LIFE AS A FULL-TIME FILMMAKER #1

I have finally decided to take the plunge and add a blog to my site. I always wanted an easy way to share information with visitors and I’m super excited to start this journey. Keep coming back to my site and check for updates right here on the blog.

One of the most common questions I get is "how am I able to transition to working in film full time?" For each person the journey is different, some people are born into it meaning their parents work in the industry. Some go to film school learn the ropes and network in hopes to follow their dream and some start off doing volunteer work on any production they can get on just to gain the experience and network. all of these are great ways to get a start and all involve a great amount of work!

For me it was different. I started off in middle school in Reno, NV. My parents had a Sony camcorder you know the ones with the small cassette tape as the media. I would take that camera everywhere with me filming everything I could sports, live bands, music videos, pretty much anything. Then I would take the footage home and record it to a VHS tape. My method of editing was pressing record on the VCR and playing the footage from the camera as it was recording, then I would pause the VCR and fast forward to the next segment I wanted to have play in the video and hit record again on the VCR mending the two clips together on the VHS tape. I would spend hours and sometimes even days putting together one short video reusing the camcorder tapes to save money I was a nightmare of a process but I loved every minute!

During high school I was teaching drum lessons to make extra money. After I graduated I moved to Sacramento, CA. I started fresh building a new group of students and realized that there was I higher demand for drum lessons in the area than what I was able to cover due to the amount of time available in the week. So I decided to look into other methods of teaching. Thinking back to when I was in middle school and high school I thought about using video and the power of You Tube and Skype to teach more students. So I went out and purchased my first DSLR camera that shot video and some cheap $50 video editing software. The quality was okay and it did the job so I built a website called Pick-up-Sticks Drum Lessons and started editing lesson videos and embedded the videos I uploaded to You Tube on to my website. The site blew up! I was teaching kids all over the world how to play drums and charging a small monthly fee for access to the videos. I received many requests for better audio quality so I purchased professional audio recording equipment to increase the production value of the videos but the audio still was not quite where I wanted it to be. At that point I decided to go to college for Recording Engineering and Music Business. Shortly after I started my schooling I received the call of a lifetime during class I stepped out to take the call and that's when I heard the words "Hi, This is Jason O'Keef with Pearl Drums. We have seen your website and would like to discuss endorsement and sponsorship opportunities with you." What!!! I thought, this must be a joke. he offered for me to come to NAMM Show to discuss and sign my contract, it was a dream come true.

I networked like crazy during NAMM and shortly after was asked by a local band called Stillwood Sages to help provide camera support for a music video they were working on. That was the event that changed everything. At that point I attended and filmed everything I could from music events, corporate meetings, seminars, music videos, short films, promo videos anything I could get my hands on and get this...

 I did it all for FREE! I worked for everyone I could for free for exactly one year to build my portfolio and my network and continued to work a part time job on the side along with my drum lessons.

2 months after the end of that year an injury stopped everything and I was no longer able to drum. I respectfully bowed out of my sponsorship with Pearl Drums and worked on healing. A few years later I began working for a company called GaugeMate handling their video production and marketing. I also progressed into the real estate market filming house walk through videos and Realtor interview videos as well. I continued to shoot music videos and short films. towards the end of the summer I was hit by a con-artist who wrote me a $5000 bad check for a job a wiped out all of my savings and incurred me huge fee's with my bank that took the rest of my money. It was a hard hit, I went back to working a regular job full time. I felt like everything I had worked for was for nothing. I almost quit film altogether!

I continued to search for film work but nothing was coming in for like 6 Months, that was when it happened. I finally found the light at the end of the tunnel. I began working with RVP full-time filming and editing Docu-Films. finally this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was the producer on multiple projects throughout the year and continue to do contract work as needed to this day.I also began working with an amazing two time Grammy Award Winning Native Flutist Mary Youngblood all of the pieces were falling into place. Now I have upgraded all of my equipment, built a great portfolio and an amazing network of people. I gained vast knowledge and skills that have helped me to mold my productions to what they are today and I will be filming my first of many feature films this year. I had many hurdles I had to overcome on my journey to being a full-time filmmaker, many of which are not mentioned above. But as I close out this post I hope that you all take with you one thing. No matter what happens, no matter how hard it gets. Don't give up on you dreams!

 Thanks for Reading.

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