Pro Editing @ Home

Reader Q&A : Finding work in Toronto, Canada

 

Hi Kevin, How are you? I ran across your Avid vs. Apple article online and enjoyed reading it. I'm definately Apple biased, and proudly admit it. :-) I just have had so many problems with PC's that I enjoy the fact that Apple only seems to have programs that work, as opposed to the over abundance of poor programs to weed through to find a few gems in the PC world.

Regarding production, I have been an audio engineer/mixer here at the 2nd biggest production facility (www.northstarstudios.tv) in the US located in Nashville, Tennessee since early 1996. I was wondering what the production climate is like up there in Ontario? The reason I ask is that I'm getting married next month to a Canadian woman and moving to Windsor. I'm Pro Tools certified and have worked on FCP, Vegas, Digital Performer, Nuendo, Logic, etc.. I know that Toronto and Windsor are a few hours apart, but wanted to get your opinion on production in Ontario since you've been in the industry there as long as I have here.

Are there unions to deal with up there? Tennessee is a right to work state, so we're able to do all aspects of production. Is there a big freelance community up there? I'm applying for my permanent residence when I get there next month and will be making contacts and looking for future work until my work permit comes through.

Any pointers, insights, and thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you....

Have a great day,
Bryan

Hey Bryan,

My first piece of advice to to check out the job posting sites for the Toronto and surrounding area. I'll include a bunch of good sites to keep your eye's one at the end of the e-mail. If you're looking for freelance work, from what I am told, there is always work for qualified editors and sound engineers in the T.O. area. As for Windsor, I'm not really sure. What I would suggest, is to contact the FCP and Avid/Protools resellers in the Windsor area, and find out if there are any Avid or Final Cut Pro user groups, or SMPTE meetings, or anything like that, as they are always a good place to find people looking for freelancers. From what I've seen, though, keep your eye's peeled on the web, and something is bound to pop up.

Playback Magazine (Toronto Only) - www.playbackmag.com/careers
Media Job Search Canada (Canada Only) - http://www.mediajobsearchcanada.com/job_opportunities.asp
Mandy.com (International) - http://mandy.com/
Craigs List (International) - http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tfr/
(site URL's will vary slightly depending on geographic location)

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