We speak to shadow board member Gabriela Ferenc about her journey in the corporate film industry so far. Gabriela has been in the industry for 3 years, but she has already worked on high standard corporate content, 22K screen resolution video productions, interactive experiences, many live events in the UK and across the US. Her strengths are working with fine details and making sure the content is being delivered to the highest possible standard.
Tell us about where you are now, and what you love about your job/ course.
3 years into my career I now produce and project manage all of our projects with our international clients. The are many reasons why I love what I do but the biggest one has to be that every day I can be creative and have a creative input into all our work – big or small. The best part of the job is seeing my ideas come to live and then seeing it on a big screen for thousands of people to see, or having the clients appreciate all the hard work that has gone into it.
Tell us a bit about your journey to get there.
I started at my current company right after I finished my university degree. I was put in touch with my current manager Andrew Smith, who at the time was looking for an intern to help him during a busy time. It was meant to be a one-month long internship, which turned into 3 months, then 6 months and now 3 years later I am still here and I am able to produce my own videos.
What do you wish you’d know when starting out in the industry? What advice would you give to young people starting out in the industry now?
Probably a slightly controversial answer but I’m going to say it anyway … what I have learnt at university had nothing to do with my current job. It didn’t bring anything knowledgeable into what I am doing today. So if you’re unsure about university maybe it isn’t the only way to start your career. I have learnt everything from scratch and I keep learning every day. If you love what you do and you have a passion for it then you are happy to face challenges, be thrown into a deep end and want to learn something new. Even if you don’t know how to do something or don’t know what something means that is completely fine because it means you are going to learn something new and develop not only your knowledge but also yourself as a person.
For those readers still considering whether this industry is the right place for them, tell us what you most love about it. What appealed to you about this industry?
Like I said before seeing my ideas come to live is the best feeling. Standing in front of a big screen or seeing it suspended at an event for thousands of people to see is amazing. Even seeing our clients post our videos on LinkedIn is great because I know the story of how it ended up there, all the meetings and sometimes struggles to make something happen. I think the biggest validation I had was a few weeks ago when during a meeting with a client they said: “this is brilliant, you really understand our brand” and I know it might not be much, but I felt so proud that my hard work is being appreciated. This is why I really love this industry because you can reach your potential so much quicker and get recognition for it.
Can you recommend one resource for young people starting in the industry to check out?
I think what EVCOM is doing now is really great. Young people are being pushed into the main areas of video production and events that being the BBC, ITV and Netflix. They are fantastic but it is really hard to actually do something great there and only a small percentage can succeed. I would have never thought that I can have so much creative freedom and make important decisions when I first joined my company or even before that when I was still at university. EVCOM is giving young people an insight into a corporate sector that is full of life, creativity and cool jobs so I would definitely consider getting in touch.