How I make money as a freelance (commercial) filmmaker | Jobs I did in July

[@DustinHarrelson]

What are some jobs you’ve done recently?

[@mendoza_create]

I’ve done some social media videos for local businesses

[@DustinHarrelson]

That’s awesome! Most of the jobs I shoot myself are for local businesses, trying to get some of them on retainer soon

[@mendoza_create]

@@DustinHarrelson Yeah that’s my goal as well

[@EvanEngstrom]

Love the transparency you have in sharing. As a fellow Freelancer (about 4 years in) vulnerability and transparency is so refreshing and so needed in our industry. Keep it up dude!

[@DustinHarrelson]

Thank you so much! I agree, being transparent and vulnerable feels a lot nicer than my base instinct to like compare myself and be guarded all the time. We’re all just out here making things. Appreciate the support Evan!

[@nikhilchitre]

Love the idea of a monthly recap of filmmaking work. Not only for the audience but to reflect on the experiences you’ve had. Definitely something I’m gonna start doing. Good stuff 🙌🏽

[@DustinHarrelson]

That’s a good point! I feel like I move so fast from job to job that I rarely get time to reflect. Thanks for checking it out!

[@DustinHarrelson]

Not to say I have that many jobs, but when I finish one I’m always ready to move on😂

[@Marvnz]

The KZbin algorithm took me by, great video. subs!

[@DustinHarrelson]

Glad you found your way here! Thanks for watching and subbing!

[@MatthewDangyou]

love the video! Love also the waterbottle moving locations throughout the A CAM

[@DustinHarrelson]

Hahaha my throat was very dry that day for some reason😂 appreciate you watching as always Matthew!

[@ChadAltDelete]

I just ordered the Komodo X. I've been shooting on a 6k pro so I'm really excited to see the difference in quality! I shoot product commercials so it was nice to see your shots in there! Cheers!

[@KofiYeboah]

Love this concept !!

[@DustinHarrelson]

Thanks!! Hoping to make a few more to catch up on august and September

[@kylet9000]

I like it bro keep it up I know how those slow months are!

[@DustinHarrelson]

Thank you bro! Yeah definitely not the most fun but it’s picked back up thankfully!

[@KarimAmerStudio]

Great job buddy, I am glad that even tho it was slow, you had some fun with the stuff you were working on. But since I saw how enthusiastic you were to the first Ad, why dont you do like a full breakdown to it, maybe it'll be of a great value to the viewers. But anyways, best of luck brother.

[@DustinHarrelson]

thank you!! I did consider doing a full breakdown for it so maybe I will soon! I need to start capturing more behind the scenes on those shoots to use as broll in that kind of video

[@flproductions90]

Awesome video as always and thanks for sharing your experience! Its great to see other artists perspective rather than just another product review

[@DustinHarrelson]

Ayyy thank you! It really is nice to make a video just kinda sharing my thoughts and experiences vs a tutorial or camera based video so I’m glad you enjoyed it fr

[@qu1nqu7n]

From Bham too🙌🏾, I’m down to learn and work with you, ready to get my feet wet

[@DustinHarrelson]

Ahhh dope! Hit me up on Instagram @dustinh13, maybe we can meet up

[@YoussefHallouly]

Love this kind of content! Thanks man! I’m curious on how much those jobs got you paid for the whole month, I know you can’t go into details probably but can you share an average? Thanks :)

[@DustinHarrelson]

Ayyy I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I honestly wanted to talk about that bc I think it could be helpful but idk how the people who are hiring me would feel. But overall these jobs brought in around $7500 before tax and before paying people and other expenses on the Linq shoot. So I pocketed around $4300 that month. Maybe I’ll start doing an average like this at the end of these videos! Appreciate the comment and you watching!

[@YoussefHallouly]

@@DustinHarrelson Awesome! Thanks for the breakdown!

[@robinbaldrian3352]

Thanks for sharing this insight with us, it was a pleasure listening to this. As someone starting out, I would love to hear your thoughts about how to start out from scratch in this industry and if you have any advice regarding that. I noticed, you talked a lot about networking and receiving those gigs from friends and colleagues. If you are new in town or in this industry, how would you try to land that first job? Warm regards and thanks again, you are awesome.

[@DustinHarrelson]

Hey, thank you! I’m really glad that you got something out of the video! I have another one title “How I Get Consistent Freelance Work” that talks more about that. But to try and answer your question here without typing a novel, here’s a few of my thoughts: • if you’re wanting to be behind the camera on jobs then make sure to be making stuff on your own time, practice, learn and watch videos but most importantly make your own stuff. Same if you have ideas you want to execute but don’t necessarily want to be doing the technical stuff, find people around you that want to fill that role. • As far as work goes, I’d reach out to local marketing agencies and production companies to try and PA on sets or do any kind of work they have available (to an extent). This is basically what happened to me over the span of a few years and now 5 or so years in the jobs usually find me instead of me finding the jobs (not always). • On bigger jobs there are different roles, camera, art department, food styling, grip and electric, and all of these are good ways to see what being on set is like so if you can identify those people in your area it could be cool to reach out and see if they need PAs. • Overall, make sure to treat people like people and be pleasant to be around, that will make you and everyone you work with have a better time. (Based on your kind comment I’m sure you have this one covered already!) I hope that helps some!

[@robinbaldrian3352]

Hey there, thanks so much for writing this down. It truly helps me and inspires me to find a starting point! I will use this as a reference and go watch that other video of yours. Thanks for the work you do, you earned a new sub mate! :)@@DustinHarrelson

[@amyshackelford4594]

Need a new vid!!

[@DustinHarrelson]

So many planned! Hopefully will get them out soon

[@kaitlynharrelson]

I liked going to work with you

[@DustinHarrelson]

You’re the best PA fr