“ Film is not for everyone. In order to work in the film industry, you have to love what you do. I know people always say you should love what you do but if you work in film and you don’t love it, you will not survive. School is great and prepares you well but I don’t feel school prepares you well enough for when you get out there, since you start as a Production Assistant (PA). No one ever told me these things but I have no regrets, I strive to be on a film set working, it’s absolutely amazing. It is not your typical 9-5 jobs, working in film is typically a 12-hour day starting at any time during the day. If you love it, you won’t mind working the very long hours. I work very long hours when I’m on set but I absolutely love being on set so the long hours do not bother me at all.
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker Words of wisedom for up-and-coming filmmakers and production assistants.
Comm Creatives: People
Here we will feature and promote the projects and creative work of the freshest emerging talent in media and communication arts industries.
The Comm Creatives Blog collection is designed to be an online career guide for people who are just beginning their careers in the media and communication arts industries.
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker
Career Q & A Interview: Part 5 of 5-Working for Documentary Filmmaker Rick McKay, creator of Broadway: The Golden Age and Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age.
Comm Creatives:
Talk a little bit about working for Rick McKay.
Albert Phaneuf:
How did you hear about this internship?
“Through a professor at NYIT.”
What is your job title?
“Under Rick McKay, I am an intern. I am mostly doing the duties of an assistant editor.”
What are your duties?
“As the assistant editor, I have a few duties. I capture footage (DV and HDV. For the HDV footage I convert them down to SDV so the other computers can edit off of them. I also convert them into iPod files so that the other interns and I can watch them while we commute to study the subject material we are working with. The footage is mostly comprised of interviews. I also do other work, working with printers and word documents and such. As well as making assembly edits of chapters in the next film.”
What is the title of the project you are helping him with?
“The project is Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, the second film in the trilogy. The first one being Broadway: The Golden Age.”
Your favorite and most challenging parts of working with him?
“Hard to say. I think it would have to be the fact that I screen everything for him on almost a daily basis and receive constructive criticism from him regarding my work, which unfortunately I am not used too. Since I am not used to this, it’s hard for me to adjust but at the same time it’s very good and challenging for me.”
What are the perks?
“This is an internship that is so hands on, it’s great. I’m directly responsible for starting to make chapters happen for Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age and because of this, I get to watch interviews he has done with Broadway legends, some of them have sadly passed away, which makes my work that much more important and inspiring not only for me but for the audience that will be viewing the finished product when it is released.”
What industry knowledge has he shared with you?
“Tips on do’s and don’ts in a professional work environment. Furthering my education on Final Cut Pro and Adobe Photoshop. Using important footage and pictures that will appear in his upcoming film so that makes the work more serious for me and helps me better understand what he’s doing.”
What new skills did you learn?
“I’ve learned new editing techniques and shortcuts to make editing much easier. I’ve also learned more shooting techniques and other skills for converting formats.”
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker
Career Q & A Interview: Part 4 of 5-Hardcore, Voluntary Professional Development Boot Camp
Comm Creatives:
What advice would you give other aspiring filmmakers?
Albert Phaneuf:
“While in school, be active in classes. I was a work-study student at NYIT and I really cared about what I was doing and learned to use the equipment. And if I wasn’t in class and I was on campus, I was in the communication arts department, even after my work-study money ran out. This led me to learn about the equipment outside of class. I really got more in-depth with learning to use Final Cut Pro. Ultimately, I started working on projects that may not have been involved with the school but personnel of the school would be hired to direct a project and I would get called to operate the camera or be the boom operator. Learn how to do more than one function, don’t just learn how to shoot a camera, learn how to work the audio and learn how to edit also. The more things you know, the better you will be at what you do and the more marketable and desirable you will become for employers.”
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker
Career Q & A Interview: Part 3 of 5-Future Career Plans
Comm Creatives:
What type of films would you like to work on in the future? Do you see your self as an independent filmmaker or working with a production company and why? Are you more of an editor or cameraman or both?
Albert Phaneuf:
“This is a very interesting question. I still am not sure whether I want to go the route of independent filmmaker or work with a production company. I think it’s more of a 50-50 thing. There are some things I’d love to do as an independent filmmaker and yet there are things I’d love to do in a production company, so I’m not sure about that yet. As far as what I see myself doing, ultimately I want to direct. I want to translate the ideas from my head onto film for audiences to watch and critique. Other than that, I think I want to go down the route of D P. I also want to work in each area of film production because I never know, I may find something else that I absolutely love doing. I just crave knowledge and want to know how each area of film pre-production/production/post-production operates.”
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker
Career Q & A Interview: Part 2 of 5-Memorable Projects, Music Video with Puppets
Comm Creatives:
What are some of your memorable past projects?
Albert Phaneuf:
“The beautiful thing in my mind about film is that every project you are apart of is memorable in one way or another. One that really sticks out in my mind though is a music video I was apart of that was filmed entirely on green screen at New York Institute of Technology(NYIT). I took care of all the arrangements for the crew to come and load their equipment into the TV studiofor a week, this was not a student project, it was professional. The music video was for a band called Greyboy Allstars, the song is “Still Waiting.” It was shot entirely on green screen using puppets. So from about 9 AM to about 8 PM, Monday-Thursday for one week in early January I was apart of this project of shooting puppets and the experience was awesome. The TV studio is not very big yet when I watch the music video, it blows my mind that it was shot in the TV studio since they make the room seem so big, that was the first time I was ever part of a project that really utilized the green screen. I was part of a second project that utilized the green screen but I haven’t seen the finished cut of the show yet.”
