My jobs are:
-President and founder of a video production company, Pretty Penny Productions, which involves running, planning and managing the business as well as producing and editing videos for my clients. Projects range widely from 30 second commercials to event videos to web videos. We are transitioning into a full service ad agency so I also have several clients who I generate entire ad campaigns, supervise media buys, etc. for.
-President and founder of a web development and graphic design company, Penelope Design. I mostly just supervise and manage this business and work with clients, I have a fantastic team who does the actual coding and design work.
-Owner of the F-Stop Camera Shop, which sells camera gear and provides services, specializing in film. I mostly just manage the books and marketing for this company, my business partner runs the store on a day to day basis and does all the processing, developing, etc.
-President and Founder of Hops / Scotch Entertainment which develops independent comedy videos, podcasts and other media for the web. Currently we produce two web shows and a podcast.
2. How did you get started in the business?
I started freelancing when I was a freshman in college and made a lot of little shorts and even a couple of features and two seasons of a comedy "public access" series in college. I felt like, through this work, I had a pretty good handle on the process and saw that my work was at least as good as many of the local producers in town so as soon as I graduated I started my own company. Since then it's been kind of a roller coaster but we've managed to grow every year so I guess things ain't that bad... knock on wood.
3. How do you tell someone over you (your boss) that you can't accomplish an assigned task?
My bosses, here, would be the clients. The most important thing is to make sure they are as involved as possible from the very beginning. When you make your client a part of the team they understand the problems and they root for you. Some clients want to give you 100% control and just don't want to worry about the process. This is great, from a creative standpoint, but when things go wrong it means they don't have a filter of experience to run the situation through. All they know is that something was supposed to happen and it didn't. The only solution in these situations is complete honestly and devotion to the client. If I mess something up I always make sure I put it to rights. There have been situations where the client has messed something up, usually by failing to communicate. These are messy situations because you can't just tell a good client that he or she is wrong. Often it requires taking a hit, doing some free work and hopefully learning a lesson to communicate the point very clearly with the next project that comes around and try to avoid it happening again.
4. Do you have any advice for a media student starting out?
Just do stuff! I don't understand students who go to classes, do their projects and that's it. You aren't getting an education at all if you don't experiment and try things on your own. I've made so many horrible movies, scripts and other projects - and I continue to make them - because the process of trial and error is what hones your craft. If you're just doing the bare minimum then that's where you're going to end up in the food chain. The guys and gals I went to college with who were working hard in college and doing side projects, freelancing, etc. are all working in the industry now. The folks who did the bare minimum - I hate to say it, but they're working not working in film and video. Which is probably okay, because this isn't a business you should be in if you don't absolutely love eating, breathing and sleeping in it all the way up to your neck. (I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to get into it for the money!)
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