Chosen Field of media – Freelance
Why Freelance?
Ever since finishing my A Levels at college, my ideal job in the media industry was to be a camera operator. Over the course of the last two years i have been applying to various media institutes and companies for general experience and trainee camera positions, all of which have fallen on deaf ears. Some reply saying “sorry due to budget constraints we are not able to offer any experience at this time” others just simply don’t reply. I have found this extremely frustrating and it has opened my eyes to the current financial climate and how it is impacting job opportunities especially in the media industry. Most employers understandably are looking for years of experience, and soon to be a graduate i simply do not have the industry experience required.
For the last year and a half i have been fortunate to work on a number of external projects gained through Steve Dawkins. In all of these projects i have worked alongside Sid Albanis and Mike La Rosa. The projects we have been involved with, range from corporate work with 3M and Rolls Royce to weekly sports coverage at the Coventry Blaze. In total we have worked on 10 major projects some of which have been paid work. As we have worked so closely throughout the last year or so we have become an efficient team and each of our individual skills ensures we cover all the necessities needed in a production team.
Since working for the Coventry Blaze and producing weekly edits for Blaze TV, whilst also producing corporate projects and completing Uni assignments alongside, we have ended up working with one another practically 5 some times 7 days a week. On the long nights of editing we have had numerous discussions of maybe forming our own freelance media company, it has mainly been a pipe dream and not really gone much further, however as we have drawn nearer the end of our degree and continued with freelance work, it has become apparent that the next natural step is to create our own company. So as things stand we are in the phase of setting up our own freelance audio and video media company. We have enrolled on the ICE program which provides us with Business mentoring and a hot desk for 12 months giving us with all the support and advise we need in the first year to become as successful as we can.
Market Research
As the freelance industry is extremely competitive it has been essential for us to conduct some market research to establish our competition and to provide us with ideas for costing and general marketing. As we are based in and around Warwickshire and the West Midlands we are looking to focus our attention on this area as our initial target. After some basic research into media companies in our surrounding area i found that there was at least over 40 freelance companies operating in or near our chosen area, illustrating the competition we will face. All of the companies specialise in various forms of media and offer a wide variety of different services ranging from basic audio to complete exhibition set up and coverage.One competitor we have had direct contact with during our time at University are Pro-mo Media. Pro-mo are a team of three post graduates from Coventry University and specialise in video production. After three years of trading, Pro-mo are a great example of a student set up freelance company, and they are easy to relate to, as most of their work mirrors what we have been producing. Part of the service that ICE provide is actual creative business mentoring which allows direct advice from trading companies and we have been paired with Pro-mo.
Sorting through some of the companies that offer similar services that we have currently been involved with and are looking to offer we drew up this list.
Most of these companies are well established in the freelance industry and have many years experience in the bag. However there are services that they don’t such as web casting, which is something we can take advantage of. Each company specialises in different areas of video production with some offering a wide variety of media services such as multimedia, computer graphics etc.
Pro – Mo Media
Pro-mo specialise in video production and offer a range of video areas whilst also providing photography and editing services. Having 3 years industry experience, Pro-mo are the newest company to the industry with a limited but quite impressive client base. Their main focus is on corporate projects, however they have recently gone into wedding coverage. Out of all the websites we have looked at Pro-mo are the only company that have basic pricing on their website, charging from £700 for corporate videos.
As we will be having direct contact with Pro-mo it will give us a great opportunity to ask industry questions and gain a greater understanding of the freelance industry.
ICE Productions
ICE Productions provide a wide variety of video production including, corporate projects, television broadcast and DVD production. With 25 years experience in the media industry they are one of the most established companies we have come across. Based in Birmingham, ICE produce media services all over the Country and have a substantial and very impressive client base. Their unique selling point is HD recording which is something we are able to do, and is great to offer a client as HD is currently the best quality of broadcast available.
Ignite Creative
Ignite Creative are DVD and video production company based in the West Midlands and Oxfordshire. Mainly focusing on Corporate and charity work, the company also has produced music videos and covered live events. With little background information on the company and no costs listed on the website it is hard to say anymore. The website does not give much away just illustrating past works.
Video-Images
Video-Images specialise in wedding videos across Warwickshire and Hampshire. As their main purpose is Wedding coverage they do not specialise in other forms of media. Weddings is an area we have briefly looked at as a form of service and this website provides us with a good insight into what packages and prices are currently being offered. Video-Images charge from £950 per wedding production and with what is included in the package it just illustrates the amount of money people are willing to pay for this area of work.
