Did you really produce a show for 2 years?
To put a bit of context into this, I used to work for a company called Snapdragons Nurseries Ltd and there I produced video content for their website and social media pages. The series was called Snapshot – a 5 minute weekly show that presented viewers with what had been happening in the nursery that week.
The series was split into two sections depending on where the nurseries were. I covered 4 settings and my boss covered 4.
Episodes from the show itself can be found here: http://www.snapdragonsnursery.com/snapdragons-videos/
As far as indie film making goes, it really was a crash course in it and was every week for 2 years. I was the show-runner, camera operator, editor, script writer, production manager, driver and sound engineer. In fact, name any job in the film industry and I probably did it during this job (including fix the photocopier – when it ran out of paper).
The job was all consuming. In the days I was filming and editing, in the evenings I was writing scripts, planning the next day shoot and organising the next week’s schedule. Throw in 700 miles a week and no coffee and to say that by Friday evening I was a burnt out wreck was putting it lightly.
Does that mean I hated it? Good lord no, I loved it! The people I worked with, the videos I was making, it was brilliant. Everyday was a new challenge. A new story and full of smutty jokes (but only when I was eating).
So why did I decide to leave?
To tell you the truth of it, I was an exhausted wreck and it was showing. I had 3 weeks off at the end of 2015 due to having wisdom teeth out (via a large burley Scottish surgeon) and it gave me time to think about the future. I no longer felt enthusiastic about writing the script for the weekly show and had started to slow down. I wanted to make a change. I knew it had to be a drastic change.
It was incredibly hard to leave and I knew whatever job I went to interview for just wouldn’t be the same. This is where my wife (who runs her own web design company) suggested that why didn’t I go freelance. I have all the equipment, I’ve got a few companies chasing after me for some video work.
What could go wrong?
Well as you are reading this now I am nearly 8 months into this adventure of being freelance and of course there are dark days (especially when I check my bank account – it can be so traumatic that I have to have a sit down) but am I enjoying what I do?
The answer is of course I am. I have a freedom I never had, I’m not limited to 9-5, I can go out on walks with the dogs and I get to actually spend time with my wife.
To his credit, my successor in the role at Snapdragons was fantastic, he had two weeks to jump into my role and has continued to produce the series brilliantly and became a part of the Snapdragons family.
So where will I be in 6 months time? Well hopefully things will have continued to work out and I’ll be sat on the sofa with two dogs snoring either side of me writing a blog post in December about what a great year it’s been. Plus there will hopefully be mince pies.
To find out more about how I can help your business grow through video, visit Design Sheep.
As always you can follow me and my tweets on Twitter or see what I’m up to day to day on Instagram on design_sheep. Be warned, there may be cameras.