January is always a quiet time in TV, Film and video production. Some of my most regular freelancers are light on work. I’ve had a lot of calls and emails from people I’ve never heard of asking for work. Truth is, we’re always quiet in the January period. But don’t let that mean you get inactive. Though you might not be working, or temping to fill the gap, make sure you’re staying busy limbering up for when work picks up. Here are some ideas of things you could be doing:
– Get some classic feature films and documentaries out on video and watch them through. Better still, watch them on a laptop outside of your home, see how it feels to watch them in another environment
– Make sure all your software updates have been done on your laptop
– Get up to date with your invoices
– Review all your process and ways of doing what you do. Is there any way you could improve how you do it, such as writing templates or crib lists
– Look for blogs about the area of work you do, see what you can learn from other people’s experiences. And interact with them, leave comments saying how you’ve benefitted from their knowledge
– Have a snoop around Vimeo and ‘like’ any clips you wish you’d made!
– Refresh your First Aid skills
All of this will keep your skills up to date, your mind focused. And maybe make your January a bit more productive and a little less blue.
Here’s to a great 2011.
