a production company reached out to me last week, apparently they found my instagram and liked my footage. they want me to come on as a freelance operator for a commercial shoot next month. im pretty pumped about it but also have no idea what to expect in terms of how it works on set, what they'll expect from me versus what they handle, contracts, all that stuff.

i've done plenty of autonomous-ish mapping jobs and real estate but never anything with a full crew. do they usually have someone telling you exactly what shots they need or is it more collaborative. and do i bring my own gear or do they sometimes supply equipment. also slightly worried about the coordination with their camera team and whether my usual workflow will even make sense on a proper film set

any experience with this kind of gig would be really helpful, i dont wanna show up underprepared

congrats, those gigs are fun. done a few of them over the years. usually there's a DP or director who has a shot list and they'll brief you before the day but honestly on a good set they'll also want your input on what's actually flyable given conditions, angles you might suggest, stuff like that. you're not just a button pusher, they hired you partly because you know what the drone can do.

gear-wise in my experience they almost always want you to bring your own unless they're a bigger house with their own cinema drone setup, which sounds unlikely if they found you on instagram. bring backup batteries, way more than you think you need, and have a copy of your 107 and insurance certificate ready because someone will ask. also get the contract looked at before you sign anything — check what they're claiming in terms of rights to the footage, some contracts are pretty grabby about that. and make sure kill fees are in there in case they cancel last minute, which happens more than youd think on shoots.

the crew coordination is honestly the easiest part once you get used to it. just communicate clearly with whoever's AD-ing, let them know your battery swaps and approximate flight windows and they'll work around you

thats so cool they reached out from instagram. was your account mostly reels or did you have longer edits posted? curious cause ive been trying to figure out what actually gets industry people to notice you and i have no idea if i should be focusing on short clips or showing full project work somewhere