R

[Guy Critique]

i was hoping I could start a thread on how hard it is to find good talented storytellers who want to be the next greatest one person band. I know all the reasons why folks would not want to come to northern Iowa/south central Minnesota. But I think there are good reasons that outweigh those.
The pay is pretty decent for the market, good gear that is getting better, and a great positive working environment that champions ethical storytelling. With the exception of winter, the quality of life is pretty good too.
Looking for any insight in hopes that someone out there is also looking for a job they would have a lot of fun at.

Dave Werthiemr
News Director
KIMT NewsChannel 3
Mason City Iowa

[cameragod]

The thing everyone seems to overlook when talking about one-man bands as the future of TV is that fact there are not a lot of good ones about anywhere. I can count on one hand the number of solo operators I’ve seen who can shoot edit and report to a good level.
The truth is it’s hard to do. It takes a “special” sort of person to take on the jobs of two people thinking they can do it as well. The bulk of people that are keen to do it are the sort that the only good story telling they can do happened to be on their CV and they are in reality not very good at anything but are so full of themselves that they don’t wont ever learn from real cameramen or reporters so never get better.
The best OPC are usually from a background of having genuinely mastered Reporting or shooting and wanting to move across as a lifestyle choice but they are rare.
Good luck finding one.

[<Send Joey>]

I need to find some college kid I can pay peanuts. I'll tell you how great you are if you want me to - but don't expect a raise.

I need you to come work in BFE where it's colder than a witches' tit right now. But don't let that stop you, we have 401K and free membership in the Jelly of the Month club.

I pay $0.10 more an hour than Arby's does. We shoot on VHS, but the GM sez once I can lay off some reporters I can get us all PD150's. This is a great place to work, my office is cozy and warm right now, and I'm sipping on fresh coffee. You're gonna freeze your a$$ off in the snow.

Hoping to find a real rube that we can trap up here in BFE Minnesota. Help me out or I'll call your boss and tell him you're surfing B-roll instead of working again.

[Tim78]

"Finding talented storytellers..." This is something I think is being thrown to the wayside. It seems like so many shops are in a "run and gun, as many live shots as possible" mentality, that storytelling is being thrown down the drain. At my shop, we traded story QUALITY for story COUNT. I've done my best to include nat pops in my packages, but now the reporters don't always think to write to them or even think of them at all. It's frustrating.

In terms of being a OMB, I think some of the difficulty comes from trying to find someone who has done it long enough to master what it takes to do it all. I've known people who have done it for a few years. It takes a toll on you physically and mentally. You have to run around trying to shoot video and do the interviews after you've taken the time to set everything up. And if you're asked to do some vosots in addition to a PKG, that really puts stress on a person.

If some in the news industry believe that One Man Bands are the wave of the future, I hope that I will have found another career for myself by then. I believe viewers are better served when there is more than one person working on a story.

Tim J.
WCIA-3 Photojournalist

[ January 14, 2005, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: Tim78 ]

[Darrell Barton]

For the past twenty years I have been a two, three, sometimes five, man band. I can't argue that the pay isn't better doing that but the most fun, and the best work, I ever did was as a one man band. Aside from the pleasure that comes from doing it all yourself there is a learning experience that will benefit you for the rest of your career. If I was a young shooter I would jump at the opportunity that Mr. Wertheimer is offering. I took a job like that once. Glad I did.

Darrell Barton

[freedom]

Dave
Who is going to watch the back of this One Man Band when you send him into some tricky situation.
What sort of death and dismemberment benefit does your station provide to this super hero's kids?

[<Photographer First/OMB>]

I'm a one man band working at a small market. Please allow me to make a few comments.

Let me address Freedom's inquiry first.

&lt;&lt;&lt;Who is going to watch the back of this One Man Band when you send him into some tricky situation.&gt;&gt;&gt;

At my market almost all crime and accident related spot news is shot by one man bands. My competition and I look after each other's backs. If I'm the first on scene I will not walk into the scene unless the cops are already there and I will leave before the cops leave. This system ain't so bad in a small town.

For most follow ups and features even my small town station sends in a reporter with a photographer. The brass is aware that the product would suffer otherwise. I'm a photographer first so most of my energy goes into making pictures and every other element always takes a back seat. The other one man band is the opposite of me. He is a reporter first and the pictures always take a back seat. I will never master the reporting side of things and he will never master the video, sound and lighting side. Fact is even if I could master all the aspects, time would not permit me to put everything to use but you guys should see the two of us work together on a feature. Even the brass can immediately spot the difference.

