Looking for suggestions on where to find audio help

M

mrsclean

New member
Hi all,

I've been working in the DR Congo for the past year on an HIV/AIDS prevention themed family drama for TV. We finished shooting (HVX200, M2, etc etc), and are well into post production. On the strength of what we have shown already, we have been asked to continue. We are pretty pleased with the product, but there is clear room for improvement on the audio front. We are looking to bring down a multi-talented individual to help us with audio in both production and post production for a 4-6 month stint. We have financing, but this is not being done for profit, in one of the poorest countries in the world, so no one is getting rich of of this. Specifically, we need someone who has a broad range of skills and likes to be involved at every level of production. What am I asking?

Aside from posting in the jobs section of the site, I was wondering if anyone might have other suggestions as to how we might go about finding someone who would fit the bill, or if you have any suggestions that might help us better target the kind of person, or even warnings, or other advice.

Thanks,

Ben Olander
smallpower productions
smallpower.org
 
I'm going to assume you don't have that kind of budget. Your not likely to get many working professionals to do it for much less. Not because they are hard nosed greedy bastards but because after the project is over they have to come back and still have a home to come home to. So I would suggest hiring closer to the project base. The cost of living differential is not so great and so people can afford to work lower (and the full rate is probably also lower). If for some reason you really want to hire out of the US you should look for either just out of school or poss retired pros. Projects like these come up periodically and I'm always enticed, but I realize the economic hole I would put myself in by doing it and that kills any real interest. The cost of living and having to maintain your home base is a big nut. The other problem for someone working on any regular basis is that your going to take them WAY out of market for 1/2 a year and there is going to be a ramp up time after they get back before they are working the same amount as they were when they left.
Personally if I were looking at this and wanted to do it for "free" I would need to cover all the house expenses and three to four weeks of reconnect time after I got back plus of course all the expenses of the trip and stay.
 
If I am not mistaken, one of our regular posters is from South Africa. Perhaps he might have a recommendation for you along the lines of someone you could work with that is a bit closer.
 
First of all, thanks for the feedback.

We are already looking in S.A. for people, definitely closer, and logistically easier.

This is clearly more of an opportunity for someone who wants to beef up the resume, and get some field experience in a challenging location... We have a local team we work with, but after years of civil strife, and international isolation, the local talent pool is thin. We would be absolutely open to working with recent grads, and people who want to get a sense of what the world looks like outside of the regular production environment. Any suggestions on boards, or how to get recent grad attention? Are there any particularly good schools that I should be contacting?

As for the budget, and the very real difficulties of even a few months of being overseas, we are sensitive to that. We cover room and board in Kinshasa (which is more expensive than you might imagine... rents similar to Paris, or SF), and probably enough to offset the costs at home, but not a whole lot more. The point of being out of the loop for several months is duly noted.

This is definitely for someone looking for: an adventure, a great job for the reel/resume and/or a way to give something back.

again, thanks for the feedback.
 
mrsclean said:
This is definitely for someone looking for: an adventure, a great job for the reel/resume and/or a way to give something back.
Click to expand...

This sort of thing is discussed often on professional UK forums.

Films with inadequate budgets relying on people basically working for free.
  • Looking for adventure - yes
  • A great job for the reel/resume - no, pretty worthless for this sort of thing
  • A way to give something back - not really, as the only people who would seriously contemplate this would be at the very start of their career

It' *is* an opportunity, though, for someone wanting time out, a free "holiday" together with a chance to hone skills just learnt at university.
 
I think it's Timapter that is in South Africa, and I know he has done work in other countries near by. Try looking him up.

Phil
 
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