Starting off

Quit dreaming bro, I was in your state a year ago... lemme give you a run down of what might come:

Excitment - You can picture a whole film of your own front to back in your head, script memorized, you wanna get into the business and be an active member in this community. Gotta do this!

Dream come true - yes, you got a camera, yes! you landed a gig... not high paying, but wow Im shooting something thats gonna go somewhere on TV or DVD. A reality series, thats where the beginners go!

Hmm, slight doubt - Youre kinda realizing youve been shooting for morons with money to spend on reality series that will not even make it to digitizing. But no worries, this is the darkest before dawn

Jackpot - Alright! someone wants you to DP for their short film... it was a fun experience, met great people...and then its over

Yawn - so.... still no work... people call you up and you end it finding out its either fat people porn or high heeled shoe bondage videos. How desperate are you? The eternal wait of that big break continues....

Tada! Good luck bro
 
Wow dude are you kidding me? :undecided :thumbdown

It all depends on how good, and how well your social skills are.
 
Dizkoteck said:
Quit dreaming bro, I was in your state a year ago... lemme give you a run down of what might come:
Click to expand...

One year is nothing in this business. If you're already this cynical after a year imagine how you'll be in 5, or 10. I am a strong believer that it takes a solid 5-10 years of learning, experience and persistence to have a satisfying, well-paying job in this business.

99% of people who establish themselves in film have worked for those low-budget, dishonest, shady individuals that we have to call clients. It's just part of the business. This is the weed-out course. The serious individuals are the ones who get beyond this.

Believe me, when you get beyond this BS into the real legitimate film business, it's a whole other ballgame. In my early freelancing days I had way too many people bounce checks or simply refuse to pay me or my vendors. That just doesn't happen to me now. People at the top, legitimate professionals, guard their reputation very seriously.
 
Well said natob2 :thumbsup:

It may take much less years also...it depends really on the timing and your ability to know when to be asertive and when to be passive.
 
Well you know, people have their ups and downs in this business.

But bro, just dont make this into your ONLY business, I know you love it but for the time being, think about how you'll pay off those student loans when you get outta school... or you'll spend the next couple of years eating Ramen noodles and waiting til its 7 o clock when the bakery downstairs sell their 3 breads for a dollar special. So just make sure you got an escape plan and study something else. I wish I did

Okay and to be positive, get out more! You'll never meet the people you need to meet staying home. One morning for a cup of coffee, I met Wong Kar Wai who visits chinatown a lot and met some guy named Doug whos shooting for a series. So tada, some good some bad...mostly bad happens, but some good...but mostly bad happens.
 
If you have no experience, chances are you are only qualified to be a Production Assistant or an Office Assistant. Even getting a PA job on big productions is pretty competitive, you have to have an "in" basically or intern at first.

People used to shotgun-fax their resumes to all the productions that are listed in the back of the Hollywood Reporter or shotgun-fax all the production companies in the LA 411. I have friends who sent out 250 resumes in two days and got no responses, but have friends who got their jobs that way.

Haven't really used Craigslist or mandy in a long time, used to be the ones that were printed on Mandy were on Craigslist too, but craigslist updated quicker. And the faster you respond, the better the chance you have.

Worked on a production with an office intern who went around handing his resume to offices in the old MGM complex on Colorado - the production manager just happened to need someone the day he stopped by. He got hired on the spot.

If you decide to go that route, here are a few things I learned from being a Set PA in L.A.:

