William Sargent and the Mini-Crab Dolly

In a future post, we will be taking a closer look at the acting career of William Sargent. Not only was William Sargent the genius designer and inventor of the Mini-Crab Dolly, he was also an accomplished actor, leaving his mark on both stage and screen. Soon, we will be posting awesome photos of Mr. Sargent in some of his memorable acting roles.

But first, here are two very rare business cards. Click on the above image to enlarge. The card on the left was printed as Mr. Sargent and Mr. Kelljchian (better known as SarKell or Sarkel as noted on the card) were preparing for the SMPTE show in Los Angeles (as seen in the photos below). This was when SarKell first unveiled the Mini-Crab to the Hollywood film community.

The card to the right was used by Mr. Sargent after a deal was struck with Berkey-Colortran. Mr. Sargent was retained as the Project Manager during the initial manufacturing and marketing of the new Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly.

Here are a few pictures of the Mini-Crab prototype before being discovered by former Berkey-Colortran's President, Milt Forman.

A live shot of 'Sarkell", William Sargent on the left and his partner Robert Kelljchian on the right during a demonstration of the Mini-Crab Dolly in LA.

William Sargent, the designer/inventor of our favorite crab dolly with the actual 'Mini-Crab' prototype he built by hand in his Los Angeles apartment. It doesn't get any cooler than this, ladies and gentlemen.

Patent Number 3,297,337 - Camera Crab Dolly

The inception of our favorite crab dolly began right here with the following Patent Number 3,297,337.

Mr. Sargent's Patent Attorney's filed for the Mini-Crab's patent on May 3, 1965. The patent was granted on January 10, 1967. Click on any image to enlarge.

These are actual patent diagrams that William Sargent's Patent Attorney's drew for obtaining the patent. You can download and study the entire patent PDF (all 11 pages!) for the Mini-Crab Dolly at this link: http://www.google.com/patents/US3297337

The complexity of these drawings show just how brilliant William Sargent and his design truly is! The Mini-Crab is the Patek Philippe of dollies!

This diagram in particular shows the crabbing modes and how they are achieved by using the control that's located above the Mini-Crab's push bar.

For Sale! Camera Jib for the Colortran Mini-Crab

We have the perfect accessory for your Mini-Crab! It's the Camera Turret CT-300 Jib that's pictured above and throughout this blog. We used it extensively with Mini-Crab #157. It has the proper mounting adapter that would enable it to fit easily onto the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly.

The CT-300 is made out of aircraft aluminum and still being made today.The Jib head automatically articulates with the vertical movement of the Jib.

For specs, go to: http://www.cameraturret.com/

This professional Jib package includes the following; 5' 3" center Jib Arm, 3' extension Jib Arm, Monitor Bracket, cables for standard Jib length, cables for extension Jib length, counterweights bar, a tool kit, the adapter to mount Jib onto your Mini-Crab Dolly or use with your own tripod.

If interested or for more info, e-mail me at:
zarykfamily@twc.com

How to make money with your Mini-Crab!

Recently, I received an email from Mark L., of Los Angeles asking how we were able to generate income with our Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly. You may have seen some older posts of my son Adam and I using our Mini-Crab for MMA fights, etc. Click on the older post tab at bottom of page.

I found the price list (below) that Adam and I used in the Cleveland, Ohio area. We also offered a Jib, using a Camera Turret Model 300 that we included in our grip package.

You can certainly tailor your price list to include the equipment you have and the type of grip service you wish to offer. Your market may be stronger than the Cleveland area. I hear Seattle, New York City and Miami have a lot of independent projects going on. Once you create your price list, be sure to send it to all the independent producers and ad agencies in your area. I'm hoping this may help to generate some work for you! Let me know of any other ideas we can share with our fellow Mini-Crab owners. Use your mouse and click on this price list to enlarge.

  

Kentucky Educational Television & Mini-Crab #225

Recently, I received an email (below) from Lee Delaney, Broadcast Operations Manager for Kentucky Educational Television. Lee works with Mini-Crab #225 and I'm pretty sure this is the highest serial numbered Mini-Crab we have registered with the Sarkell Society. 

Thanks to Lee for sending these images of #225. Interestingly, I've seen the white Colortran decal shown above in other late model Mini-Crab Dollies.

We see Mini-Crab #225 having it's own dedicated parking spot at KET Studios.

There's no official final build number. It was once reported to me by the former president of Colortran, there were approximately 250 of these built! It's possible, #225 may be one of the last ones to have been assembled! 

Hey Greg,

My name is Lee Delaney and I am the Broadcast Operations Manager at Kentucky Educational Television.  After doing some research, I came across your site devoted to the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly.  KET has owned one of these for a number of years.  According to the plate, we have #225.  See attached pictures…..  We honestly weren’t aware of the high honor this dolly holds in the industry and that there were only about 250 of these made. 

A little about us:  KET reaches 5.5 million people via broadcast and is the largest public broadcasting network in the country, spanning the entire commonwealth and reaching into seven surrounding states through 16 transmitters from our Network Center located in Lexington.  Educational programs including the many incarnations of the GED series for use worldwide were produced here as well as many Arts and Public Affairs programs over the years.

How or when this dolly came into our possession isn’t clear, but it was used on numerous productions over the years.  It hasn’t been used for quite a while, but we still have it complete with seat, sideboards, weights, bottles, and it is still fully operational. 

Most notably it was run on the nationally distributed program “The Lonesome Pine Specials” in the late 80’s and 90’s.  It was used as the back of house bump shot between songs with the audience. Frank Simkonis, Producer/Director of Videography, and I (as a Videographer, my first job at KET) were the last folks to operate it for this production.  Recently, it has been dug out of its dark corner to be hopefully used again. 

Anyway after reading some of the info about this ol’ gal on your site (http://colortrancrabdolly.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=24 ), I just wanted to share with you the location of another one.  Attached are some quick pictures.

Regards,

Lee Delaney

Broadcast Operations Manager

Kentucky Educational Television

Oscar Winner's famed Mini-Crab #157 up for sale!

If you're in the market for a Mini-Crab, check out eBay as my friend, Steven Mahoney from Seattle has listed #157. My son and I had the pleasure of owning #157 for many years before selling it to Steven in 2011.

This dolly has great pedigree as it was once owned by the man who brought us 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', 'Roots' and TV's 'Welcome Back Kotter'. The previous owner was none-other than Oscar-winner, David L. Wolper.

No doubt, #157 is about the most complete Mini-Crab you can find. Steven was able to track down all the options offered by Colortran. In addition, Steven had a hydraulic company go through this dolly with a fine tooth comb and update the hydraulics. This dolly is up to specs and will give the new owners many years of trouble-free service.

Mini-Crab Inventor Extraordinare...William Sargent's recent trip with a good friend

The inventor of the Colortran Mini-Crab Dolly and his good friend, Hal Hansen, took a motorcycle trip through the beautiful canyons in Utah. 

"We rode to Emigration Canyon then to East Canyon via the Mormon Historic Trail. The mountain peak to the northwest would be Lookout Peak.  Emigration Canyon slipped down the hill, and they joined Mountain Dell Canyon to Big Mountain monument. The road continues to East Canyon State Park and on to the rest of the world", mentioned Mr. Sargent.

This snapshot of William Sargent was taken by Hal during a stop. Both Mr. Sargent and Hal have been friends for some 20-years. Mr. Sargent calls Hal one of the finest sound engineers around!  There's a photo of both William Sargent and Hal on a post dating back to December 2, 2010. Check it out! Also be sure to click on this image to enlarge!