Founding Filmmaker / Creator

Ponder; New York (NY); On-site; USD 85,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Lunch provided

Founding-team equity

Job summary

Ponder is hiring its first filmmaker to join co-founders Tim and Tim in Flatiron, Manhattan. You will craft videos across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X and LinkedIn, handling concept, script, shoot, edit, motion graphics, thumbnail, posting and performance review.

Expect to ship two videos weekly, plus tutorials and at least one longer video per month. You’ll have a budget to hire freelancers and gear, and you’ll work closely with the founders on creative direction and storytelling.

Qualifications

• You are a storyteller with a strong portfolio.
• You consider yourself a filmmaker and post your work.
• You’re good at hooks and understand what goes viral.
• Each platform requires a tailored approach to storytelling.
• You can handle a Sony FX3 on your own.

Responsibilities

• You own the idea through final edit, including scripting, shooting, editing, motion graphics, thumbnails and posting.
• Produce at least two videos weekly for Instagram and YouTube, plus one longer video monthly.
• Create short tutorials showing how to use Ponder.
• Provide BTS content and direct the team in videos.

Skills

Storytelling

Filmmaking

Hooks

On-set directing

Cinematic editing

Tech savvy

Tools

Sony FX3

Video editing software

Job description

Hi, Timothy here, co-founder of Ponder. Ponder helps creators, filmmakers and marketers turn video ideas into finished videos as fast as possible. It's built for people who make videos for a living, and it works with all the major NLEs: Premiere, DaVinci, Final Cut and CapCut.

We're hiring our first filmmaker.

The job

My co-founder Tim and I know how to make videos, but we stopped having the time once we became startup founders, so we're looking for someone to make them with us.

We want Ponder to be the coolest startup in the world. The way we get there is videos so good that editors, YouTubers, filmmakers and creators follow us just for the work.

You'd make videos for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X and LinkedIn, short and long. You'd be on every part of it: the idea, the script, the shoot, the edit, motion graphics, the thumbnail, posting it, and checking how it did after. There's no content team yet, so you'd be the first. You'd work right next to Tim and me, with a budget to hire freelancers and rent gear.

What you'll make

We expect you to put your craft and filmmaking chops into everything you make. It should feel intentional and cinematic, and still be engaging and made for social.

• At least two videos a week on Instagram. We ship really fast, and every launch gets its own video.
• Short tutorials that show people how to use Ponder.
• At least one longer video a month.
• BTS of the team. You'd direct us and be in the videos too.

Three months in

• Videos go out on a regular schedule, and people outside our own audience are sharing them.
• People know who's behind Ponder and follow us because they like the work.
• There's a full calendar of what's coming, and we go over the numbers every week.

Who we're looking for

We care way more about what you've made than how many years you've been doing it.

• You're a storyteller, and you've got a big portfolio to show for it. At least three of your videos have passed 50K views, on any platform.
• You'd call yourself a filmmaker, but you also post about your work.
• You're really good at hooks, and you have a feel for what goes viral.
• Each platform makes sense to you. You know why a short film gets cut differently from a Reel.
• You can pick up a small cinema camera like a Sony FX3 and run it on your own.
• You can do the whole thing start to finish: shoot, direct, edit, color grade, motion graphics, sound. You know your editing software in and out.
• You're super technical, but you're creative too.
• You're comfortable on set. You can direct two founders, and you'll get on camera yourself when the idea calls for it.
• You're into tech. You've got opinions on when AI tools help and when they just make slop, and you'll use Ponder for your own edits.

We also want someone we really enjoy being around. You're chill, you're good with people, and you can get anyone talking, me included.

Nice to have

• You have your own channel and post on it regularly.
• You've run a series or a podcast.

Details

• Full time, in person at our office in Flatiron, Manhattan.
• $85K–$160K base depending on experience, plus founding-team equity.
• Medical, dental and vision, plus lunch.
• A gear and production budget.

About Ponder

Ponder is your assistant video editor.

There are a lot of AI video tools now, and most of what comes out of them is slop. We want Ponder to be the one people with taste use.

Who we are

Tim Tan and I were filmmakers and creators before we became founders. I went to NYU film school and started a production company at 19. By 22 I'd built and sold a virtual production studio, then went to NYU ITP to work on AI for creative tools. Tim studied computer science at Georgia Tech and was the most popular college vlogger on YouTube while he was there. He turned down Amazon to work at YC startups.

The rest of the team is engineers from Vercel, Amazon and YC startups, an exited founder, a designer and a filmmaker, all in one office in Flatiron. Everyone here makes cool things.