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker
Career Q & A Interview: Part 1 of 5-Preparation for Career Close-Up
Comm Creatives:
How did you make the decision that film production was the career you wanted?
Albert Phaneuf:
“I always wanted to make sure that what I did as a career would be fun and exciting and that’s when I decided I wanted to go into film. At first though, I felt like it would be one of those little kid dreams that goes away in a few days but it didn’t. I wasn’t one of the many filmmakers who have been making movies their whole lives unfortunately because I didn’t have the equipment for it and was a very shy boy growing up so I didn’t bother trying but what I did to was develop characters and stories in my head, never put them on paper though. When I entered senior year in high school, I took History of Film and Creative Writing. I chose History of Film so I could start my studying on ground-breaking films and start to get to know the business and I took Creative Writing to help me learn new techniques and uses of language so I can write my ideas into scripts in very colorful language. However, up until I got into college, my interest was mostly in doing computer special effects though after one semester at college in Film-101, I changed my mind and decided I’d rather work in production and I don’t have any regrets about my decision.”
Albert Phaneuf, aspiring filmmaker
“I was sitting in my living room with my mom when I was young, probably around 10 years old. We were channel surfing and stumbled upon a “Behind The Scenes” for a movie, I don’t remember what movie it was but we were watching the show and to me it looked like a lot of fun and it just seemed like the crew involved were having a blast, that’s when I decided I wanted to go into film.”
- Commenting on the moment he realized that he wanted to be a filmmaker.
“ Try to have fun and enjoy what you do. You spend too many hours at work to hate it. You’re going to take your lumps and pay your dues early on and to a certain extent I’m still paying mine but I get the feeling that I’m going to miss these days when they are over.
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group. Commenting on his first editorial job straight out of college.
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group
Career Q & A Interview: Part 5 of 5-The Changing Landscape of Newspaper Journalism and Its Effect on Sports Writing
Comm Creatives:
How do you feel that the collapse of the newspaper industry will effect sports writers/editors? Has it effected you yet? If so how? What do you predict for the newspaper industry as a whole as papers continue to shutdown? Do you think traditional papers will cease to exist?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“I don’t think the newspaper industry is doomed. I think we’ve got to got to find a way to make ourselves the central information hub for people’s lives again and we’ve got to find a way to make money from the internet. But actually, while the larger newspapers are folding, a lot of smaller community papers are surviving and thriving. As far as sports writers, I think people will always look for perspective about their teams, so while I think that the industry will change, it’s not going away.”
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group
Career Q & A Interview: Part 4 of 5- Perks of a Sports Editor and Journalist Resources
Comm Creatives:
What are the perks and benefits of being a sports editor?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“You get to go to games for free! Think about it: I get paid to write about sports! How awesome is that? But also you’ll get great sports literature, and you’ll meet amazing people and learn a lot.”
Comm Creatives:
What resources would you recommend for aspiring sports editors?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“I can’t speak to everyone, but I joined the National Association of Black Journalists last year, and it’s been a great source of info. You get a lot of big contacts and you get the chance to pick the brains of some of the bigger minds in the industry.”
Footnote:
National Association of Black Journalists: www.nabj.org
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group
Career Q & A Interview: Part 3 of 5-Esssential Skills Needed and Advice for Aspiring Sports Editors
Comm Creatives:
What essential skills does it take to be an excellent sports editor? What advice would you give to aspiring sports editors?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“Beyond a passion for sports and good writing skills, you’ve gotta be willing to work at anytime. Sports is less random than news, but you still never know when a story will break. Also, try to hide your fandom. You’ll meet some famous people and perhaps even cover your favorite teams, but you can’t let that distract you from getting your job done. Embrace the web. You’re going to be asked to blog, to make tweets on twitter and produce video. The more skills you have, the more indispensable you make yourself. Read a lot. Lastly, learn the difference between a column and an article. If your editor wants game coverage, they just want the facts. Keep your feelings out.”
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group
Career Q & A Interview: Part 2 of 5-The Sports Editor Life
Comm Creatives:
How is it different than what you expected it to be like?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“As far as a difference, we’re a weekly paper, so people don’t come to us for major sports news, so I’ve had to get better at writing timeless, feature pieces.”
Comm Creatives:
What are the career highlights so far being a new sports editor?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“I’ve been to some amazing places. I was at opening day at CitiField, the Mets new ballpark. I covered the Big East tournament, I kinda went nuts doing extensive coverage of the local high school basketball playoffs in March. It’s been fun, exhausting, but fun.”
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group
Career Q & A Interview: Part 1 of 5-The Transition to Sports Editor
Comm Creatives:
How are your duties different now as a sports editor than when you were design director?
Nigel Chiwaya:
“It’s different because you’re actually out there covering stories and talking to people. With design, you’re very much in the office and when your hours are done, you can go home. With sports, stories break, stories change at any moment, so you kind of have to keep your antenna up at all times. The A-Rod steroid story was a great example. That broke on a Saturday morning. Also, I’m constantly looking for freelance writers and interns, which is something I didn’t do as design director.”
Nigel Chiwaya, current sports editor and former design director of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group
“I knew I wanted to be a sports writer from the moment I turned 17. Sports had always been a passion of mine, so it was a pretty natural progression. Of course, I was sports editor at NYIT Chronicle for a year and it was an incredible experience, so I was pretty sure it was for me.”
Footnote: Photo by Natasha Jahangir Butt
“ My advice for beginners is that they shouldn’t get easily intimidated by other photographers. No one learns all the tricks over night, it’s taken me almost 6 years to get where I am and I learn something new everyday. Everyone is different, so just take the time and practice, everything falls into place eventually.
Natasha Jahangir Butt, advanced photography skills and aspiring architect
