It’s been a while, a long while actually since I, Hussain have written a blog post. I’ve spent a lot of time on my journey away from my site other than updating the photo pages when I can.
This post is a retrospect of this past year. The beginning of last December I left my last day job and went into freelance work full time. Before I was doing both, trying to fit in times to do different gigs, personal or freelance projects. So recently having survived the first year I find it appropriate to give my perspective on things I’ve experienced, learned, pros, cons and where I’m at now moving forward.
To start off, I left my job right before leaving to Art Base in Miami and after filming promotional content for the NFL for the opening of their NFL Experience building in Times Square (Shout out to V!) I was able to get the days off for The NFL gig, but not for the trip to Miami. Ticket was already purchased and it was the first time I was on a plane since I was a child. I felt it was an important experience to have as well as for the networking opportunity. So I left. And when I came back I continued the freelance path off the momentum off the NFL project and the Art Basel experience.
As a freelancer my main gigs I would get were as a photographer, editor and Videographer as I began doing more Music Videos, mostly on my own filming and editing them.
Photography was and still is the main thing I get hired for, whether its a family portrait, studio session or event work. Around the transition from Winter into Spring I consciously have been working to transition into doing more video work, particularly Music Videos. I love photography but as many of you may know my main goal is to be a Film Director, and having more video material is ideal for me. Making that transition so far has been a clear road, but a bumpy one. Working with musicians has brought me to restructure much of how I go about business. I can’t count how many treatments and ideas I’ve had for videos only for the artist to back out for whatever reason (usually once a conversation on budget comes up) and I’ve realized I wasted so much time planning and mapping things out, getting excited only to not have anything to show for it. No money. So quickly I made different approaches when it came to acquire deposits before anything.
In retrospect, I approached things from the perspective of I’m still trying to prove myself and trying to prove to whoever my clients were that I was worthy of the opportunity. And while I felt I was I tried to put my best step forward believing it would come back to me, which was very ignorant of me to think. A lot of people suffer from terrible communication skills, myself at times fail as well. And when conducting business, especially as a freelancer where you speak with fortune 500 companies all the way to the dude on the block who is trying to do music you’ll see just how much communication is required and how often it is lacking.
Through a lot of experiences even up till the day of this post, I’ve learned not every opportunity you have to say yes to. The need to prove myself has diminished a lot, mostly because I’ve worked on giving myself more self validation, confidence and recognizing my own growth. If you don’t respect you’re talents you’ll be more accepting of bullshit. And that’s fine, it’s part of the process sometimes. And for me I got tired of going through the same situations over and over and through trial and error I became smarter and maneuvered much more efficiently.
One of the pros being a freelancer is the ability to create your own schedule. Most can identify that as the obvious plus but that kind of freedom allows you to do so much for yourself. The older I get the more I notice how hard it can be to find time to self analyze. Many don’t and I feel it’s a strong reason why around 30 some feel like they’re missing something or have issues that they’re just now facing because they didn’t tackle those issues at a earlier time. We focus so much on the dollar but not our well being, when we can’t make many dollars if we aren’t well, physically or mentally.
I have so many friends who work 2-3 jobs that they hate. I’m sure everyone has their own issues to tackle but if you have the chance please focus on your own well being, deep seeded things that trouble you. Honestly, if I wasn’t in control of my own work schedule, I’m not sure if I would be able to focus on it the way I’d like. Just remember, no matter what job you have, once you’re not here whether through death or illness they’ll replace you. You are responsible for you health and happiness. It’s power in choice so I just urge you to reclaim it as your own.
Another challenge I’ve run into this year was being organized, especially with scheduling. I’ve never been the most organized person but with being in charge of my schedule I was met with new challenges. Writing things down is way more effective for me personally than typing it in my phone. I began taking more time in prepping things for different projects. Outside of the work I do for freelance I worked on a few personal projects that hopefully you’ll see in 2019. And that was my biggest challenge in 2018. Before when I had a regular job the days of work were more straight forward and the days I can create were more easily laid out.
Freelance has mixed up those days, when it came to writing a script, editing or shooting. It was something that was very difficult for me to overcome an I am still working on being better at it. You may be filming the whole day and then you remember you had something else you have to do, so the time you have t invest in your personal projects at times were very difficult. As I continued on my path the past few months my work intake increased and the days I had set up for shooting personal projects were soon taken up by paid work and I had to take those because we all know how expensive living can be. But, I am not one for excuses and choose to find the solution to being able to juggle things more efficiently. If I have to wake up earlier to get things done sooner in the day to still be able to tackle my own projects, than that’s something I’ll have to do. It’s very easy to lean on excuses but you hold so much more power when you take responsibility, in the good times and bad. Cause if something bad happens and it wasn’t your fault but when everything goes well how can it always be because of you. That’s the ying and yang of life. Taking credit when you win is great but when you lose you have to be able to own up just as much. Excuses take the power of choice and control away from you and places it in the hands of someone else, so be careful when you place blame. It’s much more freeing when you understand that whether good or bad the choice is always yours. And if it ends in a bad outcome, life continues onward, take the experience and apply it so that you grow from it. It only becomes bad once you stay stagnant or ignorant to the issues at hand.
This past year I’ve had the chance to film for companies like Lexus, McDonalds, and The NFL. Got to collaborate with some celebrity faces and some great up and coming artists. A few people have asked me how did I get those gigs? I give the same answer; I’m just a good person to people and I’m talented at what I do. Being talented is great but to truly be the kind of person people want to be around is an invaluable skill. You think I would have gotten these calls and offers If I was a dickhead to people? If I wasn’t a team player? Is your producer stressed out from the day of filming? Be the calm center of the crew that they can lean on. I’m 6’ 5” 260+, if I see you carrying something, it’s in my nature to offer assistance. Those things go a long way. Trust me. But none of that means anything if you suck. But if you’re talented, but humble enough to be a team player, lead when needed, assist when it’s needed, that’s what will get you a long way. There’s a saying i heard recently that I felt was pretty true: You have to at least be 2 of these 3 things: On time, Skilled as hell, and a good person. If you’re late but your a good person and skilled people will work with you, if you are a dick but you’re skilled and deliver all your work on time people will work with you. If you’re all three than you will rise ot the top. It costs nothing to be good to people, and don’t do it with an ulterior motive, people can smell it on you like a bad smell. Shoutout to Vianel, Danielle, Shayna, Flisadam, Ray, Lam and anyone else who has helped me so far. People are watching you when you least expect it, just be the best version of yourself and keep moving forward.
2019 I already have planned out for my personal projects I wish to release so be on the lookout for that. For freelance things are looking great. In the hard times there still isn’t another career that excites me like filmmaking. I’m looking forward to doing more music videos, short films, commercial work, etc. One thing that is a goal of mine is to be a cinematographer for someone else’s project. I’ve only been my own cinematographer so far, so that I can learn, practice and understand more before venturing doing other Director of Photography work.
I’ll try to post more moving into the next year so look forward for more. I have so much more to even say on the topic of freelance work so I may make a follow up to this as well. Any feedback is appreciated as well
Hussain Al-Khalil