kind of a weird situation and not sure who else to ask about this. been freelancing for about three years doing mostly commercial stuff, some film behind the scenes work, a bit of event coverage. got approached by a production company that does branded content and they want me to come on basically full time as their dedicated aerial guy. salary, benefits, the whole thing which honestly after years of chasing invoices sounds amazing.

but a few people i know in the industry are telling me its a trap basically, like youll get pigeonholed and your skills will narrow and then if the company downsizes or whatever youre stuck. i can see that argument but also i have a kid now and the feast or famine thing is genuinely wearing on me.

has anyone actually done in-house drone work for a company? how was it compared to freelancing, did you feel like you were still growing as a pilot or did it kind of stagnate. the company seems solid and the work looks interesting from what ive seen but i dont know anyone who has done this specific thing

i did two years in house at a real estate media company, different from what youre describing but similar idea. honestly it was fine? like i learned a ton about workflow efficiency and working with a team and honestly my post processing got way better because i had to be consistent and fast. the flying itself got a little repetitive but i was also getting paid on a friday every friday which after years of net-30 clients who ghost you... yeah.

the pigeonhole thing is real but i think it depends on the company. if they do varied branded content you might actually fly more interesting stuff than most freelancers who end up doing the same real estate shots over and over anyway. id negotiate to keep the right to freelance on weekends or something like that, most companies are fine with it as long as its not a direct conflict.

you have a kid and steady work is being offered to you. take the job man. you can always go back to freelancing, the skills dont disappear. the branded content world also has a lot of connections that could set you up even better if you do go back out on your own eventually. i know people who treat in house gigs as basically a paid networking opportunity and come out the other side with way better clients than they had going in.