Cameragod:
You make excellent points.
I'm a one band guy who realizes the limitations of one man banding. Although I do enjoy one man banding, I'm not a snot nosed kid. I don't think I'm a know it all and I know my product will look better if I have a reporter with me. I'm willing to take pointers from reporters and I'm willing to give pointers to reporters who shoot. You are right cameragod, it's the OMBs who think they are multi talented and above everyone else, they are the no talent hacks.

It is very important for the brass and the employees to know the limitations of one man banding. Unfortunately the money hungry consultants will try to persuade the brass that using one man bands under all circumstances will produce a better product. From personal experience I can say that using Photographers/Reporters will have less limitations.

Dave Werthiemr:
I hope the consultants haven't fooled you and I hope you're not trying to fool any future employees. That said, I'm in a position to say that one man bands can and do work, as long as you're fully aware of the limitations. Are You?

Dave, when looking for a potential OMB do you look for someone like myself, a photographer first, or do you look for someone like my friend, a reporter first. In ether case, one aspect of the job will suffer. There are very few OMBs that have mastered being excellent at both. Don't be fooled by the no-it all because as cameragod said. They are in reality not very good at anything but are so full of themselves that they don’t wont ever learn from real cameramen or reporters so never get better.

Dave, you said the gear is good at your shop. Do you supply professional camcorders or do you supply handycams. I'm just asking because a lot of the "photographer first" people will out right refuse to primarily shoot using handycams, although they may accept the OMB position if a real camera package is supplied.

Photographer First/OMB :)

[<KentDorfman>]

The problem with good OMB's is that they are REALLY just there to get a good resume tape---for their NEXT move up, which is a reporter job at a bigger market.

I've NEVER heard of anyone who stays as a OMB. Yeah, we'll do it right outta college...maybe for 2-years, tops. But damn if we aren't SERIOUSLY working our resume-tape pipeline, trying to move up to a bigger market...one which has PHOTOGS, so that we can concentrate on being reporters.

PS--One thing that I HATE about former OMB's is the reporter who won't let a photog or editor do his/her job, saying "I used to shoot, so I know what I'm talking about" or "Dammit! Back when I was an editor, I would've cut this thing in 45-minutes."

Today at my shop, there was a heated discussion between a reporter and his photog/editor...the reporter didn't like the way the photog cut his 5pm pkg--and in the course of the argument slipped in the "I-used-to-be-an-editor" comment.

The photog by then was at the boiling point. Finally, he threw the 6pm track tape at the reporter and screamed "Then, DAMMIT--YOU cut your own damn 6pm pkg!"

The photog then stormed out of the edit bay. I had to go out on another shoot, so I don't know who ended up cutting the piece.

[Grip]

don't cheat Kevin, post the job under Job listings

[photogguy]

Originally posted by Grip:
don't cheat Kevin, post the job under Job listings Just to repeat, as it was the first thing that crossed my mind.

[cameragod]

Originally posted by Darrell Barton:
If I was a young shooter I would jump at the opportunity that Mr. Wertheimer is offering. I took a job like that once. Glad I did.

The thing is Darrell in a room full of cameramen you would stand out head and shoulders as one hell of a shooter. Ok I know you didn’t spring from your mother's womb with camera on your shoulder to get the cutting of the umbilical cord and you had to start somewhere, but there are not a lot of Darrell Barton’s in this world. So just because you could do OMB and make a successes of it doesn’t mean that just anyone could.
I’m not saying there are no good OMB it's just management don’t seem to realise that hiring an OMB is like buying a lottery ticket, for every winner there is a thousand losers. They should save the money and spend it on a reporter and cameraman.

Photographer First/OMB sounds like your station won their lottery good luck out there.

[ January 17, 2005, 12:49 AM: Message edited by: cameragod ]

[Wideangle]

"Jack of all trades...master of none.."

[<Sorry, I prefer real jobs>]

Originally posted by Guy Critique:
i was hoping I could start a thread on how hard it is to find good talented storytellers who want to be the next greatest one person band.

Mason City Iowa Well life in that news hotbed must be pretty great! What happpened to the FIRST great one person band out of there?