Frontline AV
Frontline AV are a media, arts and events company dealing in numerous forms of media from events management to films and theatre. Based in Coventry and with 17 years experience in the media industry they are the most established media company i have found as they really do offer all areas of media. This is a company that manage main events and work on a lot of community projects working directly with the local councils, so although the company structure and services do not follow ours they still work in the areas we are looking to go into so therefore we they are very much one of our strongest competitors.
BSV Video Produstions
BSV are a wedding production company with over 30 years experience, they offer a range of wedding packages including video and photography. There are no prices listed on their site but they will be around the figure shown on the Video-Images site, as around £1000 is the standard cost that companies charge. BSV provides us with an example of another wedding production company providing us with their work to illustrate what people expect from a wedding package.
Stormnet Media
Stormnet are a multimedia company that specialise in various forms of media. Similar to Frontline AV the range of services Stormnet offer is vast providing a majority of media solutions. They are another extremely strong competitor and as in the case of Frontline AV are a dominant force in the industry, but one we can get an idea of services and try to exploit gaps in their services.
After looking through the websites with the odd exception there was one thing in particular we noticed. On most of the websites costs were not discussed, and after talking this through with one another we thought the reason for this was due to the fact that if a price is stated before a meeting with the client then you will have to stick to that figure, even if it may be worth more. So after picking this out from the research we have decided that we will not be listing pricing for certain jobs, such as corporate and sports coverage as the prices for these will vary depending on what the client requires. However the prices we will be showing on the website will be wedding productions, as you can provide different packages at different costs and it provides the client with what exactly they can expect for their money and for this business you need to make the organisation of this form of media as easy as possible.
Another key aspect of each company with exception to the wedding companies, was the range of services they offer. It is important that all the services we offer to clients we are capable of producing to the best standard possible, and also that we have had experience in producing each service as it will be something clients will expect from us. With this in mind we will aim to provide a range of services that we are capable of providing, being realistic to ourselves and our clients. It is also key that we can provide good examples of each service we offer to give our clients peace of mind that what we will provide them is a quality artefact.
Our Freelance company!
Our company we are in the process of setting up is, 3lance Media. 3lance Media is a company that focuses on freelance audio and video work, providing a wide variety of media services to the highest possible standard.
Why 3lance?
After a manic brainstorming session and some interesting word combinations we decided that our name need to be short but snappy, and something that allowed us to stand out from our competitors. So to help us focus our name direction we listed all of the words and services we would associate with ourselves and went through them one by one. With the hours passing by and words being took out the equation we were only left with a handful of words left. When the word freelance came up for discussion. A brief silence pursued, until almost simultaneously we shouted 3lance, we wrote it down and straight away it had a ring to it. It was a clever play on words and did everything “it said on the tin”, we are a team of three specialising in freelance media. After some deliberation we were all happy with the name and our brain child was starting to take form! Next job was to design a logo for the company, something that was stylish and appealed to potential clients. Above is the finished design and we are very happy with the outcome, and have had good feedback on it from our business sessions with ICE. With our name and logo in place our next task was to start to plan the services we want to offer.
Services we offer and projected cliental
Services
Developing on the jobs we have currently been involved in, we know that corporate work is high on the list as well as sports coverage and other general genres of video production, such as conferences and live events. As Warwickshire and the West Midlands is quite a vast space there are plenty of potential clients that we can contact and current clients that we can approach for more work.
Corporate videos
Live events
Training videos
Sports Coverage
Educational videos
Promotional videos
Wedding Videos
Editing
Provide crew
I feel that this is a well balanced and realistic service list with all of the services listed being work we have good experience in producing. After looking at the work we have or are currently producing we drew up a brief services list, (which is above) and feel that we can offer a varied and established range of services allowing us to reach a larger client base. The next stage was to assess current clients and any future clients we would want to target.
Current Cliental
Rolls Royce – Training videos
3M – Promotional videos
Merica FM – Promotional videos
Coventry Blaze – Sports Coverage
QCDA – Event coverage
Projected Cliental
Local businesses – Advertisement, training videos etc
Wedding photography and video packages
Coventry University- Live events/conference
Local Councils and charities – Promotional videos
Coventry City Football Club and Rugby Club – Sports Coverage
This list will be developed further as we continue our business advice and mentoring which will help us focus our targets even more. After a basic client search in our target area there were a minimum of 300 suitable companies that we can possibly provide a service for in our first year. We have targeted our first year of trading to achieve as many contracts as possible to begin to create a large network of cliental with the plan to make enough money in our first 12 months to enable us to go full time by our second year. This is achievable, but as the saying goes “you only get out what you put in” so a lot of hard work and commitment is needed from us to ensure we achieve our goals. I know that we are all very passionate about this venture and that we will make it work.
