Professional and Critical Practice: How to be a Freelancer
Being a freelancer in the industry is considered normal. The majority of people in the Television Industry are freelancers. This means they are usually in and out of work. As it is likely that I will be a freelancer, it is important to know how to get work and what questions to be asking when creating your commissioned piece. It's also important to understand whether you would be well suited to being a freelancer. It is important to establish:
- What your working style is. Do you work best on your own? Or do you like being a part of a team? As a freelancer, you are creating your own commissions without a team of people behind you, unless you hire them.
- Are you able to organise yourself? Organisation is key to being a freelancer as you need to be able to establish where every piece of information you have collated is. For example, you may need a specific expertise in one of your commissions. You will need to be able to find that contact with ease. Having a clear contact book is important.
- Are you a 'self-starter'? This simply means are you good at motivating yourself to complete work? Or do you need to have somebody on your back reminding you to do it?
- Can you set your own deadlines? Once you've set them, you've got to be able to stick to them. Your 'employer' will also have their own deadlines which you will need to follow and meet as well. Time management is a key part to being freelance.
- Are you able to prioritise? This will help you to set your deadlines. Prioritise your work in order of importance. Whether that be what is key to progressing with the commission or what the employer wants to see and when.
- Are you good at meeting and working with new people? As a freelancer, you must be a 'people's person'. This will help you to get work in the future!
- Are you good at networking? By building on your contacts and keeping in touch with them regularly, this will help you to generate work.
- Are you a good communicator? Being able to communicate clearly is a huge part to being a freelancer. If people can't understand your vision they are not likely to employ you in the future. This also stands for how responsive you are to calls, emails and other messages. If they see that you respond quickly and are helpful, polite, professional and friendly, they will see that you are serious about your business and will make you more employable.
I think I would work well as a freelancer because I am able to answer yes to a lot of the questions above. I know that I need to improve on a few of the posed questions such as being a self-starter and setting my own deadlines, but this is something I am working on throughout this year and am making a top target to be able to say that I am a self-starter and that I can keep to my set deadlines.
Now that I have established that it is likely I could become a freelancer, it is important to know how to get work. You can get work through:
- Your contacts. Who do you know already that would be interested in what you are offering? Do they have a business in need of promoting? Do they know someone who wants what you are offering?
- Social Media. They have lots of adverts if you are looking in the right places. Research TV and Film related pages and add your professional profile to them. It is important to have a professional profile because if a potential employer tries to find you through social media and all you have is your personal account, there may be things there that you do not want them to see. This goes for both Facebook and Twitter. Twitter often posts job alerts for TV through channels such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc. Create a professional account for here also.
- Online. By researching specific sites within the TV and Film industry, you are likely to come across people looking for commissions to be made. Some good websites are Talent Cupboard and Mandy.
- You can also use Trade Directories. These can sometimes flag up advertisements of people looking for certain commissions, or have the contact details of someone who may be able to help you find more work. Yell.com is usually the most popular to go for.
- Advertise Yourself. It is important to build your own online professional profile. This will lead all of your potential employers to your 'best bits' of work that you have. Include your show reel and any other information you feel is important for your potential employers to look at. Think about your branding as well and then make sure you keep everything you do to the same standard. This also enforces professionalism and allows potential employers to take you seriously.
Here is my branding. I have also come up with a production company that will enhance my professionalism for employers as it is something that can be detached from myself and look good on the end of films and on business cards.
This is my personal branding that I have attached to my CV. It is the same design as my production company as I want employers to understand that I am both. It will also help maintain professionalism and ensure that all my work has continuity.
Once you have got work it is important to attend Briefing Meetings:
- You must set them up for you and the person you are working for. This is your chance to gather all of the knowledge and information you need to produce their commission and also gives you both the chance to meet and get to know each other. (Another useful contact you can add to your books!)
- You must always check what their branding is and their vision for the piece. You must remember that this is not your work, it is for them!
