I’ve got a bit of explaining to do…
I think it’s probably about time to do a bit of explaining. Because my social media posts tend to be pretty short and sweet I don’t tend to go into much detail about the behind the scenes aspects of what I’m up to.
As you all know, I took up photography at the beginning of lockdown. I was a little lost and needed some direction and purpose so I bought myself a Fugifilm camera and got to work. About six months after that I started posting little wildlife videos while I was out collecting photos - talking a little about animal biology and tracking etc. in general these were pretty well received! I really loved people asking questions about what I was doing and why, it made the whole process a little more connected.
I made a couple of trips during the last two years to Bass Rock or Horsey Beach and I made documentary style videos. However, I didn’t use my voice… instead I would write the information as captions under the footage. I wanted to focus more on getting the shots than my annoying voice and I was pretty happy with what I got. it was tiresome and time consuming but it saved me having to stand in front of the camera.
Then I moved to Scotland and I was surrounded by all this wildlife. A couple of companies asked me to make some videos for them which allowed me to work a little more on style and composing a proper video style. It even allowed me to get in front of the camera a little. And you know what? I actually quite enjoyed it. I found it a lot easier to talk through the fascinating aspects of wildlife and animal behaviour. It came across much more fluently and naturally (plus it’s a hell of a lot easier to speak than to type it all out!)
Once I had a decent bit of material in my back pocket, I sent it to a few agencies. I was met by a string of rejections or non responses. People are generally really supportive but the industry is saturated with middle class, white men and (cynical as this might be) I think it’s a little to my detriment. It is however, pretty difficult and irresponsible for me to say “oh poor me with all my privilege! I can’t get a job in TV!” But it is frustrating that’s for sure!
As a side note, I do think it’s fantastic that minorities are being represented in the media. I think it’s a fantastic way to get young people more interested in wildlife and conservation. Whether you’re black, white, gay, straight, or anything else, we all share in this planet and so I genuinely do think it’s brilliant to see such a diverse range of presenters on BBC wildlife shows etc. … it just makes it harder for me!
Finally, after a lot of emailing and pestering an agency called David Foster Management, which represents a number of high calibre wildlife presenters, would like to showcase me and my work.
I’m super excited to be working with David Foster management and this is (hopefully) the beginning of something bigger. Basically the process is only really begun; it doesn’t equate to a job yet. DF will put my face on their website along with a bio, a showreel and some headshots. They’ll then send all that to their various clients and see what comes back. I’m hopeful that something will but I can’t bank on it!
So until then I’ll just keep producing content and putting myself out there while doing the bushcraft and outdoor leading in Scotland! Which, to be honest, I’m more than happy to do!
If you’d like to see my David Foster page you can click here:
https://www.dfmanagement.tv/will-hall/
