Maxim Mospanyuk is a multimedia creative specializing in video production. Maxim pursued an interest in production while in college and has produced content in over 20 countries around the world. Here is his roadmap to a full-time career in the creative world.
I grew up playing music throughout grade school but quickly realized this was not something I wanted to pursue in college as a career.
My college advisors sort of nudged me into telecommunications and I unknowingly found a sweet spot with video production over time.
In college I was still playing music and there was this guy that would film us playing at events and he asked me one day if I’d be interested in coming along and helping him on his personal shoots. This included setting up a DSLR, getting familiar with camera settings, recording settings, and working with all of the necessary equipment required to produce a quality video. This was my introduction into video production, although I had not considered this to be a potential career at this point.
After sharing some of the videos I had created on social media, I had a woman reach out to me and ask if I would kindly help her record a video in honor or her son who had passed. I agreed and quoted her $30. This was a lot of money to a college student. She smiled and wrote me a check for $130 and for the first time ever, I had started to consider turning the developing passion into a career.
Throughout college I spent time creating videos for churches, bands, school events, class projects and so on in order to really begin to refine my skills in video production.
In my Junior year in college, I had an opportunity to launch a production company with a few colleague but it would require me to leave school in order to be able to focus on this decision full time and have a shot at success.
I decided to leave school and 2 weeks later I was on a flight to a remote village in Alaska to shoot our first documentary.
From there, I have traveled to countries all over Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America in order to produce engaging content and capture the stories of people around the globe.
Since then I have established myself in Chattanooga as a wedding, event, and commercial videographer & editor, partnering with local and nationwide vendors in order to continue producing content we are proud to create for our clients.
ADVICE FOR STUDENTS:
Undersell, overdeliver. Creativity and appeal is subjective, so do not worry about convincing anyone that your work is worth its value. Make it worth it for you.
Do not be afraid to ask hard questions from directors, clients, or crew members.
“Did I set this up correctly”
“Is this the framing you had in mind”
“What do you think about this”
“How do we feel about..”
Find something to do when there is no work to be done. If you are on site and have completed your setup, I always lean to help someone else. This builds morale and also helps you refine and learn tips from another crew member. If you are at home and have completed all of the projects on your plate, find a creative project to stretch your abilities or connect with someone you feel will challenge you to produce something you normally wouldn’t push yourself to create alone.
Uplift and push other creatives around you.
Focus on the mission, goal, and ideas of your client, not your own.
Be dependable, organized, punctual, and optimistic (even in the midst of chaos). This will take you further than your skills or talents.