Since I work freelance, there are times when I am in between jobs or gigs. I try to make this clear to my friends outside the film and TV production industry so that they don’t think I’m constantly unemployed. When jobs aren’t being offered to me, I use all of the job search engines out there to find my next gig. I’ve set it up so that the latest jobs are emailed to me, then I just quickly scroll through the list to see what jobs I’m qualified for.
Media Match is a good search engine. It posts current job openings along with over 80,000 TV and film professionals' resumes for employers to review. I especially like it when Media Match sends me an email telling me that there are companies out there looking for me. They call it a “missed match.” It makes me hopeful. You can check out their jobs board page here: "http://www.media-match.com/jobsboard.php".
* By posting this, I received a free's month subscription to Media Match!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Little People, Snakes, Multiple Births
About a year ago, a cameraman that I was working with told me that a trend in reality TV was stories about little people, snakes, and multiple births. My experience in TV production has yet to involve all three of these story lines but I have had some interesting opportunities.
When I worked as a field producer for TLC’s “The Little Couple,” I met Bill Klein and Jen Arnold who are both under four feet tall. They were considering having children which would be considered a high-risk pregnancy due to their small stature. I conducted the interview of the Perinatologist, Dr. Judith Rossiter, who counseled the TV couple on their decision. It was amazing to witness how Bill and Jen managed their day-to-day lives in a world designed for people over four feet tall. It made me realize all of the things I take for granted: driving a car, ordering at a counter, using a public restroom.
Fortunately, I haven't worked with snakes. I did conduct research on great apes and their habitats at the Jane Goodall Institute and learned about the producing of mammalian wildlife programs. The research was used in the Animal Planet's program, "Hope in Gombe."
With an all Japanese crew, I served as the coordinator and locations manager for their filming of a historical drama, “Sakano Ueno Kumo” that was scheduled to air on NHK (which is the Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It was an interesting shoot. Only one of them really spoke any English, so I spent most of the day nodding my head with a big smile on my face.
I won't be surprised if I see a reality TV show about snake-handling little people with eight children. It'll be interesting to see where the reality TV "trend" will go.
When I worked as a field producer for TLC’s “The Little Couple,” I met Bill Klein and Jen Arnold who are both under four feet tall. They were considering having children which would be considered a high-risk pregnancy due to their small stature. I conducted the interview of the Perinatologist, Dr. Judith Rossiter, who counseled the TV couple on their decision. It was amazing to witness how Bill and Jen managed their day-to-day lives in a world designed for people over four feet tall. It made me realize all of the things I take for granted: driving a car, ordering at a counter, using a public restroom.
Fortunately, I haven't worked with snakes. I did conduct research on great apes and their habitats at the Jane Goodall Institute and learned about the producing of mammalian wildlife programs. The research was used in the Animal Planet's program, "Hope in Gombe."
With an all Japanese crew, I served as the coordinator and locations manager for their filming of a historical drama, “Sakano Ueno Kumo” that was scheduled to air on NHK (which is the Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It was an interesting shoot. Only one of them really spoke any English, so I spent most of the day nodding my head with a big smile on my face.
I won't be surprised if I see a reality TV show about snake-handling little people with eight children. It'll be interesting to see where the reality TV "trend" will go.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Snowball Fight!
Snowmageddon. Snopocalypse. The snowstorm that hit Washington, DC on Friday, February 5th dropped two feet of snow - perfect for a massive snowball fight. The details of the fight were posted on Facebook and I actually had friends in other states telling me about it. I walked the few blocks over to Dupont Circle with my FLIP camera in hand. As I got closer I heard the din over the blanket of snow that turned out to be hundreds (thousands?) of people in the midst of a snowball fight. The visual was hard to take in, like a Hieronymus Bosch triptych:
Friday, February 5, 2010
Banff Film Festival at National Geographic
I love film festivals. Especially when the films are about things like kayakers narrowly bypassing hippos in the muddy rivers of Africa, a rockclimber struggling to conquer a sheer cliff in England, and a biker riding 20,000 miles on a tandem bike. I caught the February 4th screenings of the "Banff Film Festival" at National Geographic. It reminded me of the Kiwanis' Travelogue series my parents used to take me to when I was kid. The films were great but it would've been even better if the filmmakers had been there to discuss their productions.
