I do pretty much everything non-video related for a living (right now anyways). I have a graphic design business, but have redefined my focus to be large-scale web development and brand identity instead of a one-stop-shop. I do design/brand work for Woodlands Church and Lakewood.

I still do contract photography and videography from time to time, but haven't done (or had time to do) any visual effects or motion graphics in 6 months or so (other than a few personal projects). I'm really trying to focus in on my own filmmaking now where I can tell the stories I want to share, rather than someone else's—although, I have had great fun working with some amazing DP's and other filmmakers out there.

Now I just need to collect a pool of actors in Houston. Then more movie making can begin!

Well, as of right now, unemployed. I work on a grounds crew at a golf course in the Metro Detroit area over the summer, get laid off before thanksgiving, go back around st. pattys day. I honestly love it, and if this whole music video directing thing doesn't pan out as I hope it will, I will be getting a turf degree and digging holes for the rest of my life. Lets hope thats not the case.

I manage to stay afloat with a part time bank job; usually work mornings, out by 12pm. I spend the remaining time of the day (pending Miami weather's bipolarity) either steadicam drilling or playing with my new redrock gear... I hope to actually film something soon.

Hi

I'm in the Video business for about 20 years now.
Starting as a camera assistant / boomer.
Then i was going to work in several German major TV Stations as a VTR / MCR Operator
In 2008, after some Hedge Found drop in, and taking over my last employer, i decide to going to be a freelancer again. So i grap my well compensation payment and buy myself a XHA1 and a Edius NX Workstation to produce some Webvideos. And yes ! Here is a market for to produce some kind of Imagefilms, Webvideos, Eventfilm...etc with HDV Equipment. But you must have the potential to take some years before you realy can life from that.
Right now i have invest in a second Camera, a JVC GY-HM700 ...

Best regards
Frank

Currently, as my day job, I work as a computer programmer; more specifically a Web Application Developer. On the side though, I occasionally do some still photography. These are mainly portrait jobs for people I know or who have been recommended to me, and sometimes I sell a print or too of my landscape work.

Perhaps some day I'll be a rich and famous film maker... but alas, for now that vision remains in my dreams.

I'm a musician full-time; video has been a hobby for me over the years. I'm interested in making music videos of myself (and possibly others if the projects arise). So video is a means of promotion for me....not a profession. In fact I've never been paid for video, although I've been paid for photography gigs.

Because I'm only 16 years old, I'm still in school. I work at a local store in the weekends to make my money. In the near future I want to start making videos for companies, so I'll be able to buy some more professional gear. I am currently saving all my money for an Apple iMac, which will become my editing system.

Greetings,

Kees Braam.

shoot with Sony and Cannon Video Cameras XL2 and a Sony Z1u do mostly live webcasts of surfing events, some skateboarding, and snowboarding...but I mostly shoot speedway Motorcycle racing, 16 races a year at costa mesa speedway and 10 or 2 other races at other tracks...post on the web and on YouTube. Working on a half hour weekly speedway show for local cable and the web. also shoot with the GoPro Helmet Cam

website is xtremespeedwayaction.com (http://www.xtremespeedwayaction.com)

I have had a lot of jobs since I started on DVi as a member a little over 7 years ago. Back then, I was in Creative Services at WPTV in West Palm Beach, FL; later a film school teacher (Palm Beach Film School), an independent filmmaker and producer, an editor/shooter in corporate video, and a producer/writer/shooter/editor of local commercials.

Well, other than freelance work, I am basically out of the production biz. I am now Senior Writer at TopTenREVIEWS, which covers consumer electronics and consumer software (including easy-to-use apps for photo editing, word processing, etc.). I've been a freelance writer for a lot of companies like VASST, etc., so it's cool to be a full-time writer.

Heath

I design and build creatures in Lightwave for use in (so far) TV movies.
I bought a Super 8 camera back in the 70's to make stopmo animation shorts but
had RL take over for a long time.....darn money and it's being a necessity to pay for rent and food!!
Had injury force a stop to my hard labour lifestlye and got some training in 3D in the late 90's. Have not looked back and now am looking to make some short films of my own. Integrating live action and 3D elements.
Hope you all won't mind a newbie asking what sound like silly questions now and then.
I promise they will only be asked once....I learn quickly.

