How To Break Into Video Production And Build A Profitable Career As A Producer

How To Get into Production And Become A Successful Professional Video Producer

Making a successful career in video production is a fulfilling and satisfactory process, an experience I would wish for every hungry creative. You will have the potential to earn a lot of income, meet great people, grow and reach unexpected heights and achievements.

You will get to understand the ins and outs of the full production process, improve your skills in people management, planning, making important decisions, and in general, you will learn how to conduct business. It's a pool of lessons that will change your thinking and perspective.

Do not worry if you do not have prior video production skills or experience, this article is intended to guide you from the basics to what you will need to do that will make you a successful business in your career.

Before you make the decision

Before you decide to start your journey into your career, here are a few things you should put into consideration. Treat these as a must-do/have a list as they are very essential to your success. Not meeting any of these may lead you to a frustrating experience. If you do not know something, find all ways to be enthusiastic and develop an open mind to learning it.

Understand The Producer's Role

The producer’s role in the production is to oversee the film/ video production process. You are responsible for planning and coordinating various aspects of film production. The success of the project depends mostly on your decisions.

Being A Producer Is A Stressful Career.

Production is a very stressful career. You will handle contracts, and deal with people and suppliers at different levels. Be ready to solve problems on a daily basis.

It Is A Learning Process.

Be open to being a learner every day. Every project is different with something new so get ready to learn something new every day and on every project.

You Will Need To Have Operate With A Business Mindset

Even if you are learning to be a producer, understand that the end goal is to learn a skill and use it to build a business. You will need to have a business mind from the time you start interacting with the customer to when you start negotiating contracts.

It's A People's Game. Everything Surrounds People

Everything as a producer will involve interacting with people in some sort of way. Everything surrounds people so you will need to brush up on your people relation skills.

You Need To Be Customer Oriented And Open-Minded

Customers are the main reason that you are in business, you will need to be ready to understand business development and be open-minded towards understanding what they are looking for and aim to find the solutions

Learning The Technical Skills Is A Must.

It is not just an office and paperwork job, you will need to learn all the technical skills to help you make better decisions during the process.

Basic Skills Like Computer, Communication, And Organisation Are A Must Have.

You will need to have these basic skills because you will use them on a daily basis and on some occasions, help others learn them as well.

Now that you agree to be comfortable with the above, let's get started with your journey

STEP 1: LEARNING THE CONCEPTS

How To Break Into Video Production And Build A Profitable Career As A Producer

This will most probably be your first step into your career. Before you get started, you will need to learn the basics of each step of production. This will include a background in Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production. If your computer and communication skills need some brushing up, I recommend that you start with developing those before anything.

The best way to get started with learning and understanding the concepts in-depth is to find a mentor or experience to take you through. Your mentor can be a physical class in a film school, an internship in a video production company, or taking a self-paced online class (Including YouTube).

Below, we will go ahead to break these concepts further, treat this as a checklist for every stage:

Pre-Production

Pre-production is the most important aspect of the production process. This is where all the planning for a project happens after you onboard a client. Planning usually involves; Meetings, Budgeting, Sourcing for Equipment, Scriptwriting, Scheduling, and Crewing. Get familiar with the following to give you a jumpstart.

Meetings:

To conduct effective meetings, you will need to learn how to communicate using email. The professional way of scheduling meetings is via Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, or Zoho meetings. Avoid having meetings via WhatsApp with clients as this may come out as unprofessional unless the clients insist on it.

Budgeting:

For budgeting, you will have to understand how to use excel or google sheets. Always know how much you expect to spend at the different levels of production and how much profit you will make at the end of the project. A good example is to divide the costs into:

Pre-Production Costs (Office planning, licenses, printings, meetings, etc)
Production Costs (Filming, Crew, Transportation, Meals)
Post Production (Editing, Soundtracks, Graphics)
Operational Costs (Office space, Tax, Sales Commissions (If applicable))

Note: Remember to keep all your receipts for accounting purposes. Ensure that you get ETR receipts which you can use to claim and reduce your overall tax paid to the government.

Sourcing for equipment:

Do not worry if you do not have your own equipment, you can always hire from suppliers that lease out equipment on a per-day basis. Learn how to make connections beforehand and the different prices. When you get the equipment, you will be responsible for their loss so learn how to take good care of them. Also, try to get familiar with negotiating as it will come in handy.

