The Path to Multi Platform Content Producer

Jobs and internships that led me to where I am.

Right out of high school, I knew media in the broad sense was my core interest.

Not chemistry or economics (close contenders). Integrity, responsibility and truth. Exposing the truth in a creative, public way. Making a difference, being the change. Speaking in front of the camera. These were the motivations looming in my head when I decided to be a journalist in the 9th grade. But there were two problems:

One, I was unsure about how I would fit music into the bigger scheme of things. It was an integral part of my life at this point.

Second, I feared my sense of humor would be compromised. You see, I fell for society’s labels of confinement in the name of focus. You can only be one thing or the other.

I soon concluded that journalism was paid media driven. It was ‘reporting’, at the end of the day. Stating facts not opinions. Whether outlets maintained objectivity was another discussion, but to truly expose and explore a truth, a more contemplative long form medium was required. Documentary filmmaking? I didn’t know much about it at the time and it was too early to commit to something that ran the risk of being boring.

Novelty was too important and in my life, I’ve noticed as will you, I definitely gave precedence to experiences over stability and sticking to plans. I say confidently that I am a multi platform content producer but this knowledge was not handed over to me. I chased opportunities to get a feel for nearly every area of media that I was even mildly interested in, for about 6 years before finally ‘committing’ to this still flexible term of content producer.

Internships: My Trail of Exploration

My first official internship was at a local radio station in Dubai called Radio Spice 105.4FM. I was a full time student in India, doing my Bachelors in Electronic Media at the time and first semester required an ‘audio media’ internship. Doing this in Dubai was convenient as it enabled me to spend time with the fam while acquiring ‘industry skills’. Nobody in my family has any direct connections to the media field — my mom is a preschool teacher and my dad’s field of expertise is finance — but my dad did a lot of freelance work auditing and it was one of his acquaintances there that got me two leads.

The first was at an all purpose production house — you know, the one stop shop for all production needs type of place. I quickly learned that this agency was not at all busy and chances of me doing any hands on audio production work were scant. Very little production actually happened in Dubai (in 2008). I can’t remember very well now but it must have been hard going with my gut and ‘quitting’ on the first form of employment I landed.

My First & Best Internship: Radio Spice

The second interview went much better and really set the standard for internships. I learned a lot on the job, I got to make jingles and stingers that went on air, I wrote scripts, did voiceovers, and most importantly, had an exceptional boss whose work ethic was nothing short of inspiring.

This radio thing? It was great. I didn’t see myself as a production engineer but I would ace it as an RJ! The only issue was that Radio Spice was a Bollywood station, and Hindi was not even my second language. They let me deliver news reports in English, so I got to experience the rush of hearing my voice on the radio. I recorded their brand new station song too that was played on the hour every hour. Of course, none of this was paid but at 18 to have this kind of exposure and validation was great.

If I wanted to work as an RJ at one of the many booming, English music playing radio stations in Dubai, it was sort of an unwritten rule that you needed to be British or American or have the accent.

At the time, there was no place for Indian accented English commentary on air unless it was peppered with Hindi or Malayalam. The injustice of this did not rile me up as much, for I was dazed in the possibilities of this new found outlet of voice over work and jingles! I now focused on recording a demo and my production engineer connected me to his good music director friend in Chennai, India. I recorded my demo there, and over the years did a good amount of jingles, dubbing and voice over work.

Playback Singing & Voice Overs

Back in Chennai, I used to take an evening class at the Alliance Française and I saw a poster for voice over talent. An e-learning company needed someone to record scripts - both narration and character voices. I auditioned and was hired as a freelance voice over artiste for them. This was a nice, stable gig that lasted more than 2 years. Maybe because I never met any full time VO artists, I always saw recording gigs as great part-time pursuits — being paid to indulge in your hobby — but I was already looking for the next thing.

Another Internship & More Part-Time Gigs

Next vacation, next internship. This was again in Dubai at a video production house this time, and boy was it a letdown. Excellent facilities but zero work. The only thing going on at the time was a commercial for an airline. It was slow, dull and none of the pace and excitement that I associated with production was there. Large part of this was that Dubai as such did not have native content (when would I get the message!). Everything on TV was syndicated American/English shows, all commercials were outsourced.

Two months flew by and once I was back in Chennai, I started getting involved more actively in the theatre scene. I acted in a short film, formed a band and took on a part time job as a writer for a music + lifestyle magazine. After college, I was offered a full time job with them. My future mentor proposed two very exciting things to me in that meeting — the position of Associate Editor and the concept of this thing called MBTI.

My First Full Time Job: Music Magazine Editor

I joined in 2011 as the Associate Editor of The Score Magazine. They were now solely centered on the independent music scene. I came with more ideas than expectations. One would say everyone’s first job is a little crazy, but here’s how mine panned out:

The Editor quit immediately after I got on board. My suitcase with all my precious belongings was stolen the day I moved to Bangalore to start my new life. The girl I was supposed to room with went incognito so I had to couch surf a bit. How was I supposed to met professional deadlines with all of this? I cried to my mom on the phone, ready to head back but she told me to stay and figure things out. Best advice ever.

