Where are all the shooting gigs? How do you find them? Craigslist? Your local newspaper want ads? Some other vague work-for-hire site? I just got back last night from shooting a 3-day gig with my brother down in central California. His specialty has been architectural, environmental, lighting and product images, my specialty has been all about people: interviews and sound recording. Together we made a pretty good team and wondered how we'd shop ourselves around better. Serendipity made a visit to my email this morning, with the announcement of the WorldofShooters.com site. It's very easy to zero in on your expertise and gear type, and easy for others looking to hire you to zone in on their needs, too. With more and more companies downsizing, the freelance producers that can grab their gear and go are going to get the gigs when companies send out their plea for work. World of Shooters has you register by the type of still camera or video camera that you use, so everyone can easily sift through the first question: What do you shoot with? The idea is you register your gear (Panasonic P2 AG XP500, JVC Gy100, Sony XD, Red, etc.) and your style or specialty, (Broadcast, commercial, sports, timelapse), along with your location and how far you'd go to shoot, and the company looking to hire someone in your area can narrow down their search to find you easier. Tim Baker, the creator of World of Shooters calls this type of gig-getting a "culture changing service". He writes: "… The world of video and film production has become a hugely transient industry. …On a daily basis producers, assignment editors, and others in charge of productions and the staffing of productions are either themselves in transit … or trying to staff productions in locations that vary widely geographically from where they are based themselves. Now…, more than ever before, there is a huge glut of production either in process or in planning. It seems that anyone with an idea and the connections can get it into production and on the air of any one of hundreds of outlets; broadcast, online, or other. If you take all of this and look at the current economic climate, this presents some major obstacles to production companies." World of Shooters is just the facilitator to get you together with the production companies looking for you. It takes no cut from your gig, and you and the hiring company manage all contracts, finances and scheduling together. A service like World of Shooters is a good start to finding someone who might be searching for you, and you only pay a small annual fee for membership. Check it out.
