Reed Freeman - A Profile of an Ithaca College Student's Passion for Media Creation

*Photo courtesy of Reed Freeman*

Showing a deep interest for media production, Reed Freeman was not always set on being a media creator. A freshman at Ithaca College, Freeman actually wanted to be an architect until his first year in high school, where he developed an interest in creating digital content.

However, while attending a high school that focused on a STEM curriculum, “there were no video production classes, journalism classes or anything like that. What I did, my sophomore year, I worked in journalism classes and I worked with a teacher to develop a journalism department,” stated Freeman. “I kind of had to make more opportunities at my school myself.” Now, after helping to make a stronger journalism program at his high school, Freeman expresses a strong interest in non-fiction work, such as documentaries. While he does work on some fictional pieces, his main focus is on real stories.

“What I really love is non-fiction. I love documentaries...I just feel like fictional pieces are just entertaining, and the real world is just much more exciting and interesting,” said Freeman. “That’s why I’m doing documentary [studies] as my major now.” Freeman is also minoring in integrated marketing communications at Ithaca College. With this, he can also work on other aspects of media, such as production, managing social media pages and analytics. To portray his content, Reed has also made his own website. Apart from showing his work, Freeman offers his services to potential clients as well, from photography to video pieces, including fictional pieces. “You have to provide our services for free when you're first getting started,” Freeman said. That is exactly what Freeman did when he began working with clients. He states that after building a portfolio and gaining more experience, companies started reaching out to him and paying him for his services and skills. One thing that does pose somewhat of a concern is Freeman’s following on his social media, such as Instagram. He noted that he can do better with trying to reach out to more people, but his following is not his main priority. “I try not to think a lot about my following on Instagram,” Freeman said. “Instead of having just my personal account to show for my work, rather than doing that, working on other clients like ICTV through social media, the better it shows my skills [sic]." Reed continues to create videos at Ithaca College, working on his own assignments to managing social media for ICTV. Anyone interested in his work can click the link below:

www.reedfreemanmedia.com