To freelance or not to freelance
that is the Question
About two and a half years ago I was
one of a number of employees at my TV station to receive
a pink slip following the station's sale to a Spanish
language network. The layoff came after more than 6 years
of hard work in "corporate" television. I'd
made my way from New Jersey to Missouri to South Carolina
to Miami working stints as both an on-air sports talent
and sports photog. Long before hitting Miami however I'd
traded in my on-air dreams for the security of life behind
the camera. I was sick of changing jobs. Unfortunately,
here I was again in search of new employment. It was then
that I asked myself, "What can I do to avoid this
situation again? That's when I first contemplated becoming
strictly a freelancer.
What should I do???
I had previously worked gigs on the side,
everything from sports and news to entertainment. But
doing it full time.. wow, that is scary!!!
Nonetheless, I decided to give it a shot.
For the first 6 months I called everyone I knew and everyone
I didn’t know. Thankfully,
I made a lot of good contacts and built up a solid reputation.
I let my shooting abilities do the talking and people
were noticing. The calls and the work began rolling
in. So much so, I decided to form my own company…Digital
Wave Productions.
Is freelancing for everyone? Probably
not. You have to have a lot of confidence and must be
able to take a lot of criticism…but if you are good at
what you do, are willing to learn and can sell yourself
you will be able to succeed.
After about 2 and half years of freelancing
I've expanded my value as a freelancer. I now edit, shoot
and produce an hour dolphins live show, shoot for most
of the networks and have many independent projects on
the side.
Freelancing has been good to me and I
plan on being my own boss for the rest of my career!
It's definitely worth considering but it might not be
for everyone. Good luck on what ever You decide!
Ray Colaiacovo is a veteran sports
videographer working in Miami. He's worked for ESPN, NBC
Sports, Sunshine Network and Fox Sports Net amongst others.
He recently launched his own production company and is
currently working on developing a reality based comedy
show.
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