Week 4 Integrative Learning: Interviewing With Storytelling

The purpose of this assignment is to practice our interviewing skills, mostly with the question most employers will ask us which is "Tell me about yourself". This question can be daunting and overwhelming but after watching and reading the tips and tricks to it, is actually quite simple. Not only can answer this with a simple formula of what your current position is, what your recent background is, and why you'd be good for the job - personality and confidence goes a long way as well.

Week 4 Reflection: RISE Self Evaluation

This is my final RISE review for the media communications bachelors program. Although we've done this a handful of times, this RISE review was most impactful. The reason we're doing this is to reflect on what we have learned in this course but for me, reflecting on this last course was really a reflection on completing the program. It is quite bittersweet and an enormous accomplishment and this course really ties everything up in a beautiful little package. I am grateful for these opportunities, the knowledge, the friends I have made, and most importantly, I am proud to soon be a graduate of this excellent program. Thank you for everything!

Career-Focused Media Kit

For my media kit, I decided to create three reels for my future career. I originally planned to create a theatrical reel, a producing reel, and a commercial / industrial reel. I did create a producing and commercial reel but didn't work on my theatrical reel as the footage I was hoping to add to my current one has not yet been released by the network. I will definitely update my current reel as soon as the footage comes out.

Working on this project has been interesting and eye opening. First, it really gave me perspective on how much work I have done in the last few years and am proud of myself for what I have accomplished. It also made me realize that in order to continually update these reels, I have to make sure to keep assets of all the projects I have worked on. It took a lot of time trying to gather all the footage and there is probably some out there I have missed.

Here is my producing / production manager reel:

Here is my commercial reel:

And here is my current theatrical acting reel which I will update as soon as my new footage is released:

Week 3 Integrative Learning: Portfolio Revisions & Strategy

The purpose of this assignment is to analyze where we see our next steps after graduation and to be aware of our skills, our new found knowledge, and how to best market ourselves moving forward.
Although I am not new to the industry, understanding this is crucial at any point in my career.

Upon graduation, I will continue to hone my skills in web design, or perhaps, hire a web designer to really enhance my brand. I am proud of the portfolio I've created but being that I have been working in the industry for almost two decades and feel like my brand is strong, I am not quite as confident in the way my portfolio represents me. Although it's decent, I think my brand is much stronger and I don't quite have the skills to put that on a website. I would love a really strong site that is not a Wix template. Since I have so many years of experience as well as a unique blend of talents, I think my website would be more credible if it were not a templated site.

I would love to add clips to my portfolio of each project I've done. On my acting page, I'm proud of the reel I have but I don't have one for my producing. I am working on this for my final project but have noticed that it is quite difficult to find footage of the work that I've done in production. Moving forward, I think it would be great to have footage of myself when I work behind the scenes on a set to show that I can transition from talent to producer.

Although I am not sure a portfolio website will help me in my career journey, I am open minded in keeping it updated in case my career path or technologies change. As an actor, producer, and AD - most work I get is through my agent or through word of mouth. I do love the idea of having one place for all my work in case someone is looking to see what my skill set is. The way people hire can change with time and culture and I will definitely try to keep it as updated as possible and hopefully learn how to create an even more dynamic website to truly represent me, my brand, and my talents.

Week 2: Tailoring Your Resume

This was an interesting activity. I changed my resume to fit the job descriptions slightly more but ended up with the same results for the first one. This job is with Skystorm Productions for an Executive Producer for Commercial Video Production. On the first scan, my results for 51%. For the second scan, they were the exact same results.

The results were interesting though. The things I was missing according to JobScan were keywords that I do not feel comfortable adding to my resume. Keywords such as proposal, design, and writing. I am not comfortable with embellishing my resume with skills I don't necessary have. What this shows me is that I am not qualified for this position even though I do have most of the skills they are looking for.

The second job I looked into was for a Project Manager in Experience Development for Universal Orlando. This didn't change either in my JobScan although I did tweak my resume more to match this job (even though I know I am not qualified). I am not sure how the website works but it says I am missing certain keywords such as customer experience, brand management, and user experience that I added to my resume.

For the purpose of this activity, I understand what is required and why this is useful although I didn't want to find a lesser position just to find a better match rate on JobScan.  I know what my qualifications are and understand that there are a many ways to constantly be improving my resume which I am open to doing. I am more aware of how my resume is viewed, scanned by companies or their software, and know that for each position, I need to tweak and focus on certain aspects in order to get me noticed.

