Videographer

Department: Videography

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Toronto

Compensation: $80,000 - $100,000 / year

Description

The Role

Before we start in earnest, we'd like you to watch a handful of videos. Take your time -- the job ad will still be here when you're done.

Back? Good. Now, with that out of the way, here's the pitch: do you want to work with dbrand's Creative and Marketing teams to push the envelope of compelling, immersive video content for our online following of millions? Or would you prefer to continue whittling away at corporate training videos and product b-roll?

Our brand promise is "It's not a product. It's a culture.™" That's a lot more than a catchphrase -- it's core to everything that we do. Whether we're sending our customers boxes full of glitter, roasting them on social media, or filming them getting our logo tattooed on their leg, we're in the business of selling a brand experience first, and (excellent) products second. In return, we receive constant adoration from our devoted, cult-like fanbase. That, and their money. We won't lie: it's a pretty sweet deal.

In order to augment the dbrand experience with the top-shelf video content that our audience deserves, we require a Videographer -- the kind of person who turns up at a studio with a camera, lights a scene, captures footage that holds up on a 65-inch screen, and edits it into a flawless, finished cut. This is a practical production role: hands on the camera, eyes on the monitor, final cut on the timeline. If you like what you're reading, keep scrolling.

The Environment

It's 3:00 PM on a random Tuesday and the Creative Strategist has a concept for the team's next project. You've never done a video like this before. Truthfully, you're pretty sure that nobody has. Your excitement is palpable, your mind racing with ideas to enhance the pitch. 

Two days later, you're already immersed in storyboards, shotlists and schedules. You're a few hours removed from crushing through a prop list that contained everything from an oxygen mask to a bag of Cheetos. The location's booked, the gear's been rented, the talent is scheduled. You know this feeling all too well: everything's coming together.

When the day finally arrives, and everybody's en route to the set… you're already there. Load-in, lights, mics, cameras, art direction, backup, storage, strike -- you own all of it, and you know that a successful shoot is 90% prep, 10% execution. It takes a lot of work to get the actors talking about how well-run the set is, but it's worth it every single time.

It's 2:42 PM on a random Tuesday and you've just passed off a rough cut for editing -- after making selects, grading the footage, and mixing the audio, of course. A new email's in your inbox. The Creative Strategist sent you a meeting invite. Time for the team's next project.

No two days at dbrand are ever alike, except that they'll always push you to do your best work for an audience of adoring fans. Sounds like a dream, right? Don't get ahead of yourself, though. Before your perfectly-framed shots can thrill and delight our audience of over a million cultish followers, you'll need to prove yourself. Think you've got what it takes?

The Characteristics

• Agile: You’re nimble. You’re adaptable. You thrive in an environment where priorities can change in an instant.
• Analytical: Your decisions are driven by only one thing: data. You continue to master all the tools necessary to surface insights.
• Collaborative: You enjoy purposeful meetings. You value the contributions and perspectives of your colleagues as much as you do your CEO.  
• Curious: You’re eager to learn new concepts and master new skills. There’s no useless tool in your arsenal.
• Disciplined: You never allow the details to slip, understanding that every bit of minutiae forms the bigger picture. 
• Enthusiastic: You exhibit a contagious passion for visual storytelling, creating cinematic moments that will never be forgotten. 
• Innovative: You develop new approaches to complex problems. 
• Perfectionist: You persist until the smallest detail has been optimized. Knows nothing less than 100%. 
• Persistent: You’ve never failed. You’ve only experienced speed bumps on your path to success.
• Reliable: You live up to both verbal and written agreements. You can be trusted to work effectively, without oversight. 

The Responsibilities and Qualifications

Core Responsibilities

In order to make a positive impact as part of our team, your focus in this role will be to:

• Shoot and edit video projects to specified briefs with minimal supervision.
  • In some cases, our primary editor will handle 100% editorial, but not all cases.
• Maintain and organize video gear in conjunction with the photo team in our shared studio space.
• Work across teams to accomplish content production as needed — in some cases, we will collaborate with members of other teams on specific projects.
• Work primarily on location at our Creative studio with some WFH days each week, depending on production needs.
  