Welcome, Greg! It sounds like you do some incredible work. And ask away--we're here to help.

Heath

Second the motion! This is a friendly place

I design and shoot special effects on a Phantom HD camera, I also am currently working on a green screen stock video project with 3 RED One cameras. I have recently taken on some free lance work shooting dance recitals and the like, and would love to get involved with some more live capture stuff.

Jim,

Welcome aboard! What studio are you at? I wonder if you know a couple of people I worked with on a film two years ago in St. Pete/Clearwater/Tampa.

Heath

I have a career update: I've left video/TV (and film) production for a bit to focus on my writing. I review consumer electronics and software, plus some pro stuff, over at TopTenREVIEWS as Senior Writer.

South Florida got hit hard by the economic downturn, even as far back as late 2006/early 2007 (when my last directorial effort on a feature took place). I co-produced a film in 2008, then nothing; we lost financing on a comic book film adaptation by late 2008. I found a job as an editor doing corporate video fall 2008 until spring 2009 when the company almost went under. In fact, a lot of my old friends doing straight TV/Video production are out of business or have slowed down to the point of getting full-time jobs for the first time in 20+ years!

I then worked for a company that took over video production for Comcast Spotlight. Most of the hires there were former Comcast employees, but it was crazy how it would go from a team of writers, producers, shooters and editors down to one or two people doing it as one-man-bands. Oh, and they charge a fraction of what costs used to be, just to get customers in the door.

Hate to sound negative, but it's tough in Florida. However, I can see things turning around at some point. I think the Miami Heat moves may drive the economy up, which definitely bleeds over into production.

Heath

Heath,

I work at Digital Juice doing mostly stock video footage work. I have no previous education or training in video, I started out as a set builder, and then learned the work flow as I went and pushed to get involved in production.

Jim,

That's awesome! I did a little work for DJ recently. My good friend Kevin P. McAuliffe also works with them. Great company, great products.

Heath

I'm a professional photographer in the motorcycle industry.

Wow almost 8 years since i started this thread, time flies too quickly and I've realized my time was not very well spent on the things that truely matter to me. I applaud anyone who is following their dreams and doing what they love to do instead of following society's 9-5 grind.

Currently I'm out of work, and may take this opportunity to take out the camera gear and do some travel documenting.... or do some PA work if anyone's working on a project :) (message me if you are!)

Well, for almost 10 years I did I.T. work but recently my job went by way of the down economy so I'm going to give my love of video a go. Been looking for all kinds of video work and I shoot stills as well. With any luck I'll be doing this full time within a year.

well this is a bit of a contrast to all you lucky people who get to work in some part of the creative process,
I renovate bathrooms,
smash them out one day, then about a week or 2 later we leave and the client has a big smile and I have a cheque to buy more video gear.
I must say, the manual labour of the day compliments all the non activity of sitting behind a PC.
I dont think I could sit still for 8 hours a day 5days a week.

Hi all, well, I do a bit of a lot of things... I have a 9 - 5 monday to Friday on a community College in the Bronx, NY. I work for the theater department. On weekends is when I come to life. I do low budget Music Videos, Short films, weddings, Sweet 16 and special events. A year ago I bought the Panasonic HVX 200A and started working on my own on weekends doing what I mentioned above. I realized that i don't have to go to Hollywood to have my dream come true so I'm starting it on my own. I like to coolaborate with whoever needs me and brings to me new and exciting projects :::||| I believe we all share the same passion for the Seventh Art ... I'm starting to feel at home already ...lol

I'm semi retired, but still have to work sporadically to fund my travels. I've done everything from cleaning toilets to digging graves - anything that is not connected to my former career in electronics and IT. Right now my wife and I are caretakers of a very small historic village and precinct. We live on-site and are the entire population - if you don't count the dog. The capital city of our state is 1500 Km (almost 1000 Miles for our US friends) from where we are. The nearest town with a population of more than 20,000 people is 1100 Km away, so you could say that we are isolated.

