Missing In Inaction

I've spent the better part of the past week putting together some video for a job interview that I had this morning. About six years ago, I left the video production company where I'd worked for about ten years. I'd been what can best be described as a creative strategic partner, meaning I didn't lay out any money other than the sweat and blood I put into the work that made the company its good reputation in our market. Eventually my creativity was undervalued and my strategies were rejected, the boss deciding he wanted to form a merger of sorts with two other videographers so they could go after the lower-end segment of the market. I didn't agree with the merger, didn't think the new partners had anything to offer that would benefit the company and wasn't shy about expressing that belief. It wasn't surprising to the boss when I left.

Right after I left, I shot a cross-country bicycle race for OLN (now Vs.) and landed a freelance corporate job when I returned from the race, then started working part-time in retail in the job I left last year, getting further and further away from working in a creative capacity. The past year I've been working for a company that lends tech support to advertising and PR agencies, and although the people I assist aren't doing what I'd been doing for the most part, I still observe people performing creative tasks for a living and it makes me recall the feeling I'd get when something I'd worked on was completed, that sense of accomplishment. It's the same feeling I get when I finish a good scene or burn through a stack of pages, although I've been doing less and less of that lately.

I stumbled upon the position I interviewed for today and applied as quickly as I could. They requested a demo a few days later and then some raw footage I'd shot afterward to get an idea of my camera sense. The interview went very well, the facility is putting out some good work and since the job is with a major university, I'd be able to complete my degree as well.

Now that all the prep work is done and the interview is over, I can get back to working on some story ideas I've got rolling. The children's movie treatment is getting longer as I work through possible story angles (it's always the second act that derails me with each script, so I'm working cautiously now) and I've unearthed some notes on plotlines I'd thought of months ago that look good on second reading, so I'll work on those next. I just want to get that feeling back.