309 Productions is a multimedia company specializing in photo and video services. The company is owned and operated by Emerson alumna Lauren Foley ’13 and employs several other alumni, including Shannon Norton ’13 and Max Collins ’13.
309 is interested in connecting its current Emerson talent with potential interns to provide hands-on learning experiences steeped in photography, videography, and editing. We recently spoke with Lauren to learn more about her company and the opportunity she hopes to provide.
How would you describe 309 Productions to someone unfamiliar with your work?
Lauren: “I started the company when I was at Emerson and then slowly kind of built it up. I had worked during my time in the LA program for a production company out there, made connections, and then ended up working in Boston for the Red Sox. I worked over there part-time for four years and then did my photo and video work on the side, building the company up through my network of friends from school and people that I had worked with. We’re a young group made up of young professionals that are just starting to really be established.
Generally we do it all. We do a lot of weddings, which can be a great way for students to learn video or photo skills. We shoot more cinematic weddings, so I think if you’re a film student you can be creative with the wedding videos. We shoot them on really awesome cinema cameras.
We’re creative and excited and we don’t just go into it like it’s a job. It’s our passion. It’s creative and it’s what we like to do.”
Lauren encourages students to check out 309 Productions’ website for examples of their work.
How would you describe the culture of working at 309 Productions?
Lauren: “We’re a fun and young group. We’re not super intense and we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
We’re a business and want to produce a good product. A lot of us went to school together and we have some history which is cool. I expect the students we bring on to build relationships and make connections with us. I genuinely would like to continue the friendship with them as long as it goes well.”
What are some of the roles or opportunities you have open to students?
Lauren: “The student we bring on will be able to shadow us on all the shoots that we have planned for this Summer as well as other things that come up during the week. Some editing work will come up, but overall the position is more of a mentorship.
I can’t say how much work I’ll be able to give our intern during weekdays, but they can certainly join us for all of the weddings we have planned. Things are slowly starting to pick up so they can literally be my shadow.”
What sort of skills or skill sets do you look for in applicants?
Lauren: “Since we do both photo and video… to have either a concentration on one or the other is ideal. Or a specific favoritism towards one is fine. I think a lot of students are more video-oriented, which is good but we’re open to having both skills, which is even better.
Generally we look for applicants who have experience with cameras. I don’t want to start from square one, but we expect our applicants to still be new to this world.
Applicants have to want to be interested in shooting weddings because that’s a way that I’m going to show them how to do certain things, so it’s a guaranteed opportunity this Summer because we have a lot of them happening. There’s definitely going to be other things that are going on, but having an interest in learning weddings or just videography via weddings is huge.”
