We're looking to hire a filmmaker Jul 26 2011
29 comments Latest by Beenish Khan
We’re looking to hire a full time filmmaker at 37signals. An all-in-one video shooter, editor, and producer. We want someone who’s expert at telling creative stories with a video camera. This is what you should love to do.
Initially you’ll be focused on capturing our most interesting customers on video. We want to film, edit, and produce at least 20 creative and unique 3-5 minute customer interviews and features over the next 12 months. Testimonials are usually boring – we want to be sure to avoid anything boring. You’d be in charge of making this happen.
On top of that we have a variety of interesting internal video projects we’d like to explore. Everything from documenting how we work at 37signals to guided personal tours of our apps to filming guest speakers, workshops, and events in our theater.
We’d like to break new ground here – most videos about software are sleep-inducing or cringeworthy. We’re looking for creative leadership. What’s possible? What would be interesting and entertaining to get on camera? We want videos that people watch from beginning to end.
To get a feel for the level of quality we’re after, here’s an example of a customer video that our friends at Coudal Partners filmed, edited, and produced for us: Atelier Wedding Planners. And here’s another about how Threadless uses Basecamp. We’re not looking to mimic these – you should bring your own eye, style, and ideas to the table. For additional reference, we really admire the stuff that Adam Lisagor has been putting out.
This is job full of freedom, exploration, and creativity, but at the end you need to deliver practical, effective, and beautifully polished and produced videos. From behind the camera you should know how to get the best of someone who’s in front of the camera.
You should also have experience vetting interview candidates. We’ll have hundreds of customers who are interested in telling their stories, so we’ll need your help to figure out which ones will make the best subjects.
How to apply
Send an email to jointheteam@37signals.com with the subject [VIDEO]. Send us examples of your work, why you want to work at 37signals, and anything else you think will help you stand out. We typically get 100+ applications for a position at 37signals, so we look favorably upon those who make it easy for us to see how good they are.
Also, this is a Chicago-based position. We’re going to be doing a lot of spontaneous filming at the office so it’s important you’re in town. You’ll work out of our office.
We’re excited to hear from you.
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29 comments so far
Gareth Rees 26 Jul 11
What’s next… 37signals The Movie? Sounds great ;)
Karim A. 26 Jul 11
I hope you hire Adam Lisagore. He singlehandedly made app promo videos be interesting and fun to watch.
Gary Sevounts 26 Jul 11
Jason, awesome idea of using video for promoting the content and company. Looks like a form of a journalism (written, audio and video) are becoming an essential part of marketing.
Karim, thanks for mentioning Adam. I checked his site and love his work. I hope he stays a contractor, so I can use him for my projects. ;)
Alex Humphrey 26 Jul 11
This is awesome! I’ve already forwarded it to a film maker friend!
JF 26 Jul 11
Karim: We’d hire Adam if he wanted to be hired, but Adam’s an independent guy with his own thriving business. Plus he’s in LA. We love Adam here and we’ll continue to admire his work from afar.
Rishi 26 Jul 11
Checkout the guys behind this: http://www.businesspov.com/
They are based in Chicago and no longer contribute to the site so they might be available. Their old videos are solid.
Rafael 27 Jul 11
I’m posting here because I’m curious about wich platform do you will use to streaming.
Good luck, anyway.
George Gecewicz 27 Jul 11
Awesome! Unfortunately I can only edit…
Does this mean more Founder Stories in the future? I hope so.
Henry 27 Jul 11
What a great opportunity for both 37signals and a filmmaker! Unfortunately I’m not a filmmaker.
Aleks 27 Jul 11
You should look at Timo Arnall’s films: http://www.elasticspace.com/films
jonathan warrecker 27 Jul 11
I really like Adam Richards work. He did a great documentary of Shinya Kimura
http://vimeo.com/16981453
Tyler 27 Jul 11
Forwarded to our good buddy Nick Cavalier. He did amazing work for our vinyl pressing plant, and is now located in Chicago.
ben smithson 27 Jul 11
I wish, I wish, I wish. Just bought a home in Dallas, TX. So I’m stuck here for a while. If you guys are ever in Dallas and your filmmaker needs an assistant, hit me up! http://www.youtube.com/user/clarity26
Andrew 27 Jul 11
If you decide not to hire for this position will you email all applicants? You failed to do this easy and considerate step for the iOS position you had.
JF 27 Jul 11
Andrew, I can’t speak to the details of the iOS dev emailing, but I agree that everyone should get a response once a decision has been made either way.
James 27 Jul 11
I’m curious about the email subject line. Should it include the brackets like this “[VIDEO]”, or omit the brackets like this “VIDEO”?
Thanks for the clarification!
KuMays 28 Jul 11
Awesome!!!!! I live in Milwaukee which is right up the road! I’m applying NOW
Andrew 28 Jul 11
@JF Cool – thanks for the reply – much appreciated
Petter 28 Jul 11
Are U gonna do a whole film someday?
Zach C 28 Jul 11
@j Let me know if you need any Extras. I’m really good at sitting at my desk and looking busy all day. ;)
Pip 29 Jul 11
Love the way you now have an office. Not two years ago you lambasted office bound workers and now your advert requires that the employee works locally and does a 9-5. You are so full of bs.
OnLooker 29 Jul 11
@Pip 37s had an office 2 years ago… they just moved to a newer, larger, nicer office. I don’t believe their people that live in Chicago are required to go the to Chicago office, nor are required to work 9 to 5. I am pretty sure they are simply required to produce great work. Which is pretty much the same as 2 years ago. So, how is it they are full of BS exactly?
Video Transcription 29 Jul 11
A creative idea! People these days love to watch videos and pictures than text. But sometimes a text is also useful. What about having a transcribed text along with video? I think this will help/serve your customers better.
Laurent Caillette 29 Jul 11
Guys, this is an amazing job offer. I mean: such a job offer shows you’re a great company. I hope you’ll find the man deserving such a job. And thanks for this interesting blog.
JF 29 Jul 11
Laurent: Man or woman!
Daniel Genser 29 Jul 11
You guys should check out Brandon O’larey and his posse at http://frankfrankfrank.com – they’ve been working with Parallels on some light promo, mini-docs. Here’s the first one they just released: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpaBOXFPdQs&feature=player_embedded .
Berserk 29 Jul 11
@Mr V. Transcription: You might want to try visiting your site with Opera. (I get an XML validation error.)
Wendy 30 Jul 11
It is a pity, the person (man or woman) has to live in Chicago. I knew someone perfect for the job, but she’s now living in California. Hope you find a good filmmaker soon. There are of course a lot of capable people for the job living in Chicago.
Beenish Khan 02 Aug 11
That sounds like a very cool and creative job, so best of luck to all the applicants!
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