• Don't work for productions with titles that use a "z" instead of an "s" (i.e. Girlz instead of Girls).
• If you can swing it, be an office PA - so much better.
• If the electrics/grips puke after eating the catering, 1) don't eat the food and 2) run away. (sometimes it can be good to eat nearly last).
• Never, ever complain about your job, no matter how tempting it is. Stay away from those who like to complain constantly whenever possible, their life sucks and they are looking for someone to go down with them. If you have to vent, complain to a trusted friend in private, not in public, and never on set. Having a good, positive attitude and keeping your cool will go a long way.
• Be friendly with the other PA's - they are way more likely to get you gigs in the future than any other person on set.
• Only sit for meals, and always bust your ass. If you sit around, people think you aren't working, and you'll be less likely to work with them again. If you are bored, pick up trash or clean - any decent sized production has enough slobs to keep you busy constantly. DO NOT camp at the crafty table.
• Don't stand around in doorways or commonly used walkways.
• If you f--k up, fess up - right away.
• Be responsive on the radios, but don't do any mindless chit-chat or joking around - people can get the wrong idea sometimes. Some P.A.'s have made a career out of staying in the production truck and responding to every single request on the radio while doing absolutely nothing, such is the power of the radio. I wouldn't recommend this because this is pretty poor work ethic and the other P.A.'s will despise you. (see above)
• And most importantly, find another job - as quickly as possible. You'll get burnt out very easily working as a set PA constantly. Offer to help out the department you want to work in the most. So if you want to work in sound, make friends with the sound guys, volunteer as a boom operator or cable runner for them on other sets, or for others.


Good luck.
 
Dizkoteck said:
But bro, just dont make this into your ONLY business, I know you love it but for the time being, think about how you'll pay off those student loans when you get outta school... or you'll spend the next couple of years eating Ramen noodles and waiting til its 7 o clock when the bakery downstairs sell their 3 breads for a dollar special. So just make sure you got an escape plan and study something else. I wish I did
Click to expand...

Actually, for myself …I’ve decided to leave a potential MIS Degree from UMASS Boston just to study Directing and Acting. Even when I was told that I don't need film school at all, However, I still know that it's just good discipline to first study it for self knowledge and better your creative mind.

As far as student loans go...you got to place that first, and when I mean first I mean pay them off, then play. Even if that means finding another job totally unrelated.

The sooner you pay them off the more powerful you’ll be.

Thanks for your advice :beer:

By the way what film school did you attend?
 
As for any job listing in a magazine, online, or another listing service...most of these are to fulfill equal opportunity quotas. These jobs are often already given away to the owner's kid's friend, or someone internally or some other connection. I bet 95% of these jobs listed in the entertainment business are already filled, but by law, they have to list them as open. I have met people who have told me they were about to get promoted and their boss called them in to say "Just want to let you know that you got the job, but we have to list it anyways..."

In short, don't depend on these. Find a way to be unique other than sending out 250 resumes and a cover letter.
 
If you can find a job as a PA, that is great. Work on as many projects as possible. While your working on other peoples projects you might be able to find people to help you out on your stuff. You need to have a few good shorts to compile a reel. Just don't try to recruit people to work on your film while your working on someone elses time. Nobody wants to hear about that while there trying to work. Whatever you do don't go around and pass out your script for a feature you want to do. This sounds silly, but I have seen people do this. On on feature where I was a PA, I saw this dude who was in the feature, walk up to the director and hand him like a 400 page script. He just stood there like he was going to read it on the spot. Just keep up the dream man, and don't give up.
 
Hmmm. If I were starting off, I'd read a lot of books on directing, I'd study films (watching with the sound off really helps to understand how a film is cut) and most of all, I'd make movies. We live in a time where you can take a $400 camcorder and shoot a film, and edit it on your home computer. You never learn as much as you do when making a film. You can learn all of the technical details later, learn about directing if that's what you want to do. Study a lot, and never stop making films.
 
when i moved to los angeles 8 years ago, i wanted to be a filmmaker. i took a job as a runner for a small company with 4 producers and about 20 editors on staff that specialized in motion picture advertising -- trailers and tv spots. in three years i worked my way up from machine room operator, to asst editor, to editor in a company that had grown to house 75 staff editors. now, i'm a freelance editor making great money which affords me the freedom to take time off whenever i need it to pursue the writing/directing/producing of my own feature films.
 
go make a film, there's your school, hire yourself as director/writer, there's your job, pay for it by building utility trailers and selling them (learn to weld) there's your financing, it's e a s y . and your next production will go easier then the next one you'll be able to sleep the night before a shoot anf the next one someone else will finance and you have arrived yee hawww go get your hands dirty
 
i couldnt agree more with latenitemike. to steal from nike: just do it. then do it again. then again. just dont stop. eventually someone will notice you and your films.
 
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