Ever wonder how your Rochester/Finger Lakes Film Commissioner spends her days?
Well, let me tell you. My day starts at 4:45 a.m. and I begin each day with a brisk walk (about 4 miles). Then starts the “out the door” routine. First thing at the office is voice mail. We work with Filmmakers from all over the globe and it’s important that their calls are answered in a timely manner. E-mails are delivered to my phone so that is an ongoing process throughout the day/night/weekend. Production is not a M-F 9 to 5 model, so we can’t be either. The best part of my job? No 2 calls/e-mails/requests are ever the same. Every project that we assist is different than the last.
Meetings…..yeah there’s a LOT of those. Not all of those meetings take place during what most people would consider a “typical work day”. Again, days/nights/weekends. we strive to make it easy on the filmmaker, to fit in to their schedule. My calendar is typically booked 3 weeks in advance.
Travel…..yes that too. Tradeshows and Film Festivals are target rich events that give us an opportunity to meet with filmmakers and to tell them all about the support services, experienced crew, infrastructure and film incentives that are available to them when they choose to shoot in our region.
Board meetings, speaking engagements, and teaching at RIT and MCC fill out the rest of my days/evenings/weekends.
Of course I do have a life outside of my Film Commission reponsibilities.
I am writing this blog post today, as a way to demonstrate something. If I am not at your event, there are only a few reasons why I am not there. You didn’t invite me! or I was committed elsewhere! or…and this may sound selfish……I was taking some “me time”.