- Establish what timescale you are working to. From this you can create your schedule and set your deadlines.
- Establish your budget. How much are they giving you to produce what they want? You may have to politely remind them of what is feasible within their budget if they have ideas that do not fit that budget.
- Establish what audience they are targeting and how far they want their commission to reach.
- What platform is it being aired to?
- What are their content requirements that they want in their commission?
- How long is this film going to be? Advise them on your thoughts after you've established a platform. For example, if they are airing it to Facebook, it shouldn't be a long film else people will lose interest.
- Again, it is not your work, it is your clients! Make sure you listen carefully to everything they want in their film.
- When you advise them, make sure to back it up with valid research. This will ensure that the client is able to understand WHY something they want may not work and why what you are suggesting as an alternative will make their work better.
- Ensure to always keep them up to date. They will want to know everything that is happening on the commission as they are paying for it.
- Be professional and always carry a diary and contact book. You never know how often you'll need to use it.
- Be organised. Always make notes at every meeting you have with your client and file them. This will help both you and the client keep track of where you are with the commission.
- You must present yourself and your work that represents you in the best light. This will help you get more recommendations from you client and lead to more work.
- Do a professional job as you are representing your client as well.
- Spend plenty of time developing and planning before you shoot. Time is money and if you have to reshoot because you've missed something or your client isn't pleased with what you have shot, it will cost more out of your budget. Money you might not have!
- All of your decisions must be informed through good research:
* Content and Script
* Contributors and Cast
* Locations
* Props and Costume etc.
- Pitch your ideas to your client and guide them to what will make the best film. Make sure you are always working to achieve their vision.
- Create a mood board and a script to allow your client to visualise and understand what their film will look like.
- Always have:
* Risk Assessment
* Permission forms signed
* Public liability insurance
when on a shoot.
Once you have completed their commission, they will hopefully pass on your contact details to others that are in need if they were pleased with your work. I think that by following these steps and always being professional, friendly and polite the client will be pleased with the end product. This is something I am striving to achieve and have got a potential client lined up to create a music video. Knowing these steps about being a freelancer, I am confident that I will be able to deliver to the client exactly what they want.
- What your working style is. Do you work best on your own? Or do you like being a part of a team? As a freelancer, you are creating your own commissions without a team of people behind you, unless you hire them.
- Are you able to organise yourself? Organisation is key to being a freelancer as you need to be able to establish where every piece of information you have collated is. For example, you may need a specific expertise in one of your commissions. You will need to be able to find that contact with ease. Having a clear contact book is important.
- Are you a 'self-starter'? This simply means are you good at motivating yourself to complete work? Or do you need to have somebody on your back reminding you to do it?
- Can you set your own deadlines? Once you've set them, you've got to be able to stick to them. Your 'employer' will also have their own deadlines which you will need to follow and meet as well. Time management is a key part to being freelance.
- Are you able to prioritise? This will help you to set your deadlines. Prioritise your work in order of importance. Whether that be what is key to progressing with the commission or what the employer wants to see and when.
- Are you good at meeting and working with new people? As a freelancer, you must be a 'people's person'. This will help you to get work in the future!
- Are you good at networking? By building on your contacts and keeping in touch with them regularly, this will help you to generate work.
- Are you a good communicator? Being able to communicate clearly is a huge part to being a freelancer. If people can't understand your vision they are not likely to employ you in the future. This also stands for how responsive you are to calls, emails and other messages. If they see that you respond quickly and are helpful, polite, professional and friendly, they will see that you are serious about your business and will make you more employable.
I think I would work well as a freelancer because I am able to answer yes to a lot of the questions above. I know that I need to improve on a few of the posed questions such as being a self-starter and setting my own deadlines, but this is something I am working on throughout this year and am making a top target to be able to say that I am a self-starter and that I can keep to my set deadlines.
Now that I have established that it is likely I could become a freelancer, it is important to know how to get work. You can get work through:
- Your contacts. Who do you know already that would be interested in what you are offering? Do they have a business in need of promoting? Do they know someone who wants what you are offering?