Oh, that's right, there wasn't one!

One man band talk, especially from someone with the experience of this news director, shows what you will and won't learn at a job there.

You WILL learn being one-man-band is for losers who want jobs at places that can't afford to hire real employees.

You WON'T learn how to cover real news since little if anything happens in Mason City other than cold weather and barnyard stories for your first escape reel.

Shoot pretty pictures and play the one man band game only as long as it takes for you to get out of there and find a real job with a real paycheck that allows you to live a REAL LIFE WITH A FAMILY!

Here's a clue. The only one doing that in Mason City is the guy placing this ad and maybe his GM.

[Lense_Cap]

Darn... by the subject I was hoping this would be a thread about pirates. Rrrrr...

[Rad]

Without a doubt, being a One-man-band is the most artistic satisfaction you can have in TV... You get to do it all, and have no one to blame but yourself.
However the problem with most one-man-bands is you have to do it all and have no one to support you but yourself.
It's a double edge sword, I would suggest that being a one-man-band is a great way to start your career, however very few people have the talent, skill, drive or market to make being a one-man-band a career.

[Guy Critique]

Thank you all for the responses to the thread.

As a news director who still is a storyteller I believe you have more control of a story if you do it all yourself. That and the reality that the day is coming where we all have to do more.
Lynn French at KPNX and Harry Samler at WXIA are some of the best at doing it all.

As for the question of consultants, KIMT is lucky enough to not have one, the news philosophy here is storytelling plain and simple. Sure there isn't a great deal of spot news here, but we do stories that make a difference in the community.

As for tricky situations we always send more than one person, safety first and always.

Doing it all is hard, no doubt about it. The rewards are there in a smaller market where you get to pitch and do your own stories is huge. The pay may not be that great (mid 20's) but it is a good place to start for someone who wants to try.

I encourage anyone who carries a camera to try and do more than just shoot and edit some of their work and write a story once in a while, it is a skill that will help you in the long run.

[leftcoastphotog]

Lense cap,
How much does did the pirate pay to have his ears pierced?
a buck an ear...
how much does the pirate pay for corn on the cob?
a buck an ear...
Did you hear about the new pirate movie?
it's rated Rrrrrrrr.
peace,
lcp

[<At the Scene>]

Dave, just one question why are you looking for a OMB? This sounds like a starter market, why not get a photog and a reporter.Train them the proper way.

[2000lux]

I don't think I'd want to one man band every day (at least not with out lighter gear) BUT, I will concede that some of my best packages were ones that I shot by my self with no one pressuring me to work faster so they can get back in the truck and call their signifiant other. :rolleyes:

I have a reputation at my station as a pretty goood interviewer, and some one who is interested in the stories. I don't just in shoot pretty pictures. They send me out quite often to cover stories on my own when we're short on reporters. The difference is that I generally drop off the tape with a reporter who writes the story while I'm off shooting some thing else. Some times they even get the story right! ;)

I've been meaning to learn more about writing for TV. I figure it just makes sense for the person who was actually there to write the story. I've got a voice like Kermit the Frog though so I'm not too eager to start tracking stuff, let alone do stand ups! :P

Where's Lenslinger on this one?

[ January 18, 2005, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: 2000lux ]

[NEWSSHOOTER3]

GREAT post Dave. Hope the ND thing is working out. It was nice to meet you at the workshop this year. Happy to buy you the...ummm, beverage(s). I was there w/ Hadlock, from his shop. Anyway, I've been thinking about going in that direction myself, having gone to school to report, and all. And, thanks to Darrell's post, I'm thinking, "what the hell", ya know?

[amp]

Originally posted by cameragod:
The thing everyone seems to overlook when talking about one-man bands as the future of TV is that fact there are not a lot of good ones about anywhere. I can count on one hand the number of solo operators I’ve seen who can shoot edit and report to a good level. Luckily, we have 2 good ones at our station, and both started as shooters. It think this is key. In my brief stint as a reporter, I had to one-man band several times. I could concentrate on my reporting since my shooting was second nature.

It is so hard for someone to start as a one-man band. We have one station west of us that is mostly one-man bands, and I've only met one of their re-photogs that was any good. All the rest looked at their camera with great mystery and wonder, rarely completing more than just getting the interview on tape.