Finding paid gigs as a video producer in this highly competitive marketplace could be a bit intimidating, especially for those fellow filmmakers who are just starting out and lack the confidence that they’ll be able to sort things out on their own.
But if filmmaking is your true passion and you feel it in your bones, odds are you’ll succeed in one way or another, sooner rather than later, as learning from the experience of filmmakers who already managed to pull this off and create successful relationships with clients is just one of the places to start looking for a viable solution.
In the next video Cooper of Cooper Films shares his approach in finding paid gigs as an independent filmmaker and video content producer and particularly how he got his first job in the industry.
Even though many of you would argue that doing spec work or free pitching isn’t a viable option whatsoever, sometimes this is the only way to get noticed by clients. Moreover, as Cooper claims, that approach not only helped him to persuade his first paid customers but also allowed him to find projects that he actually loved to shoot.
As he points out, clients won’t hire you unless you show them a professional looking portfolio as they want to see the work you produced in the vain of the content they are aiming for. That way, they not only protect their interest and hard-earned cash but also try to convince themselves that you as a filmmaker are the right person for the job.
Shooting spec pieces up front and putting them online is just one of the ways to show potential clients the quality of your work, thus giving them all the reassurance, confidence, and trust they’ll need to assign the job to you. That’s also how you’ll establish yourself as a professional and start marketing your services towards multiple companies and brands. The more versatile is your portfolio, the better chance you have to be called for the job.
All in all, going out and shooting the things that you want to get paid for while doing that for free might not be the perfect place to start with but it’s certainly an option. As Cooper notes, your clients won’t just magically appear as you have to put all the hard work in advance.
That way you’ll be able not only to build a solid portfolio over time and have more experience as a professional but most importantly, you’ll be able to gain enough confidence to approach clients that you might consider as unreachable and out of your league in the early days of your career.
[source: Cooper Films]
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