#2 Hunter Gatherer: The Life of an Archive Producer

For many of us we like to think that our days of hunting down hard to find research ended when we graduated from University or College. Well, what happens when you take those research skillsets honed during all-nighters of writing essay papers and combine them with the skills learned working the games tables at Toronto’s CN? You may just end up with a career as an archive researcher and producer working on a variety of TV documentaries. In my interview with Michael Chong he talks about how he found his way into TV after studying journalism at Ryerson University (TMU) and that approaching the work from the mindset of a Gen Xer has helped him as he has feet in both the analog and digital worlds.

While work for journalists today may not be as plentiful, Mike can apply many of the same skills to his work in TV. His philosophy as he puts it is to have “Fuzzy Vision” and it is one that he shares with younger people starting out on their own careers. From that he means to look beyond the obvious especially as it applies to one’s career. That while many starting out in TV want to work as a writer or director there are many excellent career paths that one can follow and often only a little research, or a conversation with a veteran, can help one unlock those possibilities.

For more on my interview with Michael Chong listen to the podcast.