*Update 2/20/17: This position has been filled! You can find our current openings here. Thanks for your interest.
Collegewise has decided to hire a full-time filmmaker to capture what we believe, what we do, and how we do it. I’m sharing the entire job post below so interested parties can read it here, and to make it easier for readers to forward to anyone they think might be interested.
We’re hiring a full-time filmmaker
At Collegewise, we’ve spent 17 years helping our students tell their stories. Now we’re hiring a full-time filmmaker to help us tell ours.
- Do you believe in the power of authentic stories?
- Are you the person who can see what’s fascinating about others and their experiences?
- Can you use film to capture and tell stories people can’t help but watch?
Collegewise, the nation’s largest college counseling company, is looking to hire a full-time filmmaker. Not someone who just shoots video, but a creative storyteller who can conceive of, film, edit, and produce a beautiful finished product.
What is Collegewise?
Collegewise is a college counseling company that helps high school students find, apply and get accepted to the right colleges for each student. Our goal isn’t necessarily to get every kid who works with us into an Ivy League school. Instead, we show families just how many wonderful colleges there are while helping our students apply and get accepted to schools they’re excited to attend. We do it all with just the right mix of advice, encouragement, and occasional cheerleading to make the process exciting and enjoyable. We also speak in public, write, and constantly look for ways to spread good college planning information to anyone who needs it, whether or not they join our program.
That’s our story in words. We want you to help us tell it on film.
Here are a few ideas we want to try:
- Capture some of the hundreds of glowing testimonials we’ve earned from families.
- Transform the trainings we offer internally and externally into engaging educational videos that counselors can watch when, where, and as often as they’d like.
- Create a recruiting video to show job applicants what it’s really like to work here.
- Introduce our counselors to families (here’s a sample we did with a freelancer a few years ago).
- Capture the audience’s energy, reactions, and feedback when we speak at high schools and community events.
- Show how we change a process that’s full of stress and negativity into a journey that families enjoy together.
Those are our ideas, but we also need your vision. There will be many days when you’ll decide for yourself what’s exciting, what’s possible, and what the most important thing to work on is. This job will be a mix of “What do I need to do today?” and “What can I do today?”
You won’t be making slick commercials here designed to sell. You’ll be making short, authentic documentaries designed to engage. We’re always telling our students to be themselves rather than fake versions of who they think colleges want them to be. Let’s walk that talk together. Capture what’s real about us and our work, then help us share it with people most likely to appreciate it.
You’ll have plenty of creative freedom, but you’ll also need to deliver effective and polished finished products.
Who are we looking for?
- You have documented experience with the entire process of envisioning a film, capturing the footage, editing, and producing a beautiful finished product.
- Like a great director, you know how to vet and choose who should go in front of the camera, how to make them comfortable, and how to get the best out of them.
- Like a great producer, you know how to create a wonderful finished piece on time and on budget.
- Since you’ll be a one-person film department, you’re comfortable with digital media and all the ways to share what you create.
- Any experience creating educational content, especially in the form of online courses, will be a big plus but not necessarily a requirement.
- We’re open to considering remote workers, but the ideal candidate will be located in Southern California so that you can regularly visit our Orange County (where we’re headquartered) and Los Angeles offices.
We’re looking for someone who’s ready to stop hustling to find your next freelance gig, and ready to start being an important, full-time part of something bigger. You’ll be one of us. You’ll come to our annual company meetup. You’ll visit offices, get to know our counselors and our customers, and join our marketing strategy meetings. We think you’ll tell our story better when it’s your story, too.
What’s on our watchlist?
Here are a few examples to get a sense of the type of finished products we’re looking to create here:
- We love how Shaun, the in-house filmmaker at Basecamp (formerly 37Signals), captured what it’s like to work remotely for their company.
- Here’s Seth Godin’s online course in marketing (click “Trailer” on the page).
- Sandwich Video makes some surprisingly creative and watchable commercials.
We’re not asking you to duplicate these—we want your own vision and style. But we hope this gives you some idea of what’s likely to resonate with us.
How to apply
If your interest is piqued, get to know us a little better on our website. Find out more about what we do, who you’d be working with, and what we believe. If you like what you read and think you could find a professional home here, please send an email to jobs@collegewise.com, and use the subject “Filmmaker.” Share why you want to work here, samples of your work, and anything else you think might help you stand out and help us get to know you better. You might also consider checking out our five tips for job-seekers. If you have questions about the job, please email us at the above address rather than call us. We promise to respond to you quickly.
Thanks for reading our post. We’d love to hear from you, but if we don’t, we hope you find the perfect professional fit someplace else.