Equipment Needed
Here is a draft of an initial equipment list we drew up, it includes all the basic items of equipment we will need to provide the services we are offering.
Video Kit
2 x Sony HVR -Z5 Cameras – £6,000 approx
2 x Camera Cases – £320
Audio Kit
1 x Marantz – £404
2 x XLR cables – £30
2 x Rifle Mics – £180
2 x Radio Mics – £1224
3 x Headphones – £60
Editing Kit
1 x Edit Suite ( 1x imac, 1 x final cut studio, full spec ) – £2300
1 x 1TB harddrive – £150
TOTAL COST – £10668
This is a brief insight into the funds we will require to set up our company if we were to buy all of our equipment outright ready for trading. However from the initial meetings we have had with ICE and having general discussions about it between ourselves we have come to the conclusion that we do not need to purchase all of the equipment at once, and only start buying the equipment when we are starting to get income from jobs. The alternative solution to avoid these large set up costs, is to rent out the equipment we require. If we are to rent the equipment for jobs, we can factor the costs into the price we charge the client therefore covering expenses so the company does not over spend in the first 12 months. after doing some basic research into rental companies, i found two strongly recommended rental companies in the form of Camera Rent and Calumet. The prices to rent out a Sony Z5 camera which is our video camera of choice, ranges from £65 – £95 per day – £248 – £380 per week. As the weeks progress this is something we will develop further as to whether renting in the short term will be cost effective for the company in the long run, and this is certainly an issue we can solve via our business mentoring.
Advertisement
As we are a new company and people other than our current clients will have heard of us it is important that we flood the local area with our branding and company details and provide examples of our work. The first thing we are doing is designing and and getting printed some business cards and company leaflets in time for our media degree at the start of June as this is a great chance for us to start getting our name out to the local community and any perspective employers that may attend. So currently we are in the process of getting design put together to allow us to get the cards printed in time for the show. Another form of advertising we will be deploying for the show is company polo shirts that will enable us as a team to be separated from the rest of our peers and enable visitors at the show to know exactly who 3lance media are. Here is a design of what our polo shirts will look like.
The design is simple yet effective and will provide us with an informal yet professional appearance to some potential customers. In our business meetings we have discussed a key area of success and failure of new companies, branding and advertising. It is crucial that this is took seriously and that with in reason no expense is spared as your advertisement and general company image is what grabs clients into wanting your services. We are also going to create a company website as this is a great way to advertise not only the services we offer but also to allow potential clients a chance to see our company showreel which will be embedded into the site. We have a couple of people that will be able assist us in designing our website at a low cost but still producing a high quality site and after we have received our company certificate we will be able to obtain the domain name to use for our website. We will purchase www.3lancemedia.co.uk and www.3lancemedia.com as this ensures that we will not have a potential clash of web address and also gives us an option of .co.uk or .com. The basic cost is around £4 per year for co.uk and £10 per year for .com, so it is an investment worth making as it is little cost and will certainly help us project ourselves into the industry. Here is a brief design of what we envisage our website to look like.
Where are we at?
So lets summarise the stage of set up we are at. We have just this week purchased the company name and are waiting for the certification to be sent through for 3lance Media LTD, so we are able to secure the domain names and set up the company bank account. We have almost finished designs of business cards and will be sending them off for printing by the end of the week, we have contacted the people needed with regards to the website and are currently sorting out a date when we can meet and get designing!
In terms of work we are currently arranging filming dates for a job for Mercia FM and have just completed a project for QCDA. We have also got a production meetings with Rolls Royce, Coventry City Football Club and a Dancing School lined up over the next couple of weeks so we have some busy but very exciting times ahead, an in between we will be exhibiting our personal projects and the CovBlazeTV exhibition at the degree show. As they say there is “no rest for the wicked” but all being well this workload will continue and we can start to establish 3lance Media LTD and project us as a strong competitor in the media industry.
A COMPANY SHOWREEL ILLUSTRATING ALL THE WORK WE HAVE PRODUCED TOGETHER WILL BE SUBMITTED VIA RECEPTION WHEN BLOG ADDRESS IS HANDED IN. IT IS WHAT WILL APPEAR ON OUR WEBSITE WHEN IT IS UP AND RUNNING.
![Po - [Explored]](http://static.flickr.com/7225/7260527994_23e4e5f04b_t.jpg "Po - [Explored]")