I was curious how the tandem bike story, called
"Take a Seat" was filmed. A guy, by himself, seriously couldn't have filmed this whole trip alone. I found this on the site: "This idea was conceived always with filming in mind. I'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity to document not only the places but the people I encountered while I rolled south. So that is what I did, camera booms sticking out awkwardly from the bike or resting in my hand while I struggled with the free arm to control a fourteen foot, articulated bike and trailer. I couldn't begin to estimate the number of miles covered on foot, while I jogged up the rode to set the camera, then jog back to ride past it and pick it up again. Without the help of companions and new found friends however, the filming would have been nearly impossible. I have now come out the other side with nearly 200 hours of spectacular footage documenting every aspect of the journey. - Dominic Gill"
I was curious how the tandem bike story, called
"Take a Seat" was filmed. A guy, by himself, seriously couldn't have filmed this whole trip alone. I found this on the site: "This idea was conceived always with filming in mind. I'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity to document not only the places but the people I encountered while I rolled south. So that is what I did, camera booms sticking out awkwardly from the bike or resting in my hand while I struggled with the free arm to control a fourteen foot, articulated bike and trailer. I couldn't begin to estimate the number of miles covered on foot, while I jogged up the rode to set the camera, then jog back to ride past it and pick it up again. Without the help of companions and new found friends however, the filming would have been nearly impossible. I have now come out the other side with nearly 200 hours of spectacular footage documenting every aspect of the journey. - Dominic Gill"
Thursday, February 4, 2010
"Meet the DC Film Office" seminar
I was really excited to attend the DC Film Alliance's "Meet the DC Film office" on Wednesday. Kathy Hollinger, the director of the DC Office of Motion Picture and Television Development is working hard to get more productions here in the District and to make sure those productions hire local crews. She answered a lot of questions about how their Office is working on incentives for these productions.
I was interested in hearing about how the permit process is being streamlined for filming in DC. Obtaining the permits for the companies I work for is probably the most difficult part of my job. I haven't had a problem with obtaining permits from the film office, it's with another government agency (that I don't want to get in trouble for mentioning). When out-of-town crews don't want to abide by the permit process and they still get their shot, I sound like the squeaky wheel.
I was interested in hearing about how the permit process is being streamlined for filming in DC. Obtaining the permits for the companies I work for is probably the most difficult part of my job. I haven't had a problem with obtaining permits from the film office, it's with another government agency (that I don't want to get in trouble for mentioning). When out-of-town crews don't want to abide by the permit process and they still get their shot, I sound like the squeaky wheel.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Locations Scouting
I got a call last Thursday from a client who needed help in finding a location in DC for a meeting (the meeting was for 330 people). I love the challenges of finding a needle in a haystack. I started my research thinking I should be more prepared for these kinds of searches but each search is so different and unique that it's hard to be prepped for that exact search. If anything, I'm so thankful for the research tool I have in the internet.
When I used to work as an Associate Producer for an HGTV show, my job was to find homes converted from commercial structures. Easy enough. Although, the homes could not be multi-family structures (no loft buildings, etc), they had to be converted by the homeowners who lived in them, and they had to be cool-looking places. I used Google to find the majority of the stories (of course, with help from other people and sources). Sometimes when I'd get in touch with the homeowners, they'd ask, "How did you find me?!" I was able to find enough stories, from a real-live cowboy who converted a jail in Texas to a Nebraska family living in a "underground missile silo," for 3 seasons. The show was Building Character.
When I used to work as an Associate Producer for an HGTV show, my job was to find homes converted from commercial structures. Easy enough. Although, the homes could not be multi-family structures (no loft buildings, etc), they had to be converted by the homeowners who lived in them, and they had to be cool-looking places. I used Google to find the majority of the stories (of course, with help from other people and sources). Sometimes when I'd get in touch with the homeowners, they'd ask, "How did you find me?!" I was able to find enough stories, from a real-live cowboy who converted a jail in Texas to a Nebraska family living in a "underground missile silo," for 3 seasons. The show was Building Character.
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