 

He said, "I wouldn't give a dime for all the possibilities of that invention. The public will never accept it." 

We would throw back our heads and laugh at silly old George, except for the fact that of Facebook's 8 billion daily video views, 85% have the sound off. 

It's 18 frames per second and title cards all over again.

Somebody famous once wrote, "Those who refuse to learn from history are destined to flunk it." (Brynden insists this is not correct, but was voted down.)

The point is, at the New Year we should all be looking back as much as looking forward. Otherwise, twelve months from now we'll find ourselves with that depressing version of deja vu. 

So here we go.

In 1951, author J.D. Salinger published his novel "The Catcher In The Rye." It was an immediate commercial success and then as it received critical acclaim it became an even bigger commercial success. 

But Salinger soon grew weary of fame. 

Faced with increasing public attention, he retreated to Cornish, NH where he remained in virtual seclusion for the rest of his life. 

People like to point out that over the last six decades "Catcher" has continued to sell hundreds of thousands of copies per year. But what's almost never mentioned is Salinger's total failure in the film and video industry.

In the early 1970s Woody Allen claimed that what disturbed him most about porn films was the lighting. 

Well, (insert your favorite joke about Woody Allen's personal life here). 

But he makes a good point. 

Historically, low-budget adult films, like low-budget instructional videos, have not been concerned with setting the scene for the story and cueing the audience to the changes in the character arc.

Can we talk frankly for a minute about humor? 

We know that coming from us, this subject is going to raise few questions in your mind. 

The first is "Why are you talking about being funny? A soundstage company has no business commenting on creative." 

The second is "Why are you wearing a plastic arrow-through-the-head? That gag hasn't been funny since--well, it's never been funny." 

Tough questions. 

Swish once with Listerine Cool Mint and things start to get interesting.

Swish twice and they start to get crazy.

Swish three or more times and you better have your phone out, because something is about to go viral.

We cannot promise that your Kickstarter pitch video, shot at Cine Rent West, will earn more than $405,000 in pledges.

We can strongly imply that this will be the case, with lots of knowing winks, nods, and stories like the one you're about to read.

But you will NOT get us to put a $405,000 guarantee in writing.

So here's the story.

Droptree was producing a spot for Common Sense Media on a very crazy (sorry) ambitious schedule, which involved shooting sports scenes at three locations in one day.

Here at Cine Rent West they needed to get a shot of a gymnast performing on the rings while trying to talk on his cell phone. The point being--it's not a good idea.

Between its three principals, Ben Hayden, Chandler Vinar, and Jeff Johnson, DOA boasts a substantial resume of big name clients. 

From national brands like Nike and Jose Cuervo to major motion pictures like Catch Me If You Can, Twilight, and Seabiscuit, to series work for The Librarians, Leverage, and Grimm. 

While that's all pretty impressive, the reason we wanted to talk to them was to find out how they've been able to grow their business in an environment where budgets are being cut and the option of just shooting on a green screen with a digital set has become much more feasible.

We originally wanted to title this piece "Contractor vs. Employee: Dawn of Justice." But friends advised that it would confuse the readers, making them think we were reviewing the Batman/Superman film. 

Advice appreciated. Because the issue of whether to hire production crew as independent contractors or employees is so much bigger than the fate of Metropolis. 

This is about money and liability (which is also money).