The Production Manager - Good advice is rare

Can someone please explain to me the brouhaha about Jay Leno moving from 11.30 to 10pm. I understand this is a change but is programming so centered around ratings that a change in protocol incites editorial after editorial (this one included)?

In response to the recession and challenges of the job market I am moving in two different but oddly complimentary directions.

The first is a move necessitated by circumstance, towards short form projects that seem to be a bit more accessible and a refreshing change from multi part series.

After the 3 days shoot the week before last I’ve spent the last few days bidding for a promo shoot for a well known cable provider. It’s an extremely undemanding shoot – compared to working in reality anyhow – with extremely lucrative rewards and totally worth my while considering it’s a one camera one location 4 hour shoot that takes about a day or two to set up.

At the same time I’m getting into or trying to move into community oriented documentary production. It’s an area crying out for investment of time from media professionals with a conscience. And you wouldn’t believe how many organizations there are dedicated to telling local community stories and teaching young kids how to tell their own stories. It’s a satisfying but financially unrewarding field.

When I first started out and will still trying to ‘make it’ in production, an established BBC chap took pity on my begging emails for advice and offered me what turned out to be the truest piece of advice I ever got in all my time in media. He told me entertainment is financially lucrative but soulless, drama is also lucrative but challenging and slow, documentary is rewarding but not financially. He then told me to pick one and follow it.

It was good advice although I have dabbled in each of these fields and it turns out he was absolutely correct about each of them. Goodness knows what he’d say about reality (please drop off your personal life at the door).

Tags: Movie Theatre, Film Industry, Actor, Film, Filmmaker