In an effort to not only get work experience for my course, but to learn things I wouldn’t be able to inside of a classroom environment, I decided to try and find individual people I could message and have a call with, rather than trying to email large media companies and waiting months to hear anything back.
In my search, I was able to get in contact with Nicole Hajimicheal of Nine Lives Media and Rachel Coffey of Rachel Coffey Productions. I was excited as Nicole works for the type of production company I would like to work for, Nine Lives Media, and Rachel is currently an assistant director which is a role I would want to work in the future, so I knew these calls were going to be worth their weight in gold.
I got a load of helpful notes from Rachel, some of the key ones I have highlighted and tried to remember. From always being looking on different platforms and areas for work to not being afraid to walk away from a project if you aren’t comfortable with the shoot or if you feel they’re taking advantage of you. Just because you’re unpaid and/or new doesn’t mean you can be treated poorly.
Even some tips from Nicole about filming in public and how much research and work goes into a project before it even begins filming.
In the end, I did not only just get helpful tips or advice, but I also made some good connections, with Nicole offering me a full week of work experience at Nine Lives Media in January and Rachel adding me to her book of contacts and told me to give her a call if I am ever back home and are looking for work.
What I learned from this experience is that it's daunting trying to find companies and people to contact, let alone ones who will reply to me, but I proved to myself that even though not everyone’s going to reply to my emails and my messages, but it’s about going again and again till I get what I’m after.
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