For Photographers

Film Festival Flop

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Following the previous post about events leading up to the annual Toronto Film Festival, today was Day One of the 35th annual event. Opening night. Full media attendance. What could possibly go wrong?

• A TV guy shooting B-roll inside the *media* lounge got kicked out of the room. Apparently no one is allowed to shoot video or photograph any part of the film festival’s “inside” areas. Also not allowed to video, photograph or interview anyone who works for the festival. And, get this, you’re not allowed to photograph the *exterior* of any theatre where film festival events are taking place (?!?).

 

• The film festival’s WiFi system died immediately. It was already down when I tried at 2:30 PM.

Can they fix the WiFi? – “I don’t know.”

Can they call someone to fix it? – I’m not sure.”

Is there a backup plan? – “I don’t know.”

Why does the press office use wired Internet but the media has wireless? – “The WiFi is unreliable.”

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Film Festival Madness

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If nothing else, the Toronto Film festival serves as an example of how not to run an event. You might think that going into its 35th year, the film festival would know how to properly run a media event. But you’d be wrong.

Make no mistake, the primary function of the festival is for movie producers, actors and directors to get publicity for their projects, and for distributors to find buyers for their movies. To help do this, they need media exposure. The reason they come to Toronto is the huge media coverage. The film festival itself acknowledges the importance of this media coverage when it says the festival wouldn’t happen without media attendance.

Where to start?
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From Photojournalism to Corporate Photographer

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“We don’t hire you because of your beautiful, wonderful, terrific photographs,” says corporate communications director Greg Thompson. He goes on to explain that a company hires a corporate photographer to be the “solution to their business problem.”

In a video interview (and shown below) by journalist Stanley Leary, Thompson offers some advice for photographers who are trying to transition from photojournalism to corporate photography.

“It’s about how you do the job, not the job you do.”

 

Riding along a new path

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If a customer needs a package to be delivered from point A to point B, they don’t care whether the courier* is talented enough to ride an odd-looking bicycle or not. The only value to the customer is the ability to deliver the package on time. The customer won’t pay more for a fancy set of wheels or any extra cycling skills because these have no value to the customer.

No matter how talented a photographer thinks they are or how many awards they may have won, it’s the customer who determines the value of the photography. The customer’s perception is the photographer’s reality. Unwanted value isn’t any value at all.
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Hiring For Dummies

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There are many staff jobs available for editors and writers but none for photographers. 

Well, almost none.

The only photo jobs are those for department store portrait studios, baby photographers and school photographers. These three are always looking for photographers which tends to indicate the quality of these jobs.

• There’s a new business magazine about to start up in Toronto. It has full-time paid job opportunities for editors, writers, designers and web people. What’s missing? Photographers.
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Dumb or Dumber

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There are two ways to sell your products or services:

Option A: Make your customers smarter. Let them know how and why you do what you do. Educate them on what to look for and what to avoid. Help them know what’s possible, what questions to ask and what to expect. Smart customers are informed customers who, in turn, are good customers.

Option B: Make your customers dumber. Don’t let them know about your products or services. Don’t tell them about variables, options or warranties. Don’t give them choices. Dumb customers are helpless customers who, in turn, are good customers because they will always run to you for help.

 

Option B is the easiest and that’s why many businesses do it. You could choose this option and be successful, but only until a competitor decides to go with Option A. When this happens, Option B is no longer an option.

 

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