Daley Baker is an administrator for our development team. He is in charge of purchasing, tracking, and ETAs for Integration, Engineering and IT, as well as coordinating the manufacturing of the Cameo product line. Daley's been with AbelCine for a little under a year, but his experience in the industry started long before he joined us.
AbelCine: Tell us a bit about your personal experiences in the industry?
Daley Baker: I’ve worked in several facets of production—from production assistant, to ADing, to grip and electric—on anything from micro-budget films to major TV productions. Initially, I started out working as a PA/day-player in New York after college. I didn’t actually go to film school, so I figured diving into on-set experience was the best way to learn the industry. I worked on a few small indie features, shorts, and commercials, and ended up working on the show Person of Interest for a while. I found being a PA to be kind of terrible, but it really did allow me to meet people, figure out what I wanted to do, and eventually find gigs ADing and doing Grip and Electric for a handful of commercials and indies.
What was your most intense on-set experience?
I once had to do a set lock-up, telling pedestrians they can’t walk onto set, in front of Grand Central Station during rush-hour. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy or fun. I had numerous people yell at me, and one guy even tried to physically threaten me. It was a difficult situation, but I found myself performing mini-pitches of the project to try and put people at ease. As we all know, New Yorkers don’t like anything preventing them from getting to where they need to go, but I think showing people that we were passionate about what we were doing allowed them to give me the benefit of the doubt.
What do you think is the most important trend in media today?
With the amount of content people are inundated with 24/7, I think it's inevitable that content will become shorter and shorter. Storytellers are now forced to convey messages as economically as possible. In the future, I could even see premium subscription services, like HBO and Netflix, providing high-end productions that are only five minutes in length.
What's your best advice for creatives in any discipline?
It's important to never stop asking questions. I'm a huge proponent of continually striving for growth, not only as an artist but as a human being; if we believe we have all the information, we grow complacent. There's also an exciting energy that comes from having learned a new perspective that you can apply to your work or life. So, I'd say just keep learning and growing from everything. Whether it's the good or the bad, try to commit to experiencing or understanding all aspects of that thing. If you turn yourself off to ideas that don't compliment your own, there's nothing to be gained.
This interview has been slightly edited and condensed.