Scriptwriting and Scheduling:

Scripts help your crew to understand the details of the filming. A script involves the project summary, the list of contacts, locations, equipment, interview questions, shot lists, and all the important aspects that must be covered as discussed with the client. On it, you also add the timings and scheduling plan so that the crew knows what to cover where, and when. This is sometimes also called the Call Sheet as per industry standards and is a must-have.

Crewing:

Practice crewing. These members will make or break your filming experience. Here are some metrics that you can follow when choosing your crew members;

Are they experienced to do the job?
Do they fit your budget?
Do they respect you and the client?
Do they represent your brand and values?

Learn about the different agreements that you need t sign with your crew as required by the industry and labor laws. It will help you to avoid miscommunication after the project has ended and avoid tax penalties.

Production

Production is where the actual filming happens. This is the stage that many people get in their minds when they hear about filmmaking and video production. It also involves a lot of interaction between the crew, clients, and the subjects being filmed. Ensure that you have a list of all the equipment carried, give copies of the call sheets to each crew member, and have release forms for the subjects to sign prior to being filmed. (Release forms are a must-have and are legally required)

You must be involved in learning this technical process. It will help you understand a lot bout your filming process and you will save mistakes and make better future decisions. Do not ignore this stage until you are sure of your production process. Remember that you intend to be a producer, try to work under a producer during your mentorship, and learn the following;

Experience the different equipment and how it works.
Study different crew members and what their responsibilities are.
Interview and get familiar with subjects, and ask questions
Interact with clients to understand what their experience is. Listen for input.
Try to be the leader on every set.
How to transport the crew and equipment back.
How to stick to your budget and even save more.

Post-Production

Most producers also ignore this stage and leave it to the editor but understanding post-production is very vital to storytelling. It will help you know how to frame your final story and review your works in pre-production and production. If you avoid learning this stage, you will always be confused leaving you with long editing times and multiple corrections that are out of your control. Here is what you need to learn in post-production:

How to write an editing script.
How to handle translations and time coding.
How to use professional editing software ( Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro).
How to edit, pace a story and choose the right soundtrack.
How to version and keep track of edit changes.
Basics of graphics design.

Note: Even if some courses and programs take longer, you should be familiar with the above concepts in about 4-6 months. You may not be a pro at each skill but you have the basics that you can use to push you to the next stage. Mastering film production takes time and needs a lot of practice.

STEP 2: PRACTICING

Now that you are ready with the basics, let's get you started with practicing. At this stage, you will need to get and do as many projects as possible. Try volunteering for other people or get your own projects by reaching out to people and organizations. Have you heard of the team freelancer? Consider yourself a freelancer now. Exciting right?

Try out different projects in different categories to find out what you enjoy best. The categories can include; Documentaries, Corporate, Products, Music, Film, Education, Religion, etc. To be successful, you will need to find your niche. Most filmmakers get stuck in doing every category which limits their ability to market their services efficiently and scale. (We shall talk more about this later in this article).

When volunteering or offering projects to work on, do not be so keen on the budget, work with the bare minimum that you need to cover your costs and execute the work, your goal is to ut what you have learned above to practice, gain experience, and build a portfolio for yourself. The more projects that you do or take part in, the more of a professional that you become.

Creating and getting your own projects is very vital because it helps you to practice being an all-around producer which will be beneficial when you are handling clients' projects in the future. Try to be the leader, find your own crew, try borrowing equipment and build networks. Here are the projects that I recommend you personally arrange to up your skills:

Make a 2 Minute Film

The best idea is to make a 2-minute film story about your life. On this project, be the sole producer and handle all aspects of pre-production production and editing. Find a small crew of about 2-3 to help you on a few tasks but aim to handle most of the major tasks.

You can also find stories to submit to film festivals.

Make a 4 Minute Impact Documentary

Make a short documentary on any issue that affects you or is happening within your area. Try to make it as impactful as possible

Make a 3 Minute Corporate Video

Find any company of your choice and volunteer to make them a corporate video or advertising video. Engage the client in a real-life scenario and try to solve all their needs.

You can also try more project ideas in different categories that interest you.

Note: This process should also take you about 4-6 months. Try to be aggressive and aim to complete projects fast as it will prepare you for the real production world. Speed is key.

