Joining Our STORYSMART Storytelling Team
We Are Looking For Freelance MMJ Backpack TV Reporters
St. Louis, MO - September 1, 2022
- We are building a nationwide network of freelance video storytellers to fulfill our mission of providing professional premium video storytelling for all.
What came first, the story or the storyteller?
Good question right.
What do you need to tell a story?
A storyteller and an audience. You also need the story.
But does a story exist without the storyteller?
When I talk to professional video storytellers who are interested in joining our teamin providing storytelling for all, I own my story and the fact that we (royal we) are still figuring out this whole startup thing.
While I definitely have some of the archetypical personality traits of a successful startup founder, I know that I'm missing that " lets sell it first and figure it out later
" trait that some founders have.
I admire that in others, but that isn't me. I would rather figure it out, then
sell it
. At 55, I've learned that it is better to underpromise and over deliver than do do the reverse. That is why we have focused so much on recruitment over the last year.
For STORYSMART, the storyteller comes first. Before the story.
That might sound crazy to some, but I can't see it any other way.
I actually see the video storyteller who joins the STORYSMART network as one our customers. Maybe our primary customer. I'll leave that to the business gurus to sort out, but from my vantage point the TV reporters we work with have a special gift for telling a compelling story on screen and that
is
the service we sel
l
.
We believe a professional video storyteller will do a better job telling your story than you will doing it yourself. I guarantee Paul Schankman telling Ron Watermon's story would be much better than me telling my own story with a video.
DIY certainly has a place with video, but it is no substitute for professional video.
Don't get me wrong. I love the democratization of media technology.
I was the kid who had a super 8 camera and talked his friends into starring in silly silent films during the early 80s. If I had the creative technology that my son has on his new iPhone (yep, we broke down and gave our 6th grader a phone), I'm not sure I would have graduated from high school, much less college and law school.
It is cool what you can do with technology. But let's be honest, no DIY cell phone app will turn you into Stephen Spielberg or George Lucas.
Sure it may empower a budding you filmmaker to hone their craft, but it won't do that for most of us.
Few people are capable of producing a DIY video we actually want to watch, much less remember.
You need the right skills and equipment, not to mention time, money and talent to do justice to a story on screen.
We believe everyone matters and deserves to be remembered. And to be remembered, you need to tell a good story
. And while anyone could publish a book or produce a video, most can't do it well.
We believe you should be able to have a professional tell your story in an amazing way and own it. The service we sell is to have a professional storyteller tell your story well on screen with video, but you - the paying client - own it - copyright and all.
Think of our service like the ghost writer a celebrity or pseudo celebrity hires to write their book. It is a work for hire, ensuring that the book is well written, but is under the name of the client. Our service is essentially that, but for video.
While I have dreams of us producing scripted films and TV shows down the road, today we are keeping it simple. We are helping our clients - small businesses, non-profit organizations and families - tell their stories well with video in a premium, cost-certain way that is contrary to how anyone else does it.
We have pioneered a proprietary approach predicated on brand journalism and delivered by experienced freelance television reporters and journalist filmmakers.
Right now, we are actively recruiting highly talented and experienced one person band multimedia television reporters to help us deliver our service to clients. We are growing rapidly, moving beyond proof of concept to roll up your sleeves and tell that story in markets around the United States.
So who are we looking to recruit?
We are looking for sole proprietor and small business owners who are actively doing video production to join our freelance network. Everyone we work with is an independent contractor.
The reporteragrees to our compensation arrangement and to meet our specifications and production standards following our STORYSMART system.
It is highly rewarding "gig" work for highly-skilled television reporters, independent filmmakers and proven video storytelling professionals that can handle all aspects of the production process as a one person band.
We are looking for journalists who love getting paid well (how often do you see that in a sentence) for telling amazing, honest, authentic stories to connect at emotional level with an audience.
Good storytelling includes "humanity" in the story right?
Here are the details and benefits of joining our freelance network.
- We are looking for experienced MMJ television reportersand independent journalist filmmakers who can shoot and edit video, interview clients on camera, as well as write and track their stories (provide Voice Over).
- We look for at least five years experience working in television news or related industry after graduating from college. The more the experience, the better.
- The ideal candidates have at least a decade of experience turning news style stories on a daily basis as a one person band.
- We expect all our reporters to know how to handle the entire story production themselves and not be learning how to do it while working with us.
- As a freelance storyteller, you will be responsible for providing your own equipment and managing your production workflow on deadline. Typically you will have a week to turn your story after the video shoot, but that may vary by client. You will know the expectations, including deadlines, before accepting any assignment.
And here is something you won't hear often. We don't care what kind of camera or editing system you use. We will let other production companies nerd out on the gear side of things. It is not that we think that isn't important, it just isn't as important as you.
So if you love Canon more than Sony, well great. We don't care if you want to edit in Avid, Davinci Resolve, Final Cut or Premiere. Knock your socks off.
The main thing we are looking for more than anything else is proven experience telling stories well as a one person band. We expect a minimum of five years (ideally 10 or more) experience in TV news or comparable experience. Blow us away with your reel. Show us you can do the work.
Right now, all of our work follows a journalism ENG model, meaning you must know how to produce a great story from interviews that you will conduct yourself. You will shoot and edit the video, write the piece and provide your voice over. The work flow is akin to TV news.
Everyone who joins our team is required to follow our StorySMART client service process and our proprietary StorySMART production system, including adhering to our ethical credo and terms of engagement. Each vendor is an independent contractor and not an employee. The arrangement is vendor work for hire.
While you are our vendor, you are also our customer. We value you and what you do. For far too long the industry hasn't valued the creator or the journalist. That isn't right. We see our role as bringing the journalist creator together with the client that has a story to tell to help them tell it in amazing way on screen so that they will always be remembered.
If you want to help us fulfill our mission of providing storytelling for all, I encourage you to go to our information page and if you think you can help, share a bit of your story by filling out the intake form, sharing your resume and reel.
I am hopeful we will get the chance to work together to help others share the gift of their story.




