6 Months Freelancing in Portland, Oregon
It’s been 6 months since I moved to Portland, Oregon and I’m finally starting to get more work as a freelance cinematographer. The secret? It’s ALL about who you know.
As you can see in the infographic below, I’ve been trying to make industry connections as often as my schedule allows. Over the past 6 months I’ve attended 3 meetups, had 15 lunch meetings, 25 coffee meetings, released 7 blog posts (4 contained videos), and I’ve gotten 28 gigs as a result.
What’s the cost of networking?
Quantifying the cost of getting work is incredibly difficult (if not impossible) but I’m going to give it a go. I’m not going all Don Draper on these people and taking them out to steak dinners (perhaps I’d get more work if I did) so the 15 lunches and 25 coffees cost me $361.27 in total, which comes out to $9.03/meeting. Pretty dang affordable if you ask me! There are a few other factors that need to be taken into account though. There’s gas, parking, and the time it takes out of your day. The gas and parking isn’t a ton depending on where your meetings are but time spent networking adds up fast.
For example, what if it takes 3 meetings with a director before they hire you as part of their crew? Let’s say they hire you for one day of filming at $850 but it took 6 hours of getting acquainted over coffee and lunch meetings beforehand. Your hourly rate shrinks drastically if you look at it this way and I’m convinced that you should. Instead of $850/8=$106.25/hr you’re looking at $850/14=$60.71/hr and that’s assuming that you get hired at all.
You’ll meet many people along the way that never offer you any opportunities and you’ll also meet people that take years to hire you. I actually just got brought on for a project by a first time client that I met 5 years ago. Let that sink in for a moment - I’ve known this marketing director for 5 years and they’re just now hiring me; I’ve eaten meals with them, hung out with them, quoted them for various projects, and they’re just now finally hiring me. I’m not bitter about it, I actually consider them a good friend, but I raise the point as a reminder that networking is a long term experience, so don’t expect immediate results.
Where did my 28 gigs come from?
It’s all about who you know and better yet, who knows you. I was hired for 28 projects in the past 6 months and 27 of those 28 gigs were a direct result of my Seattle network. That means that someone from my Seattle network either hired me or referred me to a production 96.4% of the time. Oh and that 1 gig that I didn’t get as a result of my Seattle network? Someone posted in a Facebook group asking for a cinematographer in Portland and I got the job - turned out that they were also from Seattle and wanted hire someone in Portland instead of making the drive.
This means that I haven’t gotten a single paid job from my 40 lunch/coffee meetings and my prior network essentially got me 100% of my work these past 6 months. Honestly, it makes sense. I lived in Seattle for 8 years as I completed my undergraduate degree, Master’s degree, and worked on award winning content. Of course people are more willing to hire me in Seattle, they actually know who I am and the quality that I bring to the table. It would be silly for me to complain about not getting hired as much in the Portland market, I’ve yet to put in the time to be trusted by production companies down here.
To be clear, this is not me saying that Seattle’s a better market than Portland, it’s simply where a majority of my professional network is located.
The meaning of it all?
Don’t underestimate your pre-existing networks. It doesn’t matter if you moved cities, states, or even internationally. You need to ask your friends, family, and colleagues for any connections they may have where you are setting up home base. Heck, you don’t even need to move to do this! Coming up short this year and want more work? Remind your family and colleagues that you and your services are available. Approximately 86% of Americans seek recommendations when purchasing something. Though this study refers to purchasing products, I think it’s obvious that people would want the same referral experience for high level services. Leverage your network, tell your estranged aunt about your latest work and that you are seeking opportunities. You never know where your next job may come from.
I’ve shared my first 6 months here and you’d better believe that I’ll be sharing a year long recap. Interested in following the journey? Subscribe to my email list below for new content.