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Finding
Film Industry Employment After Graduation
To Succeed, You Must Network
by Michael Corbett
Networking: n., the developing of
contacts or exchanging of information with others in an informal
network, as to further a career.
Not only do you want to be a filmmaker, but you want to work in
the big leagues. You want to be on set and work on Fortune 500
television commercials for national clients and on studio and
independent feature films. More than 90% of the people you see
on a film set are freelance. They are hired, sign a deal memo,
and work in their craft as long as they are needed. At the end
of the job, they are unemployed. To succeed in a working environment
like this you must network. You must constantly stay in touch
with other freelancers and stay abreast of what is happening in
the industry. You must always be looking for a job.
(Pictured) Guest director of photography and Emmy award winner,
Flip MInott, shoots a scene including pyrotechniques and mechanical
special effects on the PCC class project �Uriel� shot on location
at Carolina Pinnacle Studios in Yanceyville, North Carolina.
Working for an industry vendor is a great way to build your network.
Working filmmakers routinely visit and patronize industry vendors,
renting equipment, buying expendables and arranging for needed
services. By working for a lighting, grip or camera rental house,
many a filmmaker has launched a career or gotten a foothold in
a new market. Most rental houses are accustomed to a regular turnover
of employees, as experienced employees join the freelance workforce,
and newcomers take their place. Our industry is growing at an
unprecedented pace. There is no shortage of opportunities for
skilled craftsmen.
The plan: Make a plan. Take the time to plan
how you will seek employment. Over time, your plan will change
as your interests change and you discover strategies that work
better for you. The important thing to note here is as a freelancer:
you will always be working your plan.
Research and identify possible sources of work
and leads for work. State and locally funded film liaison and
production offices are paid for with your taxes. Almost every
production will require a permit to shoot or some other service
provided by the local film office. Call the film office and find
out who is working and who is coming to town.
Equipment rental houses, production companies, film laboratories,
and postproduction facilities are sources of leads for freelance
employment. Organize your time and plan to go and visit these
places. Take resumes and business cards with you. Make up a video
�reel� of productions that you have worked on. Be ready to show
it if the person you are interviewing with has the time to watch
it and is so inclined.
Go see people. Look sharp, feel sharp, and be
sharp. It doesn�t matter if you have long hair, no hair, earrings,
tattoos or anything else. What does matter is that you look professional,
neat, clean, and dressed appropriately for the job you are applying
for. Always have your business cards and resume with you. Smile
and use a firm handshake. Ask for work. Ask if they know about
any work coming up.
Visit production companies, rental houses, production
offices, the set of working productions, the film office, and
your production friends (take some beverages and some chips and
become better friends). Join and attend industry organizations.
Volunteer to be on committees or just to help with projects. Go
to networking nights and other social events. See and be seen.
Enroll in seminars and classes to enhance your skills and continue
your education. Go to industry conventions and conferences.
Make friends. Ask people to lunch, or dinner.
Most of the work you do in this industry will come to you because
an individual recommended you for a job. The more friends you
have in the film industry, the easier it will be for you to get
work. Have parties for production friends. Go to parties. Join
professional organizations and attend meetings, mixers and network
nights. If you are capable of doing a competent professional job,
and if you go and visit sources for work and make production friends,
you will succeed as a freelance production person.
Telephone. Your telephone is your most powerful
networking tool. Call people you went to school with, production
assistants, technicians, crew members from the last job you worked
on, the film office, professional friends in the industry, production
managers, production offices, rental houses, and post production
houses. Call anyone who might be able to help you find work. I
know freelancers who, when unemployed, spend their entire day
on the telephone calling network contacts. They don�t stay unemployed
very long.
Mail/fax. Send a personalized cover letter and
resume to the production company you just worked for, production
offices you learn about through industry publications, and to
production managers and production offices you discover through
your phone network. Generally speaking, you won�t often get work
by simply mailing someone a resume and cover letter. This process
is much like advertising done by Fortune 500 companies to establish
and maintain their �brand� identification with their customers.
By using the mail and fax to persistently remind producers and
production managers that you are still in the business and seeking
work, there will be a long term benefit to your career.
Read periodicals related to the industry not
only to look for work possibilities but also to increase your
overall knowledge thereby making yourself more employable. Publications
such as Variety and the Hollywood Reporter that you can find at
most big city libraries or on the Internet, routinely publish
lists of feature films �in development.� It�s a long shot, but
send them a nice cover letter and resume. Getting on one eleven-week
shoot at standard industry pay rates is worth a few hours a month
of mailing out letters.
Persist, persist, and persist. If you make a
plan and follow it, you will succeed. Keep calling people. Keep
going to visit employment contacts. Keep sending out resumes and
cover letters. Keep attending professional organization meetings,
networking nights and other special events. Keep taking classes
to improve your craft, your business skills and your human relations
skills.
You are only as good as your last job. The single
most important thing that you can do to get more work in the industry
is to do a good job on the show you are on right now. Keep your
mouth closed, your ears open and pay attention. Work hard, don�t
complain and thank the person who hired you. Several key advances
in my career came as a direct result of sending thank-you letters
to production managers and producers that I had recently worked
for.
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