STEP 2: HITTING THE MARKET

By now, you should be able to successfully deliver a project which makes you a professional. Most people will at this stage find a job in an established company. However, this article is intended for those who want to learn and establish their own companies. I am speaking to you the entrepreneur. If you feel that you are not ready yet, you can stop reading now and come back at a later stage when you are.

Based on my experience as a producer, I believe that you are ready to get going at this stage. It does not stop you from accepting work on the side or on a few projects to boost your income, but your mentality should be set to starting your own company. Do them for a short time, learn from them, and get back to your goal as you still have much more to learn. Attempting as it may be, avoid long-term gigs because they will hold you back and get you comfortable unless it is what you want at that particular time.

Now let's help you get into the market.

Conduct A Market Study

Market research is basically finding out what the market wants, what products are being offered, who is providing what services, and how much customers are willing to pay for them. Here are quick suggestions to get you started;

Go to google.com and search for search terms like:

Video Production Companies in ‘my_country’ (replace with your country name)
Best video production companies in ‘my_country’
Video Production companies near me
Video companies
Add more related search terms of the category you would wish to venture in

Find out the results on the first page and check out each, note the following;

What do you like about them, what attracts you most about their brand?
Who are their customers and where are they?
How much are customers paying for their services?
How do they find their customers? What is their sales process like?
What are they missing? What would you wish that they had?

Do this for the top 5 companies/ results. Repeat the same process for other search engines like Bing and Yandex

Also, try to do the same process for companies without online presence that is successful and those that you admire. Try to learn how they do and conduct their business. See what you can learn from them.

After conducting this research, you will notice a pattern and a few things that the companies are missing, note these as the gaps in the market. If you do not see any noticeable patterns yet, do not worry, just copy what you like about their companies, combine them with the gaps you noticed and use them to define your new brand

Choosing Your Niche

After successfully studying the market and other production companies, choose the ideas that relate to you, the products that you want to offer, and carve out your niche. The niche must be products that interest you and has a track record of having available customers for the products. Select your main product and add two secondary offerings. I would not advise you to add too many unrelated products as this will confuse your customers. For example;

If you choose documentaries, your secondary productions can be corporate videos, product videos, or training videos
If you choose music, your secondaries can be entertainment videos and event videos
If you choose events, your secondaries can be live streaming videos and corporate videos.

This is just an example but you can pair up according to what interests you or what you think that you can do best.

Choose A Brand Name and Register Your Company

Now we are ready to register a company and develop a brand name. When choosing a name, choose a name that is unique to you, is short and memorable. Avoid using names that are common or that have been previously used. Check if the domain name of your new name is available, ie ‘www.YourBrandName.com. If available, I recommend that you choose a different name as this will affect your search rankings and market base in the long run.

Go to your company registry and check if the business name is available. If available, you have the option to register as a sole proprietor or as a limited company. Both have their pros and cons but any at this stage is okay and you can always change later as you grow. Nowadays, it is easy to register a company online within 3 days.

Congratulations, you are now officially in business and ready to start operations.

Building Your Brand

A brand is something that people remember you for. It involves what you do, what makes you unique, and how you impact people when they interact with you. Start by deciding your unique product offering, then choose how to communicate what you offer, how you do it differently, and who you serve. Then choose the brand colors that will make you stand out.

Remember to also register your brand on the different social media profiles. The main one is Linkedin.

Create A Website

A website will be your biggest marketing tool. It is how people find out about your business and what you offer in the market. It is a MUST have if you want to attract good customers and build a successful business.

Your website should reflect everything about your business, be clear and concise, and avoid cluttering it with too much information. Only add what your customer is interested in knowing about you to convince them that you are the best option.

After designing your website, remember to optimize it for the search engines. Remember to add the link to your email signature as well.

5. Stay Innovative

In order for you to build a sustainable business, you will need to invest in improving your abilities both as a producer and an entrepreneur. Keep studying through your own experience, and other people and keep applying changes and improvements. Eventually, you will have a brand that everyone admires. As long as you have excellent and unique product offerings, customers will keep coming in.

Be in the know about other business needs like taxation, hiring, labor laws, and business development. It will be challenging at first but eventually, you will catch up as long as you stay true to your goal and innovate as you grow.