DV-info members average age
 

46 for me,
22 years in the TV industry, 2 years working for myself. I'll never go back.

Phil: I'm glad I got out of American TV when I did. The revenue streams are all drying up and most of the money's flowing to cable, satellite and rental. A lot of my friends and former employees are being laid off after struggling their entire lives just to eake out a living. It's not pretty and what's on the air on commercial American TV is worse. I understand Australian TV was viciously competitive. Whenever I ran into Ch. 9 or 7 (I believe that's right) news crews, they made Americans look like school kids.

DV- info members average age
 

Hi Ken
Yes there has been a lot of centralisation going on in Australian TV over the last few years. My colleges and I were all made redundant. (It's hard to get another career at 45) There is not many jobs available outside of Sydney and Melbourne (east coast) There is the big 3 her in Aust TV, channels 7.9 &10. Money is pretty tight so they fight tooth & nail for ratings etc. A lot of what is on tv here is American shows the same stuff that you guys watch. I worked for CH7, had a lot of great opportunities while I was there, covered 2 olympic games etc etc, but it's good to work for yourself and not have to answer to anybody else, come and go as you please. You know the sort of thing I mean.

With the proliferation of bloggers in America, a lot of expert are wondering if mainstream journalism's days are numbered. Certainly, TV news is suffering greatly at all levels. Salaries are terrible, morale is awful and most stations are now owned by a few huge conglomerates (your countryman Rupert Murdoch is among them) which means layoffs, homogeneous programming and plummeting ratings.
But it's a tremendous opportunity for little guys. Independent film makers are everywhere, documentaries are not only popular- they're setting the issue agenda i.e. Fahrenheit 911, Supersize Me. It's a golden age for documentary and I'm having a gas!

With the help of DVInfo ... Long Live Little Guys of All Ages ... I'm only 67 but catchin' up fast on Sandy and John

<<<-- Originally posted by Brendan Marnell : With the help of DVInfo ... Long Live Little Guys of All Ages ... I'm only 67 but catchin' up fast on Sandy and John -->>>

Ahh, but Brendan I'm still running (or perhaps walking is more accurate) a bit ahead of you. We are always moving forward though!
Keep on truckin',
Sandy

Has of today my average age is 52 years and 8 months old.

30 years old

I'll be 43 in early April.

17
 

17 years. Turning 18 next week :)

32 now, but 31 was definately the best. My daughter was born GRIN


Jon

just turned 18 on jan 21st, W00T

Well, Im 16...............................................................along time ago.

49 until September. Pro videographer since 1981.

55
Youth is a gift of nature.
Age is a work of art!

Average Age
 

My average age is 55.

uh....38 or 39, I think,.... Ill have to do the math.


Hey cool!! 38.

15 in May- i've been corrupted young!

23 and lovin it.


John

Wow, i'm embarassed- [coughing] i'm sweet sixteen

Im 16

15

Hi,

I am 19. I will be 20 in July. I became interested in video at about 12 and started playing around with the family camera. I am now using a DVX100a and starting to do some more serious stuff.

Nate

Now getting a little older again :).

20!

Starting Young
 

As I wrote earlier in this thread, I'm 51 years old. I recently left TV news after 30 years and started my own video production company. I too started my life/career as a young boy in the Chicago suburbs with a friend's Super 8 film camera. I was hooked right then.
While I became an executive in the TV news business, my first love was always reporting, shooting and especially editing. You young folks are so lucky to have computers, digital cameras and DVDs to produce your work. These things didn't exist when I started which made doing quality work, or any kind of work for that matter, extremely difficult.
The one thing I'd advise young people: don't forget to live. It's great to watch a lot of movies, go to film school and spend all day in front of the computer. But without life experience- travel, volunteering, sports, love, environmental activity- you'll have no authority on which to base your work. Imitating great films is all the rage in Hollywood right now. That's because these people don't know anything about life, just movies. Live, and record it.

I am a little older than Ken (52) and started shooting video because I realized I was spending too much time in front of a PC, working as well as goofing off, and decided I needed a hobby that other people could share in. So when I bought a new Dell PC, I bought a Canon ZR10 from them as well, figuring the warranty was a deal - for me anyway.

I agree with Ken that life experience- travel, volunteering, sports, love, environmental activity are very important. So I use shooting video as an excuse to go on great vacations. And shooting my niece's gymnastics meets, and a nephew's Judo meets.

I still sit in front of a PC too much, but the results are shown to people who actually enjoy the videos. Either because they are the star, or because they like to see the pretty pictures from the cool places we travel to.

Greece for 11 days this June - should be a lot of cool places to shoot.

I'm 18.
Yep, finally and adult... cough

19 in June and making my way up.

21, and I am just about to finish film school, and I totally agree with Ken and Steven. Film school is good to grasp the technical side of filmmaking, however, as most work in film schools shows, you need a great understanding of life and how to imitate it. I too sometimes find it hard to get away from the computer screen and live life to the fullest

I am 22 years old

24, finish film school this year

Sony FX1E camera

53 and holding.

Old guys
 

Hey, Paul! It's great to see another antique on the squad. For those of us who grew up shooting film (a lot of it in black and white), I believe digital technology has made dreams we never even had come true. I hope you younger folks appreciate the power you have and use it not just to amuse yourselves but to bring the world together in a new regime of communication and understanding.
Certainly MSM don't see it that way! Be independent- stay independent!

I am 26 y.o. and feel every bit of it. lol.

63 NEXT Sunday
 

and rolling full speed...

Sony FX1E camera

I just celebrated the 21st anniversary of my 30th birthday. Back in the day, it was "never trust anyone over 30" so I stopped having birthdays. I refuse to age gracefully. I got to this point kickin' and screamin', and I'll go out the same way. "Live hard, die fast, and get to heaven 10 minutes before the devil knows I'm dead."

Dan

17 goin on 18.
Yeah i know, seems very young compared to some
I think most teens will say this though when it comes to their age: Judge me by what i do and who i am, not how old i am.

- Jack

31 going on 17. Still skateboard, still drink too much at parties, still go to rock concerts and mosh, still spend way too much money on toys, started video makin' in 1998.

I will be 77 in August. I have loved photography and video for many years.
I also have been a camera collector,and have owned many classic cameras.

My wife and I have videoed & edited many weddings for young couples at Church. I am not a professional by any means, but it is a great hobby. Due to diabetes & leg problems that is getting to be a thing of the past. I just can't keep up with the wedding party anymore.

I have done several documentries of Elk, Birds, Salmon in the Rogue River
here in southern OR

I use the Sony TRV950, TRV20, Canon Optura Pi. I also have a Sony 510-D8,
Canon ES 6000 Hi-8 & Canon ES 2000 Hi-8. I guess you could say I am a camera nut.

I first started editing with a Casablanca Avio. I also use an Apple E-Mac With Final Cut Express 2, which I use daily.

I Don't respond very often, but I log on and read the threads every day. I enjoy everyones comments. and have learned a lot.

Thanks for listening

Bob J. Trimmer

29 going on 10.