The job entails looking after a backpacker style accommodation complex (very small - 5 rooms), a small shop, all of the grounds, gardens and buildings, keeping the beaches and river frontage free of litter and talking to tourists. Fishing is mandatory - someone has to keep the tourists informed of what is being caught and where.

I am working hard at turning my amateur videography to pro videography but I can't see myself making a worthwhile living out of it. Just as well it is something that I enjoy immensely.

Cheers

Russ

Welcome, Russ! We hope you like it at DVI! That sounds like quite the job you have!

Heath

Thanks Heath,

I like it here already! Yes, it is a very unique job and you won't be surprised to hear that we get offers all the time to "swap jobs with us". Mind you, another 12 months will be enough and then we'll take two years off and just travel.

Cheers

Russ

Do you have a website with your videos and photos of where you're living?

heath

Hi again Heath,

I don't at the moment, but have been working on a webpage for a while now. Seems to always get put on the back burner! I'm currently writing a script for a short film about Cossack, which my employer has generously offered me time and resources (but not money) to create.

It's not a bad deal though, as they have a Local History Department that has masses of info and photographs that I will be able to access for free. I'll stick it up on Vimeo and/or youtube when it's done.

I might put my very first video of our travels up on the web and then when I finish the next one, I'll post it too - and then people will be able to critique me and tell me whether I'm improving.

Cheers

Russ.

Sounds pretty cool, we're looking forward to it!

Heath

Hi I'm Sophie from portobellofilms.co.uk. We shoot modern wedding video, with absolutely no cheesy nonsense. Please check us out a feel free to tell me what you think

Wedding Video (http://www.portobellofilms.co.uk/) Wedding Videos (http://www.portobellofilms.co.uk) Wedding Videographer (http://www.portobellofilms.co.uk/)

for a free feel

Welcome to DVinfo.

The juries still out as to whether or not I'm a dirty old man, but I am a speed reader, and I scanned that line backwards initially.

Picture "Wiley Cyote" screech of brakes, as I re - scanned and got the same result and thought, well, she's game!

Interesting sideline if true.

[I jest, of course, but did have to read that section a couple of times to get the real message.]

Shall check out the web site at leisure.

Once again, welcome and no, we're not all MCP's.


CS

PS:

Forgot to ask, whereabouts in London, I know it very well indeed, lived there off and on for nearly 30 years.

New member here. Just starting out.

I'm the lone engineer in a family of artists, writers and businessmen. I've always loved films and from the time I first saw Star Wars (the real one, not the ret-conned, re-sequenced, prequel-full silliness) I wanted to do Computer Graphics. At the time I was a 16-year-old super-geek programmer getting started in the burgeoning world of microcomputers. Went to engineering school, got my Computer Science degree and got into programming operating systems instead of Computer Graphics.

Jump cut 30 some odd years.

My son, who is a film geek as well as an excellent writer wants to join the rest of the starry-eyed kids who want to write/direct/produce their own films. From seeing my own brother get swallowed up by LA trying to start a screen writing career, I knew that if you didn't own the equipment to make your own films you would always be subject to the whims of those that did.

So I told my son he could go to LA and take his chances or I'd finance the camera / lighting / editing equipment and we'd make a little film right here in Colorado. He was more than happy to and I can say that it's been a kick ever since.

Right now were about to start filming our first short feature. It's a little scary, truth be told. We were lucky to attract some very good young actors and the short script that my son wrote is actually quite good, even if he is my son.

We have a nice DSLR film rig, acceptable lighting kit, good script, good actors and we just took care of finding our last location. Finding the right location was unexpectedly hard. Something that I couldn't imagine. How hard would it be to find a Victorian house where someone would let us film? Harder than you'd expect. As Robert Rodriguez says, write not just what you know but what you *have*. I tried but couldn't find a creative solution to get a free house for filming so I hosed the problem down with money. One week worth of filming in a large, furnished, historic Victorian almost-mansion = $1000. Ouch, but it would probably be a lot more expensive in LA.

So if everything goes according to plan we start filming on Dec 28th. (crosses fingers)

We have some outdoor scenes that we film in mid-Spring 2011 and then it all goes into post, where hopefully after a couple months of editing / ADO / sound etc we get ready for the early film festivals.

Good luck in your endeavors....

