I am thrilled to announce that my company Written Out Loud is looking to hire.
I am looking for a storyteller or two to help me take on a few exciting projects I have lined up for the spring & summer of 2018.
These are full-time, paid, short-term positions, March 1 - June 1, with the potential to extend into the summer.
If you are a storyteller, and if this sounds cool, hit me up. I’d love to hear from you.
Or, if you **know** a storyteller who might be excited by this opportunity, I’d love you to connect us.
So far, Written Out Loud has been based on two fundamental building blocks: storytelling and relationships.
Storytelling-wise, I’ve been lucky enough to be busy right out of the gate telling a few stories I believe in. A few of them will be premiering over the next few months. I’m excited to tell you about them, starting with an announcement tomorrow: my first-ever series for Netflix.
Relationship-wise, I’ve been lucky enough to have worked only with people I love and trust. That’s a trend I’m determined to continue. For me, trusting relationships between colleagues and collaborators is the most important aspect of team-based storytelling, like filmmaking.
That’s why I’m reaching out to you, my network of friends, colleagues, and readers. If you’ve read this far, and if you’re still reading with interest, I assume you have some degree of love and trust for me and/or the work I’ve done. Which I’m incredibly grateful for. I know that the future of my company will grow out of my most trusting relationships, like my relationship with you.
So if you’re still reading, let me tell you a little more about the specific skills I’m looking for in my open storytelling positions.
First of all, you need to be an experienced storyteller with professional filmmaking experience. I don’t care if you’re 21 or 75. I don’t care if you’re primarily a writer, director, producer, designer, or editor. (Well, to be honest, you probably have a leg up if you can write really well.) The main thing is that at some point in the past, people have paid you to tell stories. At some point down the road I hope to be able to hire amateur & aspiring storytellers. But right now I need a couple of people with a few miles under their belt - a reel or resume of high-quality storytelling.
Second, of all, you must be organized. This position will require high-level execution of a bunch of detail-oriented tasks - on top of your storytelling skills. Specifically, you will need to oversee the production, execution, and delivery of 50 short films, which will air widely on television and the web. Your storytelling skills will be hugely important, but so will your skills in keeping everything spreadsheeted and google-doc’d to a fare-thee-well. You must be an overcommunicator and a troubleshooter: someone who surfaces problems early and is a detail ninja. This is a big deal. You don’t need to have done this EXACT thing before, but you need to demonstrate to me that you’ve done SOMETHING that has required hyper-anal organizational and communication skills.
Third, I don’t care where you live. To do this work with me over the next few months, you can be anywhere in the world. But you can’t have a job that takes you off the grid for big chunks of time every day. You will need to be on the intertubes with me and our work together for most business days, and you need to be accustomed to the irregular hours and quirky needs of the filmmaking business. That said, I’m pretty flexible about family needs and doctor’s appointments and all that stuff - if you give me advance notice about a two-hour blackout time, 99 times out of 100 you’ll be fine. (Full disclosure: I live in Connecticut and am often in New York. Being able to be face to face with me on a semi-regular basis is a plus. But talent and desire trumps location.)
Fourth - this is for extra credit, really - but if you have experience growing a media startup, or a startup business of any kind, if you've seen first-hand the kinds of choices young companies can, should, and absolutely shouldn't make in order to grow and thrive - that's a huge plus.
Finally - this is somehow the least- and most-important thing - I am looking for a storytelling visionary. I am looking for someone to grow this company with, in the deepest and most profound way possible.
As I mentioned when I launched, we are in the midst of a remarkable moment for storytelling. New stories and platforms and gadgets and audiences are springing up, and coming together, in ways that were unimaginable even five years ago. I have only been open for business since last fall, but I have already seen the awesome demand and interest in quality storytelling, from far-flung and unexpected corners of the world.
So the best-case scenario for me would be to find someone who can not only crush the specific skill set stuff listed above, but who wants to look forward with me into the future, who wants to build a 21st-century storytelling business, who can give Written Out Loud a perspective and vision and experience I don’t have, who can show me the ways in which storytelling is changing, and will change, and can change, going forward.
I want someone awesome. Those of you who have built businesses, or gotten in on the ground floor of businesses, know how important the first few hires and partners are. I want the best, most talented, most forward-thinking storyteller in my world to come and find me, and to throw down with me this spring. That's my dream.
If this person is you, or could be you, hit me up.
If you know of someone who this person might be, maybe just possibly who knows I'll give it a shot, please feel free to share.
If you're reading this because a friend passed this on, and you have no idea who am, this is who I am.
I look forward to hearing from you.
P.S. I'll be adding a few more details about the positions and projects over the coming weeks, so if you're not already a subscriber and you're curious to hear more, subscribe in the box below.
Thank you friend. More to come.
-Josh