Adrian Nita: Freelancer of the Month
Adrian Nita is a freelance colourist based in London who discovered colour grading in 2015. He built his experience by working on a large spectrum of projects, from short films to music videos and big commercials. He has worked with clients like BMW, Bulgari, Telekom, British American Tobacco, Universal Music, Hoka, EyebuyDIrect, Wirex, Neve and the list goes on.
Finding Your Path
Deciding on what route you want to take in your career is a tough one for many, especially if you embark on a career in the creative sector, as there are so many avenues to choose from! Adrian, however, used his creative spark to find his niche early on. He used to shoot photography in the beginning and really enjoyed the editing process. At the same time, he was learning to shoot videos and found out about colour grading shortly after that. He soon realised that this was the area he felt he could achieve great things, and Adrian the Colourist was born.
Once you’ve chosen your career path, it’s important to learn and develop as much as possible. Adrian told us how YouTube and other online platforms where you can find colour grading tutorials and courses really helped him in those early stages of his career. Also, a great deal of testing and trying things by himself really pushed his skills forward.
From the First Job to the First Commercial Project
It’s always tough to get that first gig, and at times can feel disheartening if you get a number of rejections. However, we all have to start somewhere, and Adrian is no different. Adrian’s first big gig was a music video from Telecom, he got it through a friend of his who is a camera operator and director of photography.
Adrian has some very well-known names on his CV, and we wanted to know if he had found any advantages to working on big commercial projects. Adrian explained that he feels on these bigger projects everything usually feels more professional. From pre-production until the final delivery. The second thing is that these kinds of projects are a booster for your portfolio and usually they bring more opportunities.
Client: Eyebuydirect, click here to see the video, graded by Adrian Nita in 2022.
The Biggest Challenge
As a freelancer, you face many different projects, with many different workflows, some more challenging than others. We wanted to know what has been Adrian’s most challenging project, and how he found solutions to still make it a success. Adrian said he doesn’t have one in particular, but has found that the projects with little budget face the most challenges. Adrian feels his job is to try and bring value to the production and bring the project up by working with what he has. Adrian explained that finding solutions is a combination between experience and creativity. Also, watching other’s work and being inspired by it can help too.
A Piece of Advice
This year, we decided to support freelancers who are new to the industry by creating Rising Talent programme. The programme will nurture talent and guide them through professional practise in their desired role. We asked Adrian what would be his advice for a rising talent.
Adrian’s advice was to be a professional from the start, in all aspects, not just the job itself, which is a must, of course. He explained that being a freelancer is a small business, so you need to be mindful of how you are presenting yourself. Once you learn how to be professional, you can distance yourself from the other 99%. Also, Adrian’s extra nugget of advice is to be willing to help more than the client expects. It’s not only about you, is about the project and the client first.
In the program mentioned before, we offer our Rising Talent a 1:1 mentor. We were wondering if Adrian had somebody like that on his journey into the industry. Whilst Adrian doesn’t currently have a mentor for colour grading, he would still want to have one, even this far in his career. This says a lot about how support can inspire you and help you evolve, no matter what stage you are at. Adrian did have a mentor in photography, and his advice is that if you can find someone who is kin to teach you, go for it. Everything you can learn by yourself in 5 years, he or she might be able to teach you in 1 year. It speeds up the process, and that’s very important in this fast-paced industry.
Client: Bulgari, click here to see the video, graded by Adrian Nita in 2021.
Healthy Freelancer Workflow
Making the most of your free time as a freelancer is so important for your mental health, and we always encourage freelancers to try and take a break from their work to reflect, and enjoy their spare time. We asked Adrian what his free time is spent on, and he told us that it is spent training or doing something fun with his brother. At TCC we really think that exercise and seeing family and friends are great to prioritise, and certainly helps to get a better at work.
We wanted to know what Adrian’s typical working day looks like as a Colourist, and he was kind enough to give us some insight – he said a Adrian’s typical day for him is starting with a strong black coffee and answering emails. After that is either gym first, or if he has an urgent project, he will be grading it and then going to the gym in the evening. Adrian explained that 80% of his day is about the actual colour grading, and he is trying to find time for other things, training being an important one.
Looking to the Future
No matter how far you are into your career, it’s always great to have goals and dreams to aspire to. We were keen to find out Adrian’s dreams, and he was kind enough to open up to us and tell us that his biggest dream is to colour grade a movie or TV show from the Lord of the rings franchise! As his agency, we will certainly do everything in our power to help him achieve this dream, and we wish him the best of luck!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us Adrian, and for sharing stories and advice from your career so far. You are a fantastic addition to the TCC books, and we can’t wait to book you with more of our clients, and help you get some interesting and career deepening jobs!
Check out Adrian’s showreel on our website, and follow him on Instagram.