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Out of context: Reply #67419
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- spl33nidoru9
Haven't invoiced anything since June, 8 months with not a dime coming in... the result of a stupid war of nerves with my current producer (video commercials).
Haven't taken advantage of these months for anything productive either, lost a good deal of confidence in my skills despite putting it into perspective with the unhealthy work relationship.I'm finally taking the long overdue steps towards new representation but I'm drained and broke, not dangerously so though, I can fortunately always rely on friends and family for a hand but then debts etc.
It's not my first time in this situation and I know I should bounce back, but I hate being back in this position of needing to make something great from nothing to get to the next level. Harder to find the drive and sense as years go by, I better smarten up and understand once and for all not to let things go so bad before taking action! :-/
- Be positive and stay strong mateOBBTKN
- just curious... how old are you?OBBTKN
- It's not much but try doing Lyft. It helped me when I was unemployed for 9 months. Keeps, you busy, out of the house and you meet random people every day.Maaku
- Thanks guys, snapping out of it. I'm in my early 40s, single, no kids, probably too carefree in a way.spl33nidoru
- Back when the market dropped, I rented boats, bikes and sold sodas to kids in the Flushing-Corona lake in Queens. Was my best job ever!robotron3k
- "Harder to find the drive and sense as years go by" I can relate my man. Right the ship!stoplying
- I hear you robo! Should have done something like that, now it's get shit back on track time! Thanks stoplying, advice to the young :spl33nidoru
- it's easier to keep going and correct course as you go than to stop and start again. Lesson learnt.spl33nidoru
- This sounds too familiar.i_monk
- I've had a real slow start to the year too and I'm now at 4 months without work. The thing I really feel your pain with is not getting on with anything...Wolfboy
- ...productive in the mean time. I've got a book (graphic novel) I want to write/draw and a couple of months working on that would have been sweet...Wolfboy
- ...but I've spent most of my time looking for work, re-jigging my foilo etc. Hindsight is a glorious thing eh? Stay strong though I'm sure it'll turn round soonWolfboy
- are you guys specialists in one area? I do design, photography, programming, motion graphics, illustration, audio, web, UI,UX, video, CD, AD, apps, print, ecomm_niko
- ...snow removal. I might do everything half-assed lol but i'm always busy with something. Diversify your skill-sets always learn something new._niko
- client: do you do shopify sites?
me: you kidding? i crush shopify.
10 minutes later me on google: "what is shopify..." lol_niko - also I try not to turn down any work including family and mom and pop shops, they're draining more than anything but they pay the bills in between larger gigs_niko
- ^^ LOL nikofuturefood
- _niko : I've taken the long road to becoming a director (music videos and commercials, ultimately aiming for fiction) after being an AD then CD, so in theoryspl33nidoru
- there's a bunch of areas I could get work in, but in reality if you want to be taken seriously as a director it's hard to be doing something else at the samespl33nidoru
- time except for photography. So I kinda worked myself in a corner for better or worse.spl33nidoru
- Wolfboy : you might be like me, pretty much useless on my own but a driving force in a team (even a team of me + 1). Makes solo projects a nightmare.spl33nidoru
- yeah I hear ya man, you're setting yourself up for something great. I wish I could do that as well but with kids and a wife to take care of I can't afford to :(_niko
- Never say never! Many friends got where they wanted once they had a family and kids, it changed their approach for the better, more pragmatic / less fantasyspl33nidoru
- plus your always-busy approach is better than mine in the long run, I've wasted years being stuck in my head, never happier than in action.spl33nidoru
- @spl33nidoru It's not so much that I'm terrible on my own, more that when I'm not working I just concentrate on finding new work. Where as it might have been...Wolfboy
- ...good this year to say to myself, Jan feels quiet, lets write it off for paying gigs and pour my time into my own project. Then get back searching in mid-Feb.Wolfboy
- Sounds like you need to think less about jobs, and more about a business offer. Like what can you offer to a business, to help them increase revenue?shapesalad
- Your skills as a director = narrative and telling stories. So many business out there are dying to communicate their offering clearly to their market.shapesalad
- Make a website/example portfolio and sell your offering: that you can help them communicate clearly to their audience.shapesalad
- Then email everything business, be it a mom pop shop or concrete merchant etc. everything near you. do all the social mediashapesalad
- Before you know it, you'll be raking it in, spirits lifted, money in bank. End of the day, prestige commercials or cool music videos....shapesalad
- or corporate videos... you're the person that can create a timeline piece of communication to increase their revenue.shapesalad
- And I'd say, lower your pride. Learn the craft of film making, sound recording, editing through the corp easy jobs. Don't need to master it all, but later helpsshapesalad
- you to delegate if you know a bit about it. You can build your own team around you. Build your own business. Then no need for your producer war!shapesalad
- ^ easier said than done. But job market sucks, if you can stand alone and build your own reputation and business, you have something to fall back on.shapesalad
- Good call shapesalad. I am quite comfortable with the film making process (and always learning), always been my passion. The past couple years have beenspl33nidoru
- rewarding (big budget MVs, leading brands) but taxing (producers, agencies), and I somehow feel like I didn't achieve my goals in that field yet.spl33nidoru
- Opening shop like you're suggesting is something I've considered. Mixed experiences around me (you do become a manager) but you're giving me food for thought.spl33nidoru
- Wolfboy, allow yourself that time, can be half days, set hours etc, sounds like you have the discipline to pull it off.spl33nidoru
- well.. always good to have a plan B. Seems only a few keep prestigious work through their careers, the rest of us fall to the side as we age.shapesalad
- You're right, I need to consider that option less lightly.spl33nidoru
- don't need to reinvent the wheel and get the most skilled designer/dev somehwat out there. You already have your skillset and you're ready to work with it :-)mekk