ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

7 years, 6 months ago - Vasco de Sousa

Marshall Mcluhan said that "the media is the message," meaning the medium determines its own content.

Engineers of social media, including the Shooting People website (and Facebook and LinkedIn etc) actually have the power, by designing the site, to determine what content is likely to be shared here.

On Shooting People, most people just jump in asking for collaborators. On LinkedIn, the blog ends up being mostly self-help and self-promotion (by self-published authors.)

But, as LinkedIn design has changed over the years, so has the content. (It used to be a lot of people asking for advice, not it has turned more political.) The same thing has happened with Shooting People. (some of the long time members are using it as they once did, but the new members seem to be acting differently because of the newer design).

I suggest a tab under production (or perhaps opportunities, or community) for "build teams." I've already suggested a producer's bulletin, where producers could discuss best practice.

Another suggestion is on our profile, we could have an option saying "open to joining start-ups" or perhaps "open to co-founders." I'm not willing to work for free, but start-ups with other experienced film grads (with shared profits, responsibilities, etc) is something I'd be willing to consider. Also, I haven't noticed any option on SP for where you're willing to work.

Another could be "open to networking." I sometimes have people who pitch me their companies, or their talents, in the hopes of being involved in one of my projects. (Not as many as a couple of years ago.) When a client contacts me, they often ask who is on the team. These won't be freelancers, but people who I've worked with, or sometimes am just aware of.

(I might not need an underwater sound recordist for my current projects, but knowing the work of one might help when I have a tight deadline to put together a proposal for a client or for funding. One project only gave me two days between notification and deadline, and had all kinds of strange requirements including translation, so it's really about "who you know" when you don't have time to advertise a job.)

Also, for funding, I noticed that media-desk and BFI funding doesn't seem to be included. I know a lot of it is limited to people with experience, but why are we assuming that everyone is inexperienced? Is there a way we can input funding sources that we are aware of?

Mostly though, I'm suggesting an "open to joining teams/start-ups" or something like that on our SP card.