Thursday, April 15, 2010

What kind of talent do I look for?

This was on my mind and I thought to make it the "ice-breaker" from my time away. Yes, I'm going to pretend like I've been here all along and maybe address what's going on later, but for now I want to talk about talent.

Talent = models, makeup artists, hair stylists, wardrobe stylists, and even assistants etc. These are the people that I work with regularly. As I do more shoots, I find myself becoming more particular about who I work with. Long gone are the days that I would just work with anyone. These days I have to have a conscious reason for why I choose a certain talent over another. Here's what I'm looking for:

Passion. If you love what you do, then you will exude passion and excitement. You will be fanatical. Passion drives what you do. Guess what? Passion is highly contagious. I love working with passionate people. Nuff said.

Proactivity/Value-added. If you're passionate about what you do, you'll be proactive about facilitating the shoot and perform more than just your "task". For example, you might be a makeup artist but maybe you'll assist in styling (wardrobe) on the shoot. Another example; scheduling for me is a time-consuming task so if you can help me schedule other talents or find a model, that's being proactive. That's adding value. You're bringing more to the table than just your ability to manage the "task", whether it be wardrobe, makeup, hair or etc.

Attitude. Having the right attitude is paramount. No one wants to work with a sour-puss. I've worked with some and heaven forbid that I ever have to work with those people again. Rather than going over what's wrong with people, let me tell you what's right about the people I love working with. They're upbeat, positive, excited, funny, smiling, outgoing, and keep things moving. I have enough going on in my mind during a shoot. Last thing I want to think about is whether or not I'm entertaining the talents enough or if they're happy at the shoot.

Really everything I've said above is tied together one way or another. Are you all of the above? Am I all of the above? The reason this subject is relevant is because I'm debating whether to use a talent that's all of the above or to work with someone new... seems like a no-brainer but sometimes new talents provide new opportunities.

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