Some people have been asking me about how to get their first big job, and then what to do when it comes through. These are huge questions and I can’t really answer, but here is a real super simple list of some things that you may find helpful. These are based on my mistakes, and maybe this will save you from making the same ones I did. I hope you find this helpful, and please let me know what you think. Is there anything you would add, and is there anything you would like me to go into detail on, what have your experiences been?
1. Get to know everything about 8 art directors that you have chosen as the ones you want to work for. These are the 8 that you will promote to, and stay in touch with. Forget the mass mailings. Do your home work and get 8 names. You only need 1 big job and one of these people is going to give it to you.
2. Only show what you are good at. Forget variety, show one thing and one thing only. This must be the thing that you do better than anyone. Otherwise, why are they going to hire you? Remember, the art director’s job is on the line, so he has to be sure you can come through.
3. If your book gets called in, and you get as far as the creative call, be absolutely confident you can do the job. Before the call think about what special thing you are bring to the table, and it better not be price. You need to be bring something special and you need to be able to articulate it.
4. If you are not sure how to do the bid, hire someone to do it for you. Most reps will do an estimate for a fee. You need your estimate to look professional, and if you haven’t done it before it won’t.
5. The agency knows this is your first big job, but it is fine. They love to discover new talent. They will also cut you some slack because of it.
6. Practice practice practice! Get the lighting totally dialed in before the shoot, in fact days before the shoot. When the day comes you don’t want to be experimenting on set, you need to know exactly what to do. Think of everything that can go wrong and think about what you are going to do to prevent it from happening.
7. If it is a big job, hire a producer. They will save your butt. Get the best most experienced person you can. They are going to cost you $1000/day for shoot, prep and wrap days. Don’t worry, you will thank them for taking your money. They will allow you to do what you are supposed to be doing: talking with the agency and taking pictures. Do not under an circumstances attempt your first big job by trying to save money and produce it yourself. That is amature hour. You are now a pro. Act like one.
8. You must, at any cost, be a hero on the job. You must, at any cost, deliver to the client a job that makes them so happy they couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it. Remember, this isn’t baseball, you only get one swing and you better hit it the far side of heaven.
9. Listen to whatever the ageny has to say creatively, then tell them honestly what you think, but never argue. Always go along with what they want, but offer your counsel. That is what they hired you for.
10. Have the producer prep the bill. You look at it, check every number on it, have the rep who did the bid look at, then send it in. There is a right and wrong way to do these things, and next time you will know, but this time learn how.
The shot below was my first Coke shoot. It was night, we rented the Orange Bowl in Miami. Crew of 14, cast of 40, 6 from the client. Lighting was the light towers in the stadium (Cue the Tower 3, kabang, massive light comes on) and about 10 2k frenels. They loved the shot, and we went on to do about 40 more ads over the next 3 years.
There has been considerable discussion of the Zeiss ZE lenses used for motion and stills on Canon bodies. I have tested most all of the Zeiss ZE line, and have compared them to the Canon lenses and to Nikon mounted on a Canon. Here is the bottom line: When I shot a big stills ad job 2 weeks ago I had all the various glass there to use, and after about 10 shots it became obvious, use the Canon lenses. The Zeiss, even if the beep focus worked well, which it absolutely does not, is just too slow to work and too tiring on my eyes. Keep it simple, use the Canons on a Canon body. 
