Make corporate videos? Wait? I though this was a filmmaking blog…
Yes. It is. But did you ever wonder what to do with all your filmmaking experience and all the filmmaking equipment in your closet?
One way you can put your skills to use (and pay bills as your plan your bigger film projects) is to make corporate videos.
Seriously. When you make corporate videos, you unlock the world of filmmaking opportunity.
Make Corporate Videos
One of the things that I love about Jason’s philosophy is his passion for the openness of the filmmaking world in our modern times.
As he says, “There are no gatekeepers any more, anyone can make a movie.”
I am just as passionate as Jason about a filmmaker’s ability to make corporate videos (industrial film) for exactly the same reason.
The beauty of finding out how to make corporate videos is that any filmmaker can break in without any barriers to entry. It is a true meritocracy – we all have the same chance of success!
The very first film I ever made was a corporate video. And how I came to make it is a perfect illustration of the opportunity that is open to all filmmakers.
Ask For The Business
I was walking past a fringe (think off-Broadway) theater here in London in 1987. I noticed they were having some building work done and the whole theater was being renovated. I immediately asked myself if they were having a video record made of the events.
So, I marched in there and asked to speak to the manager. I pitched him the idea of making a video about his theater’s renovations and he loved it. I was commissioned on the spot.
Now, get this. At this point in my life I WAS NOT EVEN A FILMMAKER! I saw an opportunity and just happened to know a couple of friends who had made an amateur video and I thought, “How hard can it be to make a film, if they can do it?”
Can you imagine if I had walked into a TV network headquarters, asked to speak to the manager and then pitched a drama series idea on the spot? Wouldn’t happen. And would I have been commissioned on the spot?
No freaking way.
It would have had to go to this committee, that committee, the executives upstairs, and then? Who knows.
But I’m sure I would have been left hanging for months.
Not to mention the doubts that would have been raised about my total lack of experience and no track record. And meanwhile, I wouldn’t have been earning a penny and having to work a terrible office job or stack shelves at the supermarket. And who wants that?
Listen to me. If you want to make a living as a filmmaker, there is no better way to start than to look at the whole world of opportunity that awaits you in the corporate video sector.
You can find lots of tips about how to make corporate videos on my website at http://www.succeedingincorporates.co.uk
DEAL: as one of Jason’s readers, you can save 10% on the course using discount code: JBFS14CO
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I’m Brian Barnes and I have been making corporate videos since 1987. I’ve made videos for 3 of the world’s top 5 brands – Apple, Google and Microsoft – and I won the Snippies award for my video for Intel. In late 2013, I made a comedy commercial for car finance company Carloan4U, which more than doubled their web traffic when it went live.
I’m currently in post-production on my first feature film, The Redeeming, and I’ve co-directed 2 previous feature films. I’ve directed over 500 hours of TV and made 23 short films, including the multiple award-winning psychological horror The Urge.
You can find lots of tips about how to make corporate videos on my website at http://www.succeedingincorporates.co.uk – Use discount code: JBFS14CO