  

In addition to your core responsibilities, you may be asked to contribute to overall creative ideation and direction with the video team as a whole. This includes ideating and pitching new video ideas, as well as contributing creatively to tentpole marketing campaigns. This is not a requirement for the role, however we value all voices on the video team and invite you to contribute.

Pre-Production

Pre-production is owned by the Creative Strategist. You're not running it — you're in it with them, picking up the slack on a project-by-project basis. Expect to:

• Turn briefs and scripts into storyboards, shotlists, and shooting schedules.
• Source and purchase props.
• Scout and secure shooting locations.
• Facilitate the rental or purchase of production equipment — lights, lenses, stands, anything else the shoot demands.
• Coordinate shooting schedules when the Creative Strategist needs hands.

Production

On set, the workflow is yours. Full stop. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Lighting scenes — properly, not "the room has windows."
• Audio capture, with levels actually monitored.
• Video capture across whatever camera system the project calls for.
• Art direction on your own shoots.
• Organize and back up footage before you leave the building. 
• Store, and maintain gear during and after each shoot. The studio is shared with the Photo team — leave it better than you found it.

Post-Production

This is a shooting-and-basic-editorial role. Your lane is clearly drawn:

• Edit from the selects stage through to fine cut.
• Perform basic grading and mastering.
• Perform basic sound editing and mixing.
• Hand off advanced work — 2D and 3D animation, compositing, sweetened post audio — to the team members who specialize in it. Those competencies are evaluated and assigned per project. Stay in your lane and your lane will be excellent.

Cross-Functional

• Shoot and edit video projects to specified briefs with minimal supervision. Some projects, our primary editor will own 100% of the cut and you'll deliver selects. Some projects, the entire pipeline is yours. The split changes by project — the bar doesn't.
• Maintain and organize video gear in conjunction with the photo team in the shared studio space.
• Collaborate across teams on content production as needed. Other departments will pull you in. Be useful.

Creative Contribution (Invited, Not Required)

You're not hired to be a button-presser. Beyond your core responsibilities, you may be asked — and are always welcome — to contribute to overall creative ideation and direction with the video team. That includes pitching new video ideas and contributing to tentpole marketing campaigns. It's not a requirement of the role. It is, however, the difference between a videographer and the kind of videographer who ends up running things.


The Qualifications

• Five years of experience minimum — freelance and film-school work counts; your cousin’s wedding does not.
• A driver’s license, the ability to actually drive, and reliable access to a car. Gear doesn’t load itself onto the TTC.
• Working fluency with prosumer and professional camera systems: Blackmagic, Canon, Sony, RED, et al. We don’t care which body you swear by; we care that you can pick up any of them and not embarrass yourself.
• Comfort with a real lens and support kit: probe lenses, motion control sliders, remote follow focus, the works.
• Modern lighting systems: Kino flo, Aputure, Astera - anything you can name and rig before lunch.
• An actual understanding of film, video, and photography lighting and grip gear — plus an appreciation for film as an art form, not just a job site.
• Audio capture chops: Rode, Sennheiser, Zoom, sync workflows, and the discipline to actually monitor your levels.
• Adobe Suite core competency: Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator. Not “I watched a Youtube tutorial.” Like actual working competency.
• Working knowledge of colour correction and post-filtration: Lumetri, Colorista, DaVinci Resolve.
• Familiarity with cinematic, commercial, and social-media cutting techniques. The pacing of a 30-second pre-roll is not the pacing of a 15-second TikTok, and you know why.
• Comfort with codecs, compression schemes, aspect ratios, and the unglamorous logistics of footage capture, organization, and archive.
• Basic motion graphics, titling, captioning, and transitions. Nothing fancy — just enough to ship without flagging the animation team.
• The ability to act as Art Director or Stylist on your own projects.
• An impeccable communication style — your grasp on the English language is flawless.
• Bonus: working hands in 3D software (Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D). We don’t need you to be a 3D Artist. We do appreciate when our shooters can speak the language. 

The Moment of Truth

The job starts between $80,000–$100,000 per year with health, dental, vision, profit-sharing, and GRSP benefits. This new role is hybrid where you'll work on-site at our Creative space in Toronto or remotely from home.  

Still think you have what it takes to shoot the best video content? 

To be perfectly honest, we doubt it.

You’re welcome to prove us wrong.

Vacancy Disclosure: This is a new role.