One of my favorite things to do is support local independent filmmaking, and I’m very glad that I have so many ways that I’m able to do that. Here are a couple of the skills I have to offer the filmmaking community.

Robyn’s Alma Mater in Jeopardy
After 26 years of being one of the best film schools in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle Central Community College has announced plans to shut down its film and video program at the end of the school year in June 2012. Current first year students are being told they will not be allowed to finish the 2 year program. Robyn is working hard in the effort to save the program, and is the moderator of the Save the Seattle Central Film & Video Program Facebook page. Please show your support, and let the school know you disagree with their decision to end the program by clicking ‘Like’ on our Facebook page. If we work hard, we can still save the program!

Script Supervisor

If I’m going to physically be on the set of a production, one of my favorite roles is script supervisor, also known as the continuity person, or simply “scripty.” The script supervisor acts as the liaison between the editor and the director on the set, so having a script supervisor with editing experience is always a good idea.

Click here to see my script supervisor resume.

Assistant Editor

There are many aspects to editing, and sometimes having someone else take care of the less creative side of things can be incredibly helpful. Here are a few aspects to assistant editing that I have experience with.

• Writing Transcripts (day rate charged for every ~30 minutes of video)
• Data Managing
• Synching audio
• Transcoding & Data conforming

Click here to view my DIT/Assistant Editor Resume.

D.I.T. (Data Ingestion Tech)

As someone with an editing background, I’ve found that data managing is half the job, so doing D.I.T. work is a natural fit for me. I have experience ingesting data from RED SSD cards, from the Panasonic HVX’s P2 cards, from the Sony F3′s SxS cards, and H.264 .mov’s from DSLR cameras, specifically CompactFlash and SD cards from the Canon 5D, 7D, and T2i. For video conforming, I usually use Final Cut or MPEG Streamclip, but I have experience with Adobe Media Encoder and Apple Compressor, and I’m willing to go through other suggested workflows as well. I also have experience transcoding R3D footage using RedCineX. I have my own MacBook Pro, Mac Tower, CF & SD card readers, and backup Firewire-powered external hard drive as well.

*Please note: The D.I.T. is sometimes (er, usually) referred to as the Digital Imaging Tech, and helps assure that lighting and exposure-related camera settings are correct as images are captured in a digital video camera, as opposed to a film camera. I am not that person, rather, I am a data wrangling, liaison-to-the-editor D.I.T. If you have questions about what I can do as a D.I.T. on your production, please feel free to contact me.

Video Editor

Final Cut Pro 7 Tutor

I’ve recently begun tutoring people in Final Cut and I’ve found that I’m really enjoying it. From having a specific problem you need help with (e.g. capturing), to needing a larger step-by-step instruction on how to use the Final Cut suite of programs, odds are, I can probably help you.

Assistant Accountant

I assisted in accounting for a recent major feature in Seattle, Fat Kid Rules the World, organizing timecards, getting signatures for checks, organizing and logging petty cash envelopes, and assuring all eligible crew members received the benefits they were entitled to. I found the work very interesting and I’d love to do it again.

Craft Services

Although I have never had my sole job on a shoot be craft services, I have been in charge of getting food and snacks for a production on more than one occasion. To this day, catering and craft services are the jobs I see done badly on film sets more frequently than any other job role. I’m happy to say that I have learned from others’ mistakes. I believe that the best on-the-set food is tasty, healthy, inexpensive, and easily portable. I am also very mindful of food and allergy restrictions, and making sure the celiac’s food options are just as delicious as everyone else’s.

Also of note: if you’re looking to save money on a shoot, consider hiring me as your D.I.T. and your craft services person, as I could easily complete both job roles for small low-budget productions.

Production Assistant

Every production needs help in ways that are sometimes hard to predict. That’s why you need to have production assistants on hand to take care of those nagging little things that the above-the-line people don’t have time to do.

I have experience working as a production assistant on a handful of major commercials, notably Bridgestone Tires and Chevy Silverado. I have a car and a driver’s license, and I also have a smart phone with text messaging, internet, and GPS, which all come in handy for a shoot. I am also physically able to do pretty much anything that is expected from a production assistant.

I’ve found that some people don’t have much respect for the role of the production assistant, but I’m exactly the opposite. It’s the job that truly is an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, even if you do have to spend a lot of time looking for ways to help other people on the set.

Producer & Assistant Director

I take on these roles on an extremely limited basis, because I don’t enjoy them as much as I enjoy other filmmaking roles.

That being said though, I am good at producing, and I feel it’s worth mentioning so that you know that I’m familiar with what the role entails. If you have a project that you think I might be interested in producing, don’t be afraid to contact me.