Sometimes I get asked about the kind of work I do and how I find time to fit everything going on in my life in. Usually the short answer is that fitting everything in is like trying trying to fit a bunch of people into a clown car: inevitably it gets uncomfortable, exhausting, but when you stand back and take it all in it's actually quite and admirable accomplishment.

So to expand on that idea I decided to give a, albeit brief, glimpse into what goes on in the life of one guy freelancing in video production trying to make it in the real world.

It's a fact that people in my position can't really expect to either A) get a full-time salary job with benefits with the expectation of any sort of immediacy and B) will have to work several different jobs in order to sustain themselves. With a few exceptions, because there's always exceptions, this is generally what happens to most people who are lucky enough to stay within the industry out of school. It's certainly not a job that most people should get into if they think they're going to strike it rich, those situations tend to happen both with great devotion and sometimes an even greater amount of luck.

Currently for me I work four different jobs: a camera operator and engineer at a regional sports network in New York City, the same thing at an arena in Newark, New Jersey, the owner/producer of a small video production company, and also from time-to-time during the Spring, Summer, and Fall I caddy on any off-days I may have.

Typically, the work I do requires me to work long hours at awkward times. On the Fourth of July for instance I worked from 10 AM until 2 AM on July 5th. Now during that time I not necessarily on my feet the entire time. The other truth of my business is the mantra of "hurry up and wait" meaning that we're constantly on "stand-by" in-case something happens where we need to report on breaking news until we eventually have to shoot one of our regularly scheduled shows at the network. At the arena it's a similar issue where we usually get all of our set-up done long before an event goes off and we wait around for any sort of technical issue to rear it's ugly head, which is more often than you'd think.

Of course what often makes things more difficult is that public transportation doesn't always run at the times which would be most convenient for me. During the week, trains out of New York City back to Jersey stop running at 1 AM. So I'm forced to wait until 4:30 AM on weekdays and 6 AM on weekends until I can catch a ride back to my home. Depending as well on the day and what's going on at the golf course, that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going home to bed, but rather to but on another set of clothes, throw on some body spray/deodorant, and dragging myself to the golf course to carry some rich dude's bags for some extra spending money. The same tends to go as well for when I'm working at the arena.

Now while some people may view this as a hellish type of schedule, and certainly it is taxing, it's not something which I regret getting myself into. One of the things I always told myself in college is that I'd never want to be stuck in a type of career where I feel like I'm constantly doing the same thing. This industry certainly provides met the opportunity to handle new events and interesting people constantly, as well as be intimately involved in the kinds of productions that as a kid I always enjoyed. It's a new perspective on my childhood of growing up and loving sports that has turned into a career.

Now obviously this isn't the end goal for me. While I feel like I can handle this kind of work now, it's definitely not where I see myself within the new 10, or even 5 years from now. Eventually I'd like to have something more akin to the staff position I mentioned earlier, or possibly even manage to turn my business into something that's a bit more self-sustaining than it is now. What that would require would be some more original content from me as opposed to working for private clients and businesses to create highlight videos and commercials. I'm fortunate that I've made some very good friends who are all interested in the same line of work that I am that we're working towards making some of these projects into a reality which is a slow but hopefully fruitful process which I can eventually fit into my already crowded schedule.

Well I suppose that wasn't very brief at all, but hopefully it gave some more insight into the kind of work this one crab from Jersey involves himself in when he's not helping out in his own little way to make this art site an enjoyable experience for you all.

Cheers!