Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to William Baker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

William, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I really hoped one day to create content on social media that taught people filmmaking. For the longest time, I saw making content on social media as not being a practical way to make money. I did freelance to pay the bills. Editing weddings every week. I was very unhappy with that job, and although it seemed like a way to build up a nest egg of money, I always worked more and got paid less than I expected. Eventually, the day came where I wanted to do something I cared about in my free time, so I began making TikToks, and half way into my 30 shots in 30 days series on TikTok, it became clear that I couldn’t do both freelance and the series. So, without much money in my accounts, I took a step back to finish the series strong, and only a few videos in, a lighting company, amaran, reached out and wanted to pay me to make videos for them. Shortly after, I quit that wedding editing job, and by early next year I was a full time content creator.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have an Instagram account, TikTok account, and YouTube Channel, with a combined total of about 700k followers. I started getting into filmmaking around 8 years ago. I just did it with friends and with whatever gear I had collected over the years. The short films started out pretty bad, but gradually got better, and soon we were making some pretty good stuff on a tiny budget. I felt like I had valuable information to share on how we do filmmaking at this ‘zero budget’ level. The content I make currently centers more around cinematography, more specifically lighting, but videos can range a bit. Recently, we made a YouTube video recreating the nuclear FX from Oppenheimer without using CGI, just like Nolan! That’s probably the video I’m most proud of right now! My main goal with the content I make is to encourage those without tons of resources to make films. It can be really discouraging to see films with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars behind it, and you only have a couple hundred.

How did you build your audience on social media?

It began with a 30 shots in 30 days series. This series is still one of the most viewed things I’ve done. At the time, TikTok was not a place for high quality, polished content. My videos were also longer than the average, and I talked about some technical film related things. I thought this would hurt the performance of these videos, but I believe it’s what set me apart! TikTok is heavily saturated, so creating something that sets you apart from everyone else is important. Do something unique to you, not just what everyone else is doing.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

My parents didn’t understand my desire to make content and not just make a decent income. I barely had enough to live on each month. I was inclined to listen to my parents and to those around me who suggested I find a more normal job. However, doing that just ate away at me. Some people aren’t made for that, and doing something traditional will eat away at them, day by day.

For creatives, we need a creative outlet to be OK. Maybe that’s just as a hobby in our free time, but the ideal is always to make it our careers. It may not seem practical, but practicality is not why we create. A common saying is that we make films cause we have stories we need to tell. It feels more like a calling than a choice.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @william.h.baker
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAYsy_6_VBLiXkTGYIO2pdg