Hi,
I was wondering if someone could guide me with the job market in broadcast media
(digital video, animation,digital audio),
which city has more companies catering in this regards,
Vancouver, Montreal or toronto ?

I also came to know that some of these are high demand occupations in Canada according to Canada job list
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/itw-jobs.html

What sort of experience do the companies look for, is the portfolio the king or references from old companies do the trick.
what about freelance experience?

How is the desi media market growing there?

Jake3d and others please guide.

Well, that chart is a big surprise to me. I know plenty of folk who know the softwares(animation and editing) and are languishing without jobs. I'm not talking about new immigrants either. My first reaction was...they should not be getting peoples hopes high. There are plenty of studios exploiting pimply faced teenagers who are ready to work for free in the animation/digital audio/video industry.

Anyway I can comment on the 3d animation scene and digital video(albeit to a lesser extent)

3d animation:
Your knowledge of software does not help if you want to get in as a 3d artist. Your artistic talents rule. Your demo reel is very important. References will work only if your reference and the employer know each other. Else your demo reel has to help get your foot in the door. Freelancing? Demo reel all the more important. There is a lot of competition. The best advice that I could give. Choose an area of specialisation. Here's a thread that may help about how to go about becoming a better artist.
http://www.xsibase.com/forum/index.php?board=5;action=display;threadid=9631;start=15

A major factor is that the visuals that work well in the industry in south asia will not work well here always. Also if you have been working on flying logos and spaceships in India and call yourself an animator...you may want to think twice about applying and getting a job as a character animator which is a totally different ballgame. Dont send a demoreel with flying logos to Pixar and expect a call back.

3D animation itself has various areas where you can specialise in. Choose one and try to excel in that.

Digital video/audio
Again your demoreel is king. References work only if your reference calls up a friend in Canada and asks him/her to give you a job (if any are vacant).

Networking once you get here is very important. An easy way to network from abroad is to join the industry specific forums online and be an active participant in those. Help others with advice and ask your own questions too. Learn by watching the works of others etc. I have seen many a folk find jobs based on their involvement in such forums.

The industry is not for the faint hearted. As you can see from the above thread people can be very critical about your work. So if you cannot take criticism...this industry is not for you. If you are really serious about suceeding here take your demo reel and post it on the forums for feedback and criticism. If it is really good you will get a job right away. Else you will get feedback on how to improve your reel.

Also you have to tell me what exactly you want to do. You cannot do all the areas 3d art/video/audio at the same time....not when you are starting out. You have to decide what moves you the most and stick with it. In this field...especially when you are starting out, passion may be your only companion. So you have to choose an area that you like and decide to stick with it and learn more about it, no matter what (job or no job).

The desi market is upto us to create. There are desi tv companies but as an editor/artist your demo reel is more important than your ethinicity. I dont hire people based on their ethinicity...ofcourse, sometimes it does help...again it depends on the script/programming. As you may know most desi tv companies buy their shows from India/south asia. Not many produce their content from scratch here.

Another option to explore would be to work as an independent producer/artist. There are ways to get funding for your projects. Again you need to have a good body of work to be able to convince anybody to finance your projects. The demo reel comes into the picture again.

All cities that you mentioned have good media companies.

This will help you some more
http://www.mediajobsearchcanada.com/default.asp

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Thanks Jake for the detailed reply.

I came across that job metrix through CIC site, and thought better confirm it with people who are associated with the field and have the insight knowledge.

My interest has been in production side of the media business.
i.e producing documentaries, promotional videos and similar stuff.

I can imagine when you say that there are teens who are willing to do work for free.

But in general terms, As you rightly mentioned that Desi media companies (especially broadcast) get most of their cretive content done from Asia (its the same in UK aswell, but now the UK desi market has been growing it a good pace with the emergence of british born desi's entering into media jobs).

What are the prospects of working on a very small level (may be from home office) and get project work from educational instutions and also covering local events (working with the local county).
I understand that networking is the jilst for this kind of work but what advice could you give to a new immigrant (already an active contributor at media forms).

PS:I am hoping one of the Dubai based Tv Channel open its broadcasting centre in North America aswell, as they seem to be doing good in brining out some quality contents specially on the durrent affairs programs.

Yes we need to provide the necessary programming for the community here. Just like it is being done in the UK. I see a huge potential in NA for south asian content.

Educational institutes are mostly publicly run so what do you intend to do for them? If you set up shop as a videographer, yes, you can start small.

I would advice you to come here study the market, look around for a break and then make your decision. If you have some money to invest in a small course, do so. It may give you contacts in the industry. Most importantly, evaluate your work...and improve on it. Your peers can help you decide if its good enough.

If you have done work on docs...show them around. If your work is good there are govt agencies that will finance future projects. Promos...you need contacts there..so networking again. You got a lot of learning to do, so if you cannot find a local partner...spend a year in studying the market.

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Thanks Jake3d for the guidance, I will follow some of the usefull advice you have given.

Thanks

no problem. Other people who are not specifically looking for jobs in the media can also benefit from http://www.mediajobsearchcanada.com/default.asp

There are jobs there for web editors/graphic designers in there too.

Heston, one more thing if I may. I've seen a cpl of your works and you do have a lot of editing going on in there. However, I did not see any visible storyline in either of the 2 pieces that you posted. You did put shots together but in both cases the shots did not show any structure leading to a plot/story. Even in the case of a trailer the intent is to get people interested in coming to watch the movie and as such it should have some meat. Anyway maybe those were just a cpl of pieces you could manage to put online and you may have other work. If you have do you can send me the links privately and I'll let you know what I think.

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Hi Jake3d, thanks for the valuable feedback,
just learing the art from one project to another, I am working on a short movie, will be complete in a couple of months. will let you know about that.
As for the story and structure, i agree, looking back at the work I also feel the same, but improving on it.

I have a very immaturing shot advert for a Car with me, you can check that out, I think there is little bit of story in it.
Will upload and send u the link soon

Thanks