Black Chip Collective | career development

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career development Tag

Apr 11 2018

Fitting In to the Freelance Recruiting Process

Imagine a full production or post production team is a jigsaw puzzle. Your potential client is missing one piece. That could be you. IF you can make yourself fit the puzzle rather than expecting the puzzle to accommodate you. To understand how to achieve this, you'll need to make sense of a hiring manager's process. We spoke to some producers who walked us through what the hiring process looks like for them. The recruitment process almost always starts before any particular crew position opens up. "We’re not always actively hiring, but...

Feb 28 2018

The Experience to Be a Leader

Everybody wants to be the boss. Or rule the world, if you ask Tears for Fears. But how do you get there? And, more importantly, what experience prepares you for these top positions? TV/Studio Exec Traditional Career Path: Assistant > Junior Exec > VPHelpful Background:ProducerGreat managers understand the people they manage and the challenges they face. Execs often work with producers to develop and execute projects and they need to understand how they work, how they think, and how to set them up for success. Any Creative Production JobIt's no secret that nearly...

Nov 29 2017

You Need a Freelance Contract and You Want These 6 Things in It

I'm not an attorney. I can't write your contract for you. And if I was an attorney I probably still wouldn't, because that sounds painfully dull. But I know enough to know that you absolutely need a contract with every client. At the least, it clears up expectations and in worst case scenarios, it keeps you from getting screwed.There are plenty of standard freelancing contracts floating around the web that can be adapted. And you don't even need to be a lawyer to write or adjust your own, although you...

Oct 26 2017

No Video Freelancer Should Ever Work for Less than $30/hr

Now Hiring: Director of Photography for 10 day projectRequire 10 years of experience and must own Alexa or better.Total Budget: $40 If you're in the industry, this probably made your blood boil. As hyperbolic as it might be, we can all imagine seeing something similar. Maybe because our industry is so competitive, possibly because it's creative and fun, or maybe because people are just terrible, but film and video crew are frequently called on to work for next to nothing. We're not the only ones, certainly, but it does seem especially...

Jul 26 2017

The Only Reasons You Should Ever Work For Free

Being a creative professional pretty much guarantees that at some point you'll be asked to work for free. You'll likely also get the 'do it for the expooooosuuuuureee' manipulative spiel (side note: I've been a creative professional for over a decade and have never gotten a job from exposure of another project, despite some of those projects being seen by millions of people) or some vague promise of back end compensation from a total hack who has never actually been able to turn a profit from a creative project. But on...

Jun 28 2017

The Danger of the Jack of All Trades Crew Member

I was once talking with an animator about the film 'The Life of Pi'. We were discussing the extraordinarily high quality of the CG."It's all specialty," he said, "Putting together a team with specialists who each know how to do one thing extremely well."I agreed, but lamented the direction the industry was going."15 years ago I would never have been asked to do sound design or motion graphics or even color," I said, "But if I tried to be strictly a picture editor today I'd never survive. Everyone wants someone...

Jun 07 2017

To Buy Gear or Not to Buy Gear?

Film students are perpetually asking what the best production gear is to get at any given price point. Yet almost none of them stop to question whether or not they should be buying gear at all. Gear isn't automatically a good investment for anyone at any stage of their career; like computers, production gear typically depreciates in value rather quickly, frequently giving you between 2-5 years to make a return. Often renting makes much more sense but is significantly underutilized. We've listed out the pros and cons of buying gear for...

Apr 12 2017

4 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Enough Freelance Work and How to Fix Them

A freelancer really has 2 jobs. The first is to be absolutely great at what they do. The second, much more difficult and painful job, is to consistently find work. It's something that the vast majority of freelancers struggle with regardless of experience level. The bright side is that freelance work snowballs- as you build a client list, you not only get repeat work from satisfied clients, but get referrals, meet contacts, and spread word of mouth to ease your work search strain. In the mean time, here are a...

Mar 24 2017

Career Success in Post Production- Interview With Zack Arnold (Part 2)

We caught up with Zack Arnold, an editor of 15 years, who has worked on a multitude of project types including feature films, film trailers, and TV shows such as Burn Notice, Empire, and briefly on Glee. He is also passionate about health and created Fitness in Post, a resource to help creative professionals stay healthy in demanding, sedentary jobs. We talked to Zack about what someone needs to find success in post production and how best to build a career. PART 1 Q: What would you tell someone who was graduating film school...

Mar 24 2017

Career Success in Post Production- Interview With Zack Arnold (Part 1)

We caught up with Zack Arnold, an editor of 15 years, who has worked on a multitude of project types including feature films, film trailers, and TV shows such as Burn Notice, Empire, and briefly on Glee. He is also passionate about health and created Fitness in Post, a resource to help creative professionals stay healthy in demanding, sedentary jobs. We talked to Zack about what someone needs to find success in post production and how best to build a career. Q: What traits do you need to be a good editor? A: In order...