A Career at the Crossroads of Film & Music
TMC Impact Story: Abby Donaldson
When Abby Donaldson arrived at The Music Company, she was standing at a familiar but fragile point in many creative careers: she knew what she wanted to do, but she didn’t yet know if there was a sustainable way to do it professionally.
Abby had just graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in film, after originally beginning her studies as a music major. At the same time, she was an active musician, playing lead guitar in a band she formed in 2022. Music and visual storytelling had always been intertwined for her, but until then, her work lived mostly in student projects, house shows, and passion-driven experimentation.
“I remember the first time I filmed a video for a house show,” Abby said. “I had already been on stage as a musician, but that night I was in the crowd with a camera and I fell in love with it.”
That moment quietly shifted her trajectory. Abby began showing up wherever her friends’ bands needed someone with a camera, learning by doing and immersing herself in San Diego’s local music scene. By the time she graduated in summer 2023, she knew she wanted to turn her passion for music and videography into a career – but she wasn’t sure how to take the next step. “I had no idea what to do next,” she said. “But I knew I wanted to do this for a living.”
The challenge wasn’t talent or motivation. It was access, and confidence.
Abby had first heard of The Music Company years earlier through a friend who had interned there. When she connected with TMC, she quickly realized this wasn’t a traditional entry-level role. “My biggest barrier was fear,” Abby said. “I was afraid I wasn’t ready. That I wasn’t good enough yet.”
TMC wasn’t offering a protected learning environment or a narrowly defined internship. It needed someone willing to step into real responsibility: directing, filming, and editing professional productions independently inside a working music organization. For Abby, the jump from collaborative school projects into a professional environment was intimidating, but it was also exactly the opportunity she had been looking for.
At TMC, Abby entered a real-world career pathway.
Over her time with TMC, she directed, filmed, and edited 32 Beach Break Sessions – TMC’s live, in-studio sessions that capture a “Tiny Desk Concert”-style experience for San Diego musicians. Through this work, Abby collaborated with artists across genres and career stages. Each session came with real expectations, real deadlines, and real consequences – experience that is often inaccessible without industry connections or financial privilege.
“TMC held me to a professional standard while also supporting my growth,” Abby said. “Having real responsibility, plus constructive feedback from the team and management, helped me build confidence and get better with every project.” That combination of accountability and feedback became a growth engine. Abby wasn’t just building technical skills – she was learning how to plan shoots independently, manage professional equipment, collaborate with artists, and deliver finished work that met industry standards.
In parallel, Abby contributed to much of TMC’s content creation across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Her work helped grow TMC’s Instagram presence to more than 90,000 followers, significantly expanding the reach of the artists featured and increasing visibility for San Diego’s music community.
The impact moved in both directions. Artists gained professional-quality live performance content – often their first – that helped them be discovered, booked, and taken seriously. Abby built a portfolio grounded in real production experience and continuous feedback from artists and professionals. “One of the biggest things I learned was how to collaborate with other people,” she said. “Understanding their vision and helping bring it to life. Seeing the finished product, and how excited they were – that mattered a lot.”
There were also clear moments that marked Abby’s growing professional confidence. One Beach Break Session she filmed – The Gravities – was nominated for a San Diego Music Award. “That gave me confidence that my work must be good,” she said. Through repeated responsibility and real-world feedback, Abby’s capabilities shifted fundamentally. “With all the experience I got at TMC, I’m completely different now,” she said. “I feel totally confident going into projects on my own – filming, editing, handling everything.”
Today, Abby works full-time in a technical AV role while continuing to take on independent creative projects, including live concert filming, album artwork, and music videos.
“TMC is a music community space,” she said, “that allows you to collaborate, to grow, to create – to come in with any idea. There’s a team of people who help you achieve your goal. It’s a safe space, and it’s built to help people like me.”
Abby’s story reflects the core of TMC’s mission. Building a sustainable music industry isn’t only about supporting artists on stage. It also means creating pathways for the videographers, producers, engineers, and creatives working behind the scenes – people whose careers are essential to a healthy creative economy.
The Music Company didn’t just help Abby build a portfolio. It helped her build a career pathway.
And that’s how music becomes a career.
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