Welcome aboard, Jim! I'm really excited to hear more about your short. Make sure you visit our Techniques for Independent Production Forum at DVinfo.net (http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/techniques-independent-production/)

I'm from Denver, so it's nice to see more filmmaking action out there!

Heath

I've always been in theatre classes all throughout middle and high school and I love stage acting. But even more so, I love directing and editing. I attended Austin Community College for an Associates in Film.

After that I made a couple short films and helped make one that even won and award. I've always wanted to be a star, revered for awesome art films with great stories. Not some b.s. like *inserthollywooddirectorhere*. Dreaming of one day making millions of dollars, I started teamkproductions.com | (http://www.teamkproductions.com) About 2 years later I started taking things more seriously.

I still have a dayjob/career. I am a Service Advisor at First Texas Honda. I've been working in the dealership enviorment for the past 10 years. That job pays me well enough to cover bills, but not well enough to pay for ALL the startup costs I'm encountering.

I left video production last year to pursue a writing career at TopTenREVIEWS.com, but I still dabble in video, doing small freelance gigs here and there. In South Florida, the rates for production dropped so low, that I was hired as a one-man band doing commercials for Comcast Spotlight.

No film work since April/May 2008.

Heath

I only just now noticed this thread, and thought it would be a good time to add my story.
I worked for 36 years in the aviation industry, and retired last summer at 55.

I'd never had any intention to retire at 55. 2006 changed that for me. I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in my jaw, and after many surgeries, radiation and chemo over the course of a year of suffering, I realized that life was far too short to put things off.

So, retire I did. Two weeks later, my wife was promoted and transferred to a new city where we knew no one, about 500 miles away. My retirement plans had photography and videography in them, jsut not in a brand new city in the middle of the Canadian Prairies.

I finally arrived the beginning of October, only to leave 5 days later to work on a humanitarian/medical/dental aid trip to central America. I was the trip photographer, and one of the "gofers"

Returning to Canada, I was told that the Dentist I had gone down with was being given a humanitarian award, and since I had just finished shooting one of his trips, would I be interested in producing a tribute video for the awards presentation.

I jumped on the opportunity, and over the course of three months met and interviewed a large number of people from all levels of business and government. During this shoot, I discovered that the area we were now living in had a huge hole in the videography market; hundreds of camcorder wedding shooters, a couple of full scale production houses doing T.V. work and no one doing smaller scale stuff.

By the time the first project was delivered, I had 5 additional ones signed. The day after the presentation was shown, I had increased that number to 14.

I developed extremely good connections throughout business and governement very quickly, and have been doing work for the Provincial Government, the Lieutenant Governors office and did a shoot last week for a federal agency. There is enough work around that I've started to seriously consider bringing another camera operator on board. It's funny how it's worked out so far....what initially appeared to be a sentence to purgatory is now looking more and more like a vibrant business opportunity. It's definetly a step away from where many videographers start out..with wedding work. Nothing wrong with it at all...it pays well. it's just not my thing, and I promised myself when I retired I would do stuff I LIKED to do, not HAD to do.

I like doing interviews, scripting, shooting, and editing...the full package stuff. I'm going to keep doing it too, until they catch on :^)

WOW! Congrats!

Wow, Wayne, what a great story! I'm glad you're doing well with the business and life! Congrats and welcome aboard!

Heath

I only just now noticed this thread, and thought it would be a good time to add my story.
I worked for 36 years in the aviation industry, and retired last summer at 55.

I'd never had any intention to retire at 55. 2006 changed that for me. I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in my jaw, and after many surgeries, radiation and chemo over the course of a year of suffering, I realized that life was far too short to put things off.

So, retire I did.

I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. : (

The rest of your story is very inspiring!

To give my story: I'm a stay at home mom with kids getting a little older and I am able to do more with my small videography business. It's amazing how much stuff is coming out of the woodwork! I have a couple weddings booked, a video bio I'm working on, some music videos I do for my niece, and have recently been approached by a local mom's ministry group who want to promote themselves. I find it all very exciting and challenging. I am very blessed to be able to work on stuff I love slowly and in pace with making sure I'm here for my kids.