- Social Media. They have lots of adverts if you are looking in the right places. Research TV and Film related pages and add your professional profile to them. It is important to have a professional profile because if a potential employer tries to find you through social media and all you have is your personal account, there may be things there that you do not want them to see. This goes for both Facebook and Twitter. Twitter often posts job alerts for TV through channels such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc. Create a professional account for here also.
- Online. By researching specific sites within the TV and Film industry, you are likely to come across people looking for commissions to be made. Some good websites are Talent Cupboard and Mandy.
- You can also use Trade Directories. These can sometimes flag up advertisements of people looking for certain commissions, or have the contact details of someone who may be able to help you find more work. Yell.com is usually the most popular to go for.
- Advertise Yourself. It is important to build your own online professional profile. This will lead all of your potential employers to your 'best bits' of work that you have. Include your show reel and any other information you feel is important for your potential employers to look at. Think about your branding as well and then make sure you keep everything you do to the same standard. This also enforces professionalism and allows potential employers to take you seriously.
Here is my branding. I have also come up with a production company that will enhance my professionalism for employers as it is something that can be detached from myself and look good on the end of films and on business cards.
This is my production company name and branding. I have checked through Google searches to ensure that the name is not already taken and that the branding isn't also. I have created the my own logo design so that it is original and memorable. I think that it also allows potential employers to understand immediately that my business is making films.
Once you have got work it is important to attend Briefing Meetings:
- You must set them up for you and the person you are working for. This is your chance to gather all of the knowledge and information you need to produce their commission and also gives you both the chance to meet and get to know each other. (Another useful contact you can add to your books!)
- You must always check what their branding is and their vision for the piece. You must remember that this is not your work, it is for them!
- Establish what timescale you are working to. From this you can create your schedule and set your deadlines.
- Establish your budget. How much are they giving you to produce what they want? You may have to politely remind them of what is feasible within their budget if they have ideas that do not fit that budget.
- Establish what audience they are targeting and how far they want their commission to reach.
- What platform is it being aired to?
- What are their content requirements that they want in their commission?
- How long is this film going to be? Advise them on your thoughts after you've established a platform. For example, if they are airing it to Facebook, it shouldn't be a long film else people will lose interest.
- Again, it is not your work, it is your clients! Make sure you listen carefully to everything they want in their film.
- When you advise them, make sure to back it up with valid research. This will ensure that the client is able to understand WHY something they want may not work and why what you are suggesting as an alternative will make their work better.
- Ensure to always keep them up to date. They will want to know everything that is happening on the commission as they are paying for it.
- Be professional and always carry a diary and contact book. You never know how often you'll need to use it.
- Be organised. Always make notes at every meeting you have with your client and file them. This will help both you and the client keep track of where you are with the commission.
- You must present yourself and your work that represents you in the best light. This will help you get more recommendations from you client and lead to more work.
- Do a professional job as you are representing your client as well.
- Spend plenty of time developing and planning before you shoot. Time is money and if you have to reshoot because you've missed something or your client isn't pleased with what you have shot, it will cost more out of your budget. Money you might not have!
- All of your decisions must be informed through good research:
* Content and Script
* Contributors and Cast
* Locations
* Props and Costume etc.
- Pitch your ideas to your client and guide them to what will make the best film. Make sure you are always working to achieve their vision.
- Create a mood board and a script to allow your client to visualise and understand what their film will look like.
- Always have:
* Risk Assessment
* Permission forms signed
* Public liability insurance
when on a shoot.
Once you have completed their commission, they will hopefully pass on your contact details to others that are in need if they were pleased with your work. I think that by following these steps and always being professional, friendly and polite the client will be pleased with the end product. This is something I am striving to achieve and have got a potential client lined up to create a music video. Knowing these steps about being a freelancer, I am confident that I will be able to deliver to the client exactly what they want.
Comments
Post a Comment