Putting A Value On Assisting And Earning Your Craft

Being an assistant can be a big game-changer for your career and allow you to learn new skills, meet new people in the business and if you're smart about it you will gain more work and credits.

“Being an Assistant is not a negative thing.”

many people think that once they have a certificate they can walk onto a photoshoot, a film set or into the backstage area of a fashion event and immediately become the supervisor. Sadly that isn’t the case. Like any job you need to learn the ropes and there are multiple ways to do this but the best and most sensible is observing and assisting, you get all the advantages of being involved without the responsibility of being in charge.

Something I hear all the time is people feeling disappointed that the job (makeup artist, creative director, camera tech etc) is not what they expected or as glamorous as they thought, the reality of early mornings, late nights and dull corporate gigs can be mundane but pay well. Its, not all glitz and glamour, its called business for a reason, bear that in mind when you start touting for work.

The right people to deal with have done their time as a trainee (myself included) and know that what you learn in college is important but there is more to the job than what you learn in a class so you have to come in with an open mind, and be a team player.

It is not a denigration of your work that you are an assistant it can be a really smart move, especially when dealing in the film and TV realm.

If you are working, being paid and doing the job you are passionate about that is the important part. use it as a chance to learn a new skill or add to your CV. It’s better to get a credit as an assistant on a shoot be it film, TV, editorial or event than not get any credit at all. It shows you are proactive in your work and can be a part of a team.

No matter your age or status being an assistant can open new doors, create opportunities and if you're smart, look at the situation and put a value on what you are being offered and use it as a chance to advance your own work.

All We have is Now

When I was asked about the motivation behind The Lost Creatives, my answer was simple. All we have is now. Over the last few years, we have seen a dramatic change in the industry both from an observational standpoint and as a hands-on member of crews for film projects.

Not all have been good experiences and made me realize that the only way that would change is if I did something to rectify it and move forward.

Professionally I see my work and that of the Lost Creatives taking a more film and TV-based route geared toward something solid that can be sold, creating projects from a commercial stance may seem against the grain for some but that does not stop the artistic process contrary to the myth you can be artistic and commercial.

It is not easy to build something solid and takes time, earning credentials and getting started is a scary process but for me, that is half the fun.

Taking the stance that “all we have is now,” I plan to keep moving forward and taking creative and personal risks in business whilst supporting the arts. Each step we make will be a triumph and give more fuel to the business.

*We will give consideration to taking a team to an off-schedule London show during fashion week if we can work the marketing to suit.

Progressing forward we are now looking at additional script ideas for festival projects and editorial concepts that we will use as promotional material over the coming months and then in the new year (watch out for this one) our big marketing push. Creating a new narrative is what we are about.

The expansion will be over time and give us a more solid base to work from with a range of placements coming up which will be designed to give professional experience in the media and fashion arena.

Starting a New Journey

We are firm believers in the idea of a journey beginning with a single step. At this time we are building up a database of different magazines and projects that will be worked through in a two-fold fashion:

Magazines (particularly online) will be used to promote not only The Lost concept but the team behind the shoot. With a focus on a more character and a dramatic feel touching on naturalism, *the insta/social media makeup style doesn’t appeal to us.

Film and TV, we do have one project earmarked (more details on this later) with a writer from Iran who has been fantastic about supporting the concept and has agreed to be a part of what we are doing. We are negotiating terms to pick up the first of what we hope to be a series of projects starting in 2020.

The Lost Project continues to grow and we are really excited about the prospects of this new avenue of The Lost Creatives which will allow us to work a different side of the business and keep to some degree our artistic roots at its core while opening up commercial avenues that we will explore over time.

We do try to think about our work as commercial with an artistic edge allowing us to create and gives a distinct and soon to be an identifiable edge to our work that will become synonymous with The Lost Concept.