We catch up with the senior videographer at Skyline Creative to hear how he managed a transition from film school to full-time work, and how his career has progressed with one of Sydney’s best creative agencies.
Christian McGuiness was set on a photography career. He was shooting live music, running his own business specialising in portraits, and working on regular freelance projects. At 26 he decided he wanted to move into video, so he bit the bullet and went back to film school.
It ended up being an excellent decision. Two years ago, after applying on Scout, McGuiness landed a role at Sydney marketing agency Skyline Creative. Now, he’s worked his way up to senior videographer. We caught up with McGuiness and Skyline’s creative director, Clayton Idato, to learn how the pair work together on industry-leading projects.
Scout: It was nearly two years ago now, but can you remember what the interview was like?
Christian: I was terrified! It was the first job interview I’d gone for in about five years. I’d been freelancing for ages and had just come out of film school, so it was nerve-racking for me, but I was confident in my abilities.
Could you tell he was nervous, Clayton?
Clayton: I remember it being super comfortable and easy. My interview style is personality first – you can always train for technical things. I was confident in his work and creativity based on his showreel and application. We clicked, he made a few jokes, and I realised he was confident and a good fit for the role.
Stability in any creative role is pretty hard to find. Did you feel secure here when you started?
Christian: I settled in very quickly. The team here is incredible. It’s become more of a family; we’re all so close that it never felt difficult while I was settling in. People made me feel really welcome, and I’m grateful for that.
Could you talk us through a typical day, if there is one?
Christian: I don’t generally have a typical day, which is really good for me. I’ve always struggled in monotonous environments and can’t really focus. On any given day, I would be travelling to shoots, filming properties and doing high-end marketing for property listings. More recently, I’ve taken on this head of video role, which means I work with the editors and freelance shooters to update processes and work through being more efficient. On a less common day, we get to work on some bigger projects – I might take on creative control for projects with some international clients.
Why did you decide on Scout for the videographer role?
Clayton: It’s awesome; it’s been my first preference since 2016. We were trying some of the more traditional sites, but they were time-consuming because they cast the net too wide.
We do a lot of freelancing for creative roles as well. There seems to be a correlation between the people we bring on board and the people who follow Scout and Broadsheet – they’re a little bit closer to our tribe and a step closer to the people we want to attract. From a service point of view, all the account managers we’ve had have been super accommodating and personalise everything, so we love that too.
What’s the most rewarding thing about working here?
Christian: I think the creative flexibility and the recognition of hard work. I love being given the confidence to take on bigger projects. That’s a key thing for me – the support from the whole team to take on bigger projects and put my own vision into them.
Clayton: Collaboration and seeing people evolve and change. Bringing their life experience into creativity and ideas, and watching that change over time while they’re here. It’s always so rewarding to watch that unfold on a project.
