Indie Rentals

I recently had the opportunity to work with Indie Rentals again after having not used the company for a year or so. I’ve always had pretty good experiences with them but this time was even better. They have become very well organized and have a lot more high-​end camera equipment. We had a few technical questions on set that they were helpful in sorting out. Overall, a great experience. Forrest was my rental agent and was very easy to deal with. I’ll be back for the next project.

After trying a couple rental houses, I stumbled upon Indie Rentals back in 2006/​2007, and they are STILL the only place I rent equipment from! They aren’t perfect, no one is, they will run out of the sought-​after equipment (reserve your Kinos at least a week in advance!), but for the price, experience and selection, Indie Rentals is the best! I write, direct, produce and act in comedy shorts for YouTube (
) pretty often and Indie Rentals are my go-​to guys to get our videos looking their best.

Good selection, convenient, good prices.
In the past, for small shoots, I’ve rented gear from Samy’s Camera. But Indie is a lot closer to where I live, plus their prices are significantly cheaper than Samy’s. So for my last small shoot, I rented a few Kinos, a fresnel light, and some grip gear, and I saved probably 25% on what Samy’s would’ve cost.
However, the process wasn’t perfect. We did have some problems with the one tungsten light we rented. The bulb blew out in the first hour of our shoot, and since Indie hadn’t given us any spare bulbs (like a lot of rental houses do) I had to send a PA back to them to pick up a new bulb. Well, they gave my PA the wrong size bulb (since it was our only tungsten light, they really could’ve and should’ve known what kind of bulb we needed), so this light was basically useless from then on.
But, I’m chalking this up to a minor misunderstanding and am renting from them again.

I like Indie Rentals a lot — Their people are down-​to-​earth, their equipment plentiful, and their prices reasonable. I developed a good client relationship with a few of their people, and have enjoyed not only hiring out their staff for shoots, but also chatting and developing a good repport in general. I’ve been going to Indie Rentals for 3 years, but recently stopped — Here’s why:
Ever since there was a theft of two of their REDs, they have required filmmakers to have ‘rented equipment coverage’, which I personally feel is unreasonable. I don’t know of any other equipment/​camera rental company in LA that requires more insurance than the usual million dollar liability insurance, and when I told them I had up to $ 25,000 of my own equipment insurance, I was told that it was insufficient even though all I wanted was a 5D rental over a weekend and I have literally not lost anything of theirs in the past.
Their inflexibility on insurance made me decide never to use them again, and I’ve since switched over to HD Camera Rentals or HD Pioneers. Filmmakers that have that coverage should definitely go back, but those that don’t (and I know a lot of you out there) should perhaps go somewhere else. That being said, I’m still a big fan of their work, and continue to wish them nothing but great success in the years to come.

I always rent from Indie. Their prices are reasonable, the equipment is always in stock and working properly, and, unlike some rental houses, their employees know what the heck they are talking about.
Might even use their equipment for the Ghostbusters reboot, if I can find out where Rick Moranis is hiding…

Now that current model DSLR’s are capable of capturing HD video, I’m grateful to have a rental house with great cameras and a wide variety of lenses. They even have a 24 mm f1.4 prime! I’m a still photographer, but they took the time to let me play with the camera and ask questions for over an hour — that was cool since all of my equipment is nikon and their cameras are canon. I went to my shoot with plenty of working knowledge of the 5d markII thanks to Indie. Keep up the good work.

I’ve been renting a 35 mm lens adapter and RED lenses from Indie Rentals for the past couple months for my senior film at Occidental College, and I couldn’t ask for better service. They’ve been very student friendly, and I will definitely rent from them in the future!

I had some problems with my last couple rentals, the last which I just had to canceled. (my previous review is below) Since then, the owner contacted me and apologized and told me they are working very hard to become what they once used to be. They did some internal clean up and things are going to be better. I appreciate the call and update to the company, and I will go back for my next project. Thank you!
***(previous posting from 10/9/2009)***I have been renting here since 2005, when they were in a small white building on cahuenga, back then they were nice, and cared about the customer, now 4 years later after several other rentals, they have become too big for their own good. They rush through orders so they make a lot of mistakes, over rent equipment so they have to give you what they have left, and the lady who answers the phone is so rude, i would say her name except I never understand what she says. if I am going to be paying you several thousand dollars I would expect a little customer service. It is a shame to not rent here anymore because I am all about being loyal to a company, but there are plenty of other places in this city with comparable prices that appreciate my business.

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE!!! Don’t use this place! I just joined Unilocal to write a negative review — I’ve never been this mad at a place before. So I used Indie Rentals about a year ago for a production and the equipment we were given was terrible. Everything checked out when we rented and returned, but we could use the lav mics we rented half the time because they were so full of static. Anyway, this weekend we used them again — I figured it was a fluke and I was in desperate need of a quick, cheap weekend mic rental — and never EVER will I use them again. We picked up the lav mics and a shotgun mic for use on Saturday, but when shooting came on Saturday none of the lav mics worked! We called them and told them the problem over the phone and after they talked to our director for about five minutes told us to come in and get new ones. It was later in the day so we hurriedly grabbed the mics and rushed over in traffic to get to the place before closing. And by rushed I mean we literally had 30 minutes to make a 4o minute drive. We literally made it on the dot and were greeted by a very unpleasant guy who seemed really unhappy to help us. He took the mics, messed with them a bit and told us the decibels were too high. Hm… they couldn’t have asked us to check that on the phone? They tested the mics, let us listen to them, things sounded ok, but I’m not a director and I head back to set. When I got there, our director listened to the mics, used them for one scene and then couldn’t use them again — they were full of static! Then the boom mic stopped working for 30 minutes for no reason at all. The next day we couldn’t use the lav mics AT ALL. We returned the mics Monday morning, and were told that because one of the lav mics doesn’t seem to work — if they can’t fix it – we have to pay for servicing it! Apparently, because we didnt call instantly to report the problem, it’s our fault! Not only that, but the same guy who helped us earlier was the one who called me to explain this and was incredibly rude. Then he had the nerve to say «well when you guys came in to get the mics fixed the cords were all tangled and manhandled which could lead to damage.» Seriously? You mean the rush job we had to do because THEIR MICS DIDN’T WORK!!! So mad — not using them again… ever.

As an independent director/​producer, I have to find the best places for me to get equipment for just the right price. So far, Indie Rentals has been there for me with exactly what I needed when I wanted it.
They’re a small operation with your basic needs for lighting, some audio, and camera. They do have the RED ONE in stock and provide training (I have not worked with that camera at this time). When I do my order, I usually work with Forrest and he’s always helpful in getting me what I need.
On the equipment side, overall, I have been pleased with what I get for the price, but have been somewhat disappointed by the upkeep of some of the equipment. I recently had to get several Kinos for a shoot, and the diffuser was pretty beat. Not to mention that the Kinos and spare lamps didn’t come with travel cases and everything had to be carried free hand. I asked about why there weren’t travel cases or even cardboard boxes for the extra lamps. The response I got was that «they get beat up so quickly» and «they never come back when we give them out». Well, then charge the people that lose them because the rest of us would like to protect your equipment and make sure it works once we get it on set and so it functions when we check it back in to you.
Some of the flags and silks that I rented also had tears in them which was also a bummer. Nothing that a little gaffe tape can’t fix in a pinch.
Overall, despite that some of the equipment shows a little wear and tear, I’m very pleased with the quality of service and the relationship that I’ve started with Indie Rentals. I will continue to go back here for my smaller projects and wish they would consider getting more travel cases for their equipment and charge those who destroy or lose them like other production rental facilities.