Blue Collar Post Collective Brings Soft Skills Outdoors with Field Day
Break-out sessions with community experts in Los Angeles and NYC parks draw members to learn about networking, negotiation, and mentoring.
The Blue Collar Post Collective (BCPC) has continued its legacy of innovative programs and workshops with a “Life Skills Field Day” held on both the East and West coasts this summer. The inventive workshop brought emerging talent and peer experts within the BCPC community to local parks to discuss soft skills such as building real relationships through networking, negotiating rates, creating personal budgets, and finding mentorship opportunities.
The Field Days featured experts from across all post production disciplines, including representatives from companies like Adobe, Huffington Post, Netflix, and Vice, and from post teams on television shows like Altered Carbon, Shooter, Two Dope Queens, and Mr. Robot. Session leaders discussed their experiences in the industry and led break-out sessions about finding resources and connecting with the community to grow professionally in skills that aren’t taught in school. Attendees were encouraged to bring blankets and snacks and spend an afternoon outside with their peers, creating a unique atmosphere for post production workers to
connect.
Clarence Deng, an assistant editor who attended the LA-based event, said, “I got a lot out of simply feeling like it was easier to approach the people teaching and ask them things directly in a way that bigger lecture style events – as beneficial as they are – can’t provide. I was reminded of being in college with the relatively contained groups for each of the sessions we rotated through – it felt a bit more inviting and intimate.”
Co-president Kylee Peña added, “BCPC always working to create new opportunities for our members to grow professionally in a space that is not only welcoming, but welcoming to all kinds of people. Our community is full of individuals at different career levels with a diverse set of needs and learning styles. In order to make post production education truly inclusive, we need to keep accessibility in mind: offer learning opportunities at times when emerging talent can actually attend, and design different ways to access critical information. Sometimes that means putting on sunscreen and heading outside!”
LA’s Field Day was held in late April at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood, and New York’s Field Day happened in June in Central Park. BCPC tentatively plans to bring Life Skills Field Day to its London hub this fall. Social meet-ups happen every month in all three cities and details for each can be found on Facebook or bluecollarpostcollective.com.