Innovative Crewgathering
There are some talented camera, lighting and audio people out there and then there are some that have strong connections or great talking skills. And more than once, I’ve seen strong, professional shoots that turned into complete disappointments or huge headaches in the editing room. Footage destroyed because the tapes and camera were held too close to a large magnet or shots that almost always include another cameraperson and more.
More importantly, however, a cameraperson may have years of experience and may be able to deliver crisp clear footage, but only in a controlled setting. Sometimes the best cameraman for Larry King Live may not be the best cameraman for Girls Gone Wild!
For that reason, we worked out some innovative ways to really test our industry’s standard methods of hiring. Our crew is partially found from strong recommendations from trusted individuals, but that doesn’t guarantee that we consider the newest, hottest talent. And that’s just what a strong camera, lighting or audio person is…talent. Talent just like an actor is called talent. And that’s when we figured it out. We would have our camera and audio crew “audition” just as actors have to. We’ll put them in a typical yet stressful shoot and see who comes out with the best footage and overall impression of the shooting event. If the footage is used, camera talent is compensated as if they were hired in the first place. If not, then they tried their best and we’ll give them another chance when they develop their skills further. And that’s exactly what we did when we held the test shoot for a new show Club Culture 360.
Putting together a strong crew takes more than just finding talented people, it also takes finding people that can work well together professionally. This audition also gave us a chance to see who worked well together and who faltered. All-in-all, some cameramen didn’t like the concept. But those that participated and succeeded were rewarded with more paid camera jobs, a signed stint on a world tour and more importantly a definite relationship with production company.
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