Week 2 Integrative Learning: Scanning Your Resume

I had never heard of JobScan prior to this assignment and found the results quite interesting. The purpose of this assignment is to be more aware of how our resume is viewed by employers, recruiters, and be more aware of what the market is looking for. I want to be as presentable and hireable as possible.

For the first one, an executive producer job at Skystorm productions, had my match rate at only 51%
I have been producing for over 12 years and although I thought I was qualified, it mentioned I was missing some hard and soft skills.

The second job I scanned, a Project Manager position in Experience Development for Universal Orlando is a job I was pretty sure I was not qualified for but would love to be considered for in the future. It was less than 20% match rate but also opened my eyes to what skills I would need to develop if I ever wanted a job like this. Its fascinating too that Project Management is not listed on my resume as I have it tailored more as a producer resume. I have worked as a project manager for over 10 years and makes me realize that I need to create a resume for that skill set as well as my producing skill set.

This assignment was eye opening, fascinating, and although I am not looking for a job, will definitely be bookmarking this website when I do want to advance in my career.

Week 2: LinkedIn to Link Up

My LinkedIn Profile

As I updated my LinkedIn profile, I joined two groups. The Producers Network and Film TV and Tech Professionals.  The reason for joining these groups would be to network and learn more about the television and film industry. I already have a network that are involved in these groups and not only is it a way to meet new people but they also post very interesting articles about the film and media industry.

Although I have been working professionally in the entertainment and media industry for over 18 years, it is important for me to keep connecting with other professionals in this industry. It is also important for me to continue learning about the ever changing aspects of media in general, and these groups and networks will help me with the latest and greatest in media technology.

I also added my LinkedIn profile to my professional Facebook page. Although this page is mostly for my acting career, it can boost my professional producing presence as it shows the diversity in my skill set.

Week 1 Integrative Learning: Creating a Career Plan Video

Although I have been working professionally in the entertainment media industry for over 18 years, I can always continue to develop my career plan and keep growing in my industry. The purpose of this assignment is to constantly be open to career and networking opportunities even if I already have an established career.

One of the strategies I learned through this lecture is treating myself as a business. Most everyone is a freelancer these days and thinking of myself as a product is brilliant. Learning how to market myself and my skillset is key. In my career path, as a producer and actor, this rings true. Although I have an agent, my brand needs to constantly show my audience my worth. In the world of social media, I need to be conscious of what I post as I am representing not only my craft, but my personality and like-ability.

On this same note, letting my audience know who I am, my worth, and that I am available for work is crucial. As more casting directors or producers know my skill set and my work ethic, they are more likely to want to work with me. As I keep working on set and in my day job, the more people understand my worth, the more my network will be able to pitch me as an asset.

Monetizing my passion is something I've been lucky enough to have been doing for many years. I am an actor and have been working professionally in front of the camera and on stage for over 18 years. Although I have years of experience in this business, I continue to study and work on my craft in order to continue monetizing on this skill. I also have been lucky enough to work as a production manager in my day job. Although it is not my passion, it is related to my acting career and actually helps make me become a better actor. This makes my job much more enjoyable and let's me continue to pursue my freelance acting career.

Week 1: Uncover the Hidden Market

As a current media professional, I have tailored this assignment slightly to benefit my career goals. I have been a media professional for over 18 years - working as a producer, actor, and first assistant director in the film / television industry. I wanted to focus this more on companies that I could network with more to increase my knowledge and expand my network of colleagues.

Some of these companies are firms I have worked with as talent but would love to expand my network with them to learn more about producing. Two of those companies that I would really like to focus my attention on are Universal Creative and Disney Event Group.

For Universal Creative, I plan to reach out to Jack Somerville, their production manager. Although I have worked with him prior as talent, I would love to see if I can shadow him or invite him to dinner to discuss how productions come to Orlando and how they build their relationships with other production houses.

I would love to do the same with Disney Event Group. There are a group of producers that work there that have to not only produce events, but maintain the Disney brand. I would love to learn the process of producing events for one of the largest entertainment company in the world.

Target Audience List

RISE Review : New Media Tools

Competitor Research

For this assignment, we had to do some research on competitor’s websites within our industry. I am first and foremost an actor and wanted to see how other artists represent themselves. I chose three very diverse celebrities to compare and contrast their sites and its usability.