Corporate Video Jobs

Remember the last time you logged on to the website of your favorite company and watched a few promotional videos?

Or the commercial featuring your favorite theme park or soda pop? Well, those videos were produced by corporate videographers and right now is a great time to partake of this burgeoning industry. Corporate video jobs entail the production of audio-visual corporate communications material. Commissioned by companies, corporations or organizations, this can include producing and editing DVDs, High-Definition (HD) video, streaming video, walk-on advertising, etc.

Very large national and international corporations often have their own in-house video production team, whom they employ to create promotional video, training videos for newly hired staff, safety videos, testimonial videos (for example, employees offer testimony on great it is to work for that company), commercials, etc. Smaller companies often hire corporate videographers on a contract basis to make a commercial or to produce content for their website. Because of the growth of digital technology, there is often convergence between corporate video and other forms of communication. For example, a large company might air a commercial on television and then feature that video on their website to reach a larger audience.

Work Environment

Whether you work for a corporate video production company or you work for an in-house video production team at large company, the work environment is usually the same. There is usually a production studio with ample space to set up backgrounds, sets, lighting, etc, in addition to a well-equipped video-editing studio. A typical project will probably include talking to your client or manager and developing a brief; developing a script, treatment or storyboard; consulting with the client or manager on the production schedule, budget and delivery date. Corporate videography jobs entail three clearly defined phases of production: pre-production, production and post-production. How involved you are in each phase (past consulting with others on the project) depends on the budget and scale of the project at hand. If your corporate videography job is in the pre-production phase, for example, you might write short-form scripts, hire actors or find employees for testimonial video or settle on a budget and location, if it is outside the studio. For those who work in the production phase, their job includes location filming with crew, directors, producers and actors. The post-production phase usually includes more than editing the footage: it may include recording audio, or doing voice-overs, adding graphics, music or animation sequences.

Typical Responsibilities

• Envision, plan, and create original video production
• Consult with producers, directors, managers, clients, vendors and distribution to create premium content
• Senior positions will manage product teams and may they be responsible for hiring additional freelancers for large-scale productions

Skills and Qualifications

• Professional work experience that demonstrates strong production background
• Four-year degree in video production or a two-year training certificate and equivalent work experience, usually two to three years
• Professional short form scriptwriting skills
• Ability to creatively manage projects from start to finish
• Familiarity with all stages of production with ability to step in as-needed: This is particularly important, because corporate videographers often work in small teams. This means that everyone should be familiar with video editing techniques, lighting and sound techniques and equipment, storyboarding and camera operation
• Adept at visual storytelling, posses creative techniques and styles of video production

Getting Started

If your goal is to work on the video-production set of a large corporation, consider getting a four-year degree in video or film production. A two-year degree or certificate may also suffice. In this field, work experience is more important. The good thing, though, is that you can get as valuable an education and training on the set of a local event videography studio, or on set assisting an editor or member of the film crew or production team. This is because corporate videography studios include a lot of cross-over from these other fields and in fact, are often set up just like these other studios. The only difference is that the end result is a video of corporate or commercial value. If you can find an internship with one of these studios, they will probably hire you on graduation.