Thursday, March 1, 2012

Oggy Tries Out For The Big Leagues

Job Title:Audiovisual Production Specialist (Videographer)
Agency:National Gallery of Art
Job Announcement Number:NGA-12-14A

SALARY RANGE:

$89,033.00 to $115,742.00 / Per Year

OPEN PERIOD:

Saturday, February 18, 2012 to Friday, March 02, 2012

SERIES & GRADE:

GS-1071-13

POSITION INFORMATION:

Full-time - Term Appt. NTE 3 years (may extend 1 additional year)

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:

13

DUTY LOCATIONS:

1 vacancy(s) in the following locations:
Washington, DC, US

WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED:

U.S. Citizens

 Oggy


I can hear the laughter echo around the continent like hyena running through a particle accelerator. Oggy working for the national gallery of art would be a sign of the apocalypse. True. The thought of me being turned loose with a $12,000 high definition camera and a platinum credit card in the name of national art is pretty funny. It's not totally insane considering the facts but it's not something I'll be holding my breath for. I want to put the word out there and not be intimidated by N.Y. film school students who made digital films while I was living in a tree hut in Santa Cruz also applying for this job. They probably think $100K salary is entry level and that's why you are reading my blog and they aren't...because if you think big then you don't get dragged down by underachievers like Oggy and his self pitying (a Mexican prostitute called him self-loathing but why split hairs?) ways. You don't afford to live in Washington on $50K a year. No. You get the big money and that's only the official part of the paycheck. The dividends that are never claimed on a tax return run that number up three times over again. The loopholes I've heard about expense accounts and per diems make me wonder how any company stays afloat. That's an unspoken part of this position. Sure you can be a budding Ansel Adams with a video camera but if you deliver your didactic health video propaganda on time and assert your maverick status enough (but not too much) then you will be anointed into royalty. I'm going to watch what I say because I gave them a link to the blog as my writing sample and my video samples. If I had any advice for budding writers or filmmakers it would be to design a project and finish it. Just finish the project and have it available so someone can see it. And then immediately start a new project. Write, film, edit, record...over and over. IF it is what you love to do then you will love to do it for free and starve in the process but that's the sacrifice. And if someone sees some value in it then you might get a slice of bread or $110K a year. Think of it as good or bad timing. But there is no project that isn't finished. It's either in progress or done. I don't have an abundance of finished projects to show the good folks from the national gallery of art and that doesn't help my chances and it also doesn't reflect well on my follow through.

I'm an old man today. 41 years old and I'd like to apply to more than far fetched jobs that go to the assimilated film students who graduated with honors. If it meant buying a whole new J crew wardrobe to go with my disco shirt I'd have a hard time making the switch. Fortunately I don't have to make that choice because the uniform crowd knows an outsider when they see him.
Creative Commons License
Man in the Van by Oggy Bleacher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.