I have been on the corporate, educational and marketing side of the video business for 40 years. Yes, a long time. I have done a lot of medical and corporate videos for fortune 500 companies in a variety of formats both for delivery as well as production. My career has followed the technology pretty closely. I have shot on 1/2 inch Sony and Panasonic BW reel to reel, 3/4 inch, 1" tape, Beta, Beta SP, DVCAM, P2, XDCAM. Have produced for multimedia slide shows, laser disc players, CDs, DVDs, and the web. You name it. Still do not get bored. Great business to be in. Back is still holding up. Gear has lightened up and the quality has increased dramatically.

I only just now noticed this thread, and thought it would be a good time to add my story.
I worked for 36 years in the aviation industry, and retired last summer at 55.

I'd never had any intention to retire at 55. 2006 changed that for me. I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in my jaw, and after many surgeries, radiation and chemo over the course of a year of suffering, I realized that life was far too short to put things off.

What a fantastic story Wayne! I retired a few days before my 55th birthday from a cancer laboratory to start my business up. Well, the last five years or so more than half of my time at work was in the cancer lab, the other half in the main lab, but still getting work on cancer patients there too.

I'm so glad you managed to get your business going despite all the adversity. Perhaps that's why you were able to get your business going, you'd already dealt with real adversity far greater than that of starting a business in a recession. Good for you! Go get 'em tiger. It's wonderful to be able to enjoy your work so much.

Guess it's time for me to come clean...

My degree is in music performance/music production. I started working right from my internship at a recording studio in upstate NY recording and producing albums and commercials along with the occasional audio post for video. As the studio grew we veered more heavily into post and even leased a chunk of the studio space to a video production company. I kept peeking over the video editor's shoulders thinking, "that looks like fun!"

After twelve years of that, I moved to Phoenix to become production manager and chief audio engineer at a commercial studio. After a few years, the boss and I didn't see eye to eye so I started my company yipDog Studios which primarily focused on audio. I also got my real estate license (while the market was hot) and gave that a go for a couple of years.

To complete a simple video for a friend, I decided to purchase FCP after a week of torture in iMovie realizing I couldn't do half of what I needed. I read the entire 10 pounds of printed manuals in one week and BAM! I was a FCP user!

One week later a head hunter called and noticed I had listed that on my resume under skills and there was a position available at a company which was a startup. I interviewed, did an audition, interviewed some more and became employee number 4 in the company and was now one of three "senior video editors" on staff.

4 years later, when the economy went south the owner let us video editors go to refocus the business but kept using my company to do various custom projects and all the advertising work which allowed yipDog to grow to what it is today! Through word of mouth and some well placed ads, I've been able to grow enough to build my own studio/edit space right next to my house.

So officially, I've been in the "production" biz for 23 years with the last 7 heavy into video. As several people have mentioned, the variety of work is what I love...no two days are alike! And my motto of "Never say no" has forced me to learn new things very quickly and also has built up a large circle of talented experts I can call on as my "virtual staff"

I'm pretty darn lucky to be able to do this for a living and being my own boss allows me to spend plenty of time with my family which is invaluable to me!

Great story Robert. I recently commented on one of your other posts. I also checked out your website. Looks good!

I've been around these forums for two or three years now, and I finally have a reason to post in this thread!

I've been a server in a restaurant for almost four years, making short films in my spare time. In 2009 I started my own company on the side doing wedding and event videography, but with this economy I've found business difficult to drum up. I've done videos for friends and family for little or no money to try to build up my reel. In fact this fall will herald my first wedding where my client will pay full price for my services.

I've invested significant time making connections in my area, and it's started to pay off. I was recently asked to intern at a cable access station here. Little did I know their production manager was leaving and they were vetting replacements. Can you guess who landed the job?

ME!!!

Now I'm extremely busy trying to juggle three jobs and have very little time to make movies, but I'm hoping this will be an extremely educational experience that will prepare me to move forward in making independent features, which is the path I'd eventually like to be on.

