In today’s competitive marketplace, is it more advantageous to have web or tv experience? Sure, the best scenario is to have samples of both in your portfolio.
But if you have to choose just one, which is going to move your career ahead more?
I interviewed with a large agency in Texas last October. Going into the opportunity, all parties knew my TV experience was light to negligible. But I brought strong direct and interactive experience, which was also part of the job description. We had a great chat (at least from my side of the table, I thought so). But when it came down to making the cut, my lack of TV production experience was enough to throw me off the job offer island.
Which brings up a whole other discussion. How does someone who has spent more than a decade working in the “ad biz,” but mostly in print and web, find opportunities to gain TV experience? I thought I had resolved the issue when I spent nearly 2 months storyboarding out an entire section of an auto manufacturer’s web site that was going to use live-action video and CGI to tell their truck’s story. Think a bunch of 30 and 60-second spots that, when strung together, told a compelling and engaging story.
Not only had we received client (and legal) approval for the boards, I had already hired the director and production team, and we started scouting sites. But then the bean counters came in and pulled the plug. So all I have from that effort are some great storyboards and awesome shooters that I now consider friends.
Do you ever give up hope of getting the chance to do something new? Or do you go with what you know from experience, and keep milking that for what it’s worth?
I’m holding on to the hope that some day I’ll have the chance to finally shoot a broadcast TV spot. But in the meantime, I’ll continue utilizing my web experience. And continue to add to that skill set (with things like SEO) to help fortify my arsenal of offerings to present and future employers/clients.