As I uploaded the Chiemgau Impressions video on Vimeo I got a lot of messages from people all over the globe. Some asked for the workflow of the timelapsing stuff, some just said “congrats, keep on the great work”. A few ones, that striked me the most, were like “Some day, I want to be able to create something like this” or “your videos have inspired me to consider a career as filmmaker”. And I am often asked how I got into filmmaking.

As some of you may know, I haven’t been a full time “filmmaker” until february 2011. It started almost 4years ago as I finished my apprenticeship at a clothing company. I always wanted to do something film related but it seemed kind of unreachable for me. I didn’t have the money to buy a huge shoulder camera.
I didn’t have the money to go to film school. And due to my main job, I didn’t have the time to learn it as an assistant somewhere in Salzburg or Munich.

So I started editing some of the clips my dad shot a few years ago using the world famous Windows Movie Maker (Woohooo!) while watching a whole lot of tutorials on the internet. I also used trial versions of Magix Video Deluxe and Premiere Elements. The finished video ended up as a christmas present for my parents and they loved it (of course they did).

short after that I registered my own business so that I could officially earn money with my hobby to be able to afford a bigger camera (in 2006: bigger = better!) and probably a Mac.

… No client work the first 6 months … So I sold my beloved Motorbike and bought a second hand Sony PD150 and a MacPro. Turnover the first year (!) around 250€; Expenses: 4000+ €.

I didn’t expect to get rich the first year, I simply wanted to shoot – edit – learn. Just for the fun of it.

The second year I got some paid jobs and a lot of no budget projects (perfect to collect footage for a showreel and make business connections). I even earned enough money to buy new harddrives, displays and a lot of MiniDV tapes.

2009 started with a lot of inquiries. I decided to sell my PD150 to buy a Sony EX1. Wow – High Def Video! Everything changed… Suddenly I became famous, had more money than I could possibly spend on gear, bought my own island and… Well ok, that didn’t happen, but my situation improved.

My day job changed as well as my hobby-filmmaking. I worked at the sales department for a sports/fashion company and was promoted to be customer service supervisor. At night I edited all the projects I shot at the weekend. I invested all of the money I earned in gear. really, all of it. New camera, tripod, backpack, cases, cards, batteries, etc. Oh, and of course I ordered the 5D and the 24-70mm 2.8.

2010 has been the most exciting year so far. I quit my job at the fashion/sports company to start another sales related job at Fossil Inc. I still wasn’t sure about freelancing as full time filmmaker. I loved working at Fossil, did a lot of smaller and bigger film-projects at weekends or at night and of course: bought more and more gear!

In September a friend of mine who started working at KME-Studios told me I should visit them to talk about a job. Due to the “DSLR revolution”, a lot of their clients asked if they could also film in addition to the photoshoots. They knew that it’s possible to combine the shoots but for quality reasons it makes more sense to split the productions. plus: to know how to shoot gorgeous still images doesn’t mean it’s easy to shoot moving pictures, too.

They asked me if I want to be the head of their new film unit starting 2011. Which meant, besides KME Studios (the photographers), a new unit/group/team of creatives called “Filmer” will be founded . And I’d be the person in charge.

A dream came true! I’m finally able to do what I love as main job. I have never ever expected something like this! I’m really happy how everything turned and am excited for what comes next.

So to all of you who asked for tips to get started in this field of work I’d say: Go out and shoot. Simply learning by doing. Show your work to family and friends, let them criticize your work, learn from the critique, practice, be patient and the rest comes (almost) automatically. Film school, a huge amount of equipment or big clients are not mandatory to start as a filmmaker. Patience, ambition and of course a good taste in movies is more than enough to start your own little business from scratch.

I would love to read how you got into filmmaking!