Hey all,

I've been interested in video production for a long time, pretty much since my senior year in high school when I took a video course. At the time, I borrowed my parents monstrous video camera that recorded directly to vhs tapes. Things have come a long way! Back in 2006 or so I bought a Sony DCR SR40 so that I could film live concerts of bands I love. Then , when Sony released the HDR SR12, I moved up to that. Last week, I bought the Sony NX5, and it's a HUGE step up not only in quality, but the learning curve. There's more buttons and dials on this beast than I know what to do with, but I knew that going into it. I'm learning more about it everyday. I plan to film as many concerts as I can with it, but I bought it mainly so I could start work on a small documentary of my favorite band.

I don't own a company, I barely know anything about making a documentary, but I know I love what I'm doing right now and that I can make it happen. My full time job is as a Signal Maintainer for the BNSF Railway here in Portland, Or. I basically test, maintain, and fix things like crossings, signals, switches, and bridges. It's a good job, and it pays well enough that I can buy things like the NX5 and try to make my dream a reality.

Thought I'd update what I'm doing these days. I now work for doddle, which has an excellent iPhone and Android app for filmmakers and video producers, with a directory and interactive call sheet maker:

Doddle - Production Guide and Directory (http://www.doddleme.com)

I work on the news side. I still do some video production; I have two clients that I shoot and edit commercials and YouTube videos (one went viral), and the other company is strictly corporate video. Film? Well, not much of late, though I finally finished my first short in years, Hellevator:

Hellevator, My New Short Film Written By Comic Book Legend David Michelinie | heath mcknight dot com (http://heathmcknight.com/2012/07/hellevator-my-new-short-film-written-by-comic-book-legend-david-michelinie/)

heath

I own a videoproduction company and I make videocontent for corporate clients (retail, IT, industry) and (semi)-public organisations (ranging from local traffic education for primary school to international seminars). Besides that I sometimes make very short films.
It's fun and creative work :-)

Since I'm located in The Netherlands my website is Dutch, so most of you won't be able to read and understand it. ;-)
A little dictionary for people visiting my portfolio:
Bedrijfsfilm = corporate video
Videoclip = music video
Sfeerimpressie = impression
Paasgroet = 'easter greetings'
Engelstalig = English

Nice one Walter

i didn't need your Dutch dictionary to read the site - just used Google Chrome!!
:-)

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/members/rob-cantwell-albums-web-page-picture743-brokxmedia.jpg

I'm struggling to make a living at the moment (wedding scene), spent 32 years in the Defence Forces, finally left late last year, sort of forced out, the recession is hitting hard here, jobs are scarce. But forever the optimist :-)

Bought my 1st camera in 1986 to get shots of kids growing up & then started covering various types of work, weddings, parties, property video etc 26 yrs on, my wife & I are semi-retired but find enough work to keep us busy & pay for foreign travel.

Cams now are 2 x Z7`s, HXR-NX5, HXR-MC50e & a Canon HC30. Editing on Liquid 7.1 & Edius vers 6.

Recently covered the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera "The Mikado" for a local Am-Dram Society which turned out well.

Involved freelance for a well known on-line advertising company shooting company videos.

I`m 67 & have no thoughts on fully retiring :-)

www.videos4all.org

I'm a freelance vision engineer.. Which basicly means that in multicamera productions I make sure all the cameras match in color, brightness, contour levels and blacklevel. Aside from that I'm also responsible that the monitors on the studio floor are setup and work with the correct signal patched to them, and depending on the production that the equipment in the OBV or studio also does it's job.

As a hobby I like to mess around with old cameras and homebuilt projects (not earning a living with this).. So I have a Philips LDK100, Panasonic AJ-D700, Ikegami HL-V55 and a Sony AVC-3250.. But I also have a Panasonic GH2 in a shoulder rig with a B4 lens and a GoPro HD Hero 2 for more modern stuff :)

I graduated with a journalism degree in 1979 and was prepared to go to work as a writer and photographer for a Georgia outdoor publication when it was eliminated by state budget cuts. I then went to work as a federal park ranger on a major southeastern lake and stayed there 30 years. Was initially responsible for agency public relations and on camera talent then moved over into park operations and law enforcement. After 911 was detailed with doing Dam and Powerhouse security assessments, drafting security enhancement programs as well as conducting threat response training. I retired from the agency in 2009 and went back to my roots of nature photography and video production. I currently produce and distribute nature DVDs to state and federal park visitor centers.