In the following 9 months, I lived and breathed Score. Job profiles are very flexible in start-ups and owing to my enthusiasm, I was soon handling magazine content, the website and social media. I kept my filming dreams alive by regulating the magazine’s YouTube channel, getting some audiovisual content up — be it interviews or teasers.

The Indian music industry has several unique problems of its own, the biggest one being it’s lack of independence.

Musicians in India are mostly playback singers who depend on the film industry to survive as musicians. The record label backed, pop star era lasted for a hot minute in the 90s but quickly fizzled out. There were still independent musicians making music, bringing out EPs but there was no system in place. So we were basically creating content for a very unstructured ‘industry.’ Bigger picture.

Being editor was exploration as much as creation, so exciting that eventually it led to exhaustion. I overworked myself to the hilt and stepped on the brakes only when my health was at stake (a corneal ulcer that could have led to permanent blindness). Despite the burnout, I will always be grateful to Score for giving me that break. And for breaking me away from top 40.

My Second Full Time Job: Film Logistics Manager

It was through a college friend that I transitioned into film. At first, she recommended a stylist position to get my foot in the door but then remembered a far more interesting opportunity, one that she had considered before becoming an Assistant Director. TMIC (currently known as TMI), a travel and tourism company operating out of Chennai, had a film tourism division with a scant staff of 3. This division networked with feature film projects and helped them secure locations for shoots.

Again, the nature of the Indian film industry is important in this context. 
Bollywood & Kollywood (Tamil film industry) movies almost always have song sequences that are shot in exotic locations, the window to ‘foreign’ for the average movie goer. Kollywood tends to use the services of a third party company to handle the logistics of this foreign schedule — a staple of the commercial flick. TMIC had been in the business for years and used corporate & leisure tourism contacts to establish filming deals in new and often challenging locations.

It seemed like a good gig for someone who wasn’t 100% sure of what they wanted to do in the media industry. Once a deal was locked, the film tourism executive had to make sure everything went smoothly on location so this meant travel with the crew and being on set, in the sidelines. The time I spent on this job was enough for me to understand that my heart was in the creative side of things, not logistics and that if I was serious about this, some big decisions would have to be made.

Graduate School: Film Production

Pursuing media as vocation and to create a global impact was only possible if I moved to America, it seemed. Sure the digital surge looked promising but it would take a while for the world to catch up. So I applied to graduate programs, not entirely sure of what I wanted but hoping that the experience would provide me some clarity and a good portfolio. I was accepted by Boston University’s COM department and their program worked well for someone who wanted to explore all facets of filmmaking.

It’s not a big regret but I will say, very soon it became evident that I had not done enough research — not just the course, but even how life in America is and what the education/work system is like. It took me around 4 months to get to speed but by that time, there were no Teaching Assistantship positions. For once the cliché that ‘something better is always in store’ made sense. I landed a really cool job at the BU African American Studies Department.

AFAM Studies: Conference Coordinator, Communications Assistant

Basically all round P.R. What better way to assimilate than start with black culture, right? And I mean real black culture, not pop culture. While helping with this 3 day music conference, I Googled so many authors, singers, publications and was lucky to be present for riveting speeches. I stayed on as Communications Assistant and did posters & social media. I eventually landed a Teaching Assistantship for two semesters but AFAM Studies was by far my most permanent part time job during grad school.

Sandymonium Productions

After my first year of grad school, I started taking on small projects for friends, then clients. Think of Sandymonium as a banner for my work. There’s a not-so-interesting reason behind the name. My first gig was for a friend who worked in healthcare conferences. I put together a promo for them. I can do that same kind of spot today in 2 days but back then, it took me a little more than a week. Probably 8 hrs each day. I was teaching myself motion typography on After Effects through this gig. Hail YouTube tutorials! For more, you want to head to the Sandymonium Tab.

Internships in America

I worked at a documentary production house, primarily to take a break from the stress of MFA work. In Los Angeles, I took on two internships — one at a music/tech start up and the other at an online multi channel network. I needed those experiences to gain more confidence and quite frankly, to have American employers on my resumé. And no, none of them were as fulfilling or opened as many (immediate) doors as that first internship.

Back To The Workforce

I contracted as a social media ninja with a fashion/apparel start up for a bit while working as a part time receptionist at a talent agency. The start up dissolved but the other gig remains.

I KNOW I want to be a freelancer. I KNOW I need a job that lets me use all my skills, only then will it be remotely fulfilling. I am finally ready to set aside my need for instant gratification (with part time jobs) for something far more consuming and challenging. Documentary/non fiction content producing is where I am headed. They say L.A. is a land of temptation. Yes, but not vices, of opportunities. I’m finally at a point where I can say no to a seemingly super exciting gig and save that to work on something more personal and meaningful.

It took me a while, but hey I’m here now.