ChomPics Guest Post - Joe Sayers, "Pressed" Episode 3 Director of Cinematography

As you may notice, given the title of this post, my name is Joe Sayers. I have been asked to write about my experience with ChomPics Productions. I’m not much of writer, but here we go!

I should start at the beginning of my story, if you don’t mind. Since I was a child, I’ve been interested in television and movies. My parents made me watch the evening news to keep me informed of the world around me. But I was in awe of the sets and stories and thought it was the coolest thing. My thought was I would be sitting at an anchor desk in my future career. However, my thoughts began to change when I got older. Watching movies, documentaries, television dramas and comedies later in my life pushed me in the direction of being a production major. My desire was to create these stories from behind the scenes, just using a camera, mics, and some lights. So after I graduated with my A.A in Jacksonville, Florida I began the process of applying to the schools I would transfer to in the fall. In the year 2013, I received a letter that would change my life. The man writing this post got acceptance into the University of Florida. I was thrilled. So off to Gainesville I went. However, when I arrived, I was nervous and scared. This guy was venturing into new territory, being placed in a new town, not knowing anyone in town. So now what? How was I going to meet people and how would I get opportunities to get involved?

I heard about NBS and I attended the first meeting of the year, and there they were. Connor Hachey and Beth Benge. They informed us that they were creating this student run production group, which was later named ChomPics Productions. They convinced me to join that night but little did I know what would happen next. I was asked to be a production assistant for the pilot episode of “Off University” and everything began to come into place. I met these wonderful people who had the same passions I did! Being a part of this group was truly an amazing, rewarding experience and validated my decision to be a production major and come to UF. Going into the new school year, I wanted to do more.

Now, I am a producer for one of the podcasts (Fight 4), and a member of the nationally nominated commercial team, Bad Bots. As for the web series, I decided to challenge myself and become director of cinematography for an episode of “Pressed” (check out the pilot and episode 2 if you haven’t already). After being placed on episode 3, I was nervous. However, I was ready to get to work. From pre-production meetings, to filming on set, I could not have been happier with the cast and crew. It was a joy working with great people. I can’t wait for everyone to see the hard work that was put into this episode.

I should probably wrap this up, but I’ll close with this. Since joining ChomPics, I have gained a new family. I have picked up friends for life and memories that I will always remember. There are wonderful opportunities in this organization. From being slapped on screen for a commercial, to arguing with friends about the great debates that have plagued pop culture on a podcast, it truly is a joy.

#joesayers #cjc #gatornbs #pressed