Tagged: crew

Jan 27

The Power of Sending Emails

The most common way for people to find work in this industry, especially for those just breaking in, is to troll the popular job websites like realitystaff, media-match, mandy and craigslist.  These websites can be great, however,  you have to think about how many people are applying to these same positions.  With hundreds of people applying your resume can easily be lost in the shuffle.

With this thought in mind,  I decided to take a different approach to my daily job search.  I thought that if I send of my resume to companies that aren’t hiring right now, that maybe they would think of me in the future.

So I googled several production companies and started sending my cover letter and resume to them.  A few days later, I got an email response back asking me to come into their office for an interview (go me!).

The moral of this story is to break up your normal job website routine.  Try contacting companies directly to see if they are hiring, or hiring in the future.  You never know what may turn up from your efforts.

Happy job hunting!

 

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Posted in Job Hunting

Nov 21

Crew Member Spotlight

Video Assist

On film sets in order to allow multiple people to watch what is being recorded on the cameras monitors will be set up for the director, producers , DP and script supervisor.

The person that operates, controls and manages this feed and makes sure it is set up and working is called a video assist.

To get to this position, you need to start out as a production assistant.  On set make friends with the current video assist and find out how they got there.

You should learn all you can about technical side of filmmaking, for example; learn about all of the cameras, what monitors are used, how to set them up, and most importantly how to troubleshoot when a feed is lost.

 

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Posted in Career Path, Film Community

Jun 22

Ways to find your next gig

 

Lately I have been asked a lot about how I find my next gig.  From what I have seen over the years there really is no “right way” to get a job in this industry.   There are tons of stories out there of insert-big-celebrity-name-here’s brother-in-laws nephew getting a job because he is “close” to that big name celebrity.  But what about everyone else that doesn’t have the hook up from someone big?  How do they manage to break in?

Well honestly it takes a lot of work.  To break into the industry not knowing anyone is probably the toughest and most frustrating thing you will ever do.  Your best bet is to check out job lists and websites.

One of the biggest job lists is of course the UTA joblist which has all of the assistant jobs available in Hollywood.  I send it out through the film job google group so sign up to be a member to get the list. Keep in mind the the UTA joblist only has assistant jobs, not production jobs.  So if you want to work on set you will have to find jobs elsewhere.

Other job lists that are good to check out are Production Weekly and The Mercury Report.  Both of these can be found online, however, you do have to pay to receive them.  These two lists have everything that is going into production including contact information.  I have actually gotten a job by randomly emailing one of the companies, so it never hurts to just send an email.

You next best bet for job hunting if you don’t know anyone is to hit up the job websites such as realitystaff.com, media-match.com, mandy.com, craigslist.org and productionnotices.com.  These are all pretty great websites that post several job openings but keep in mind they, yes even craigslist..just really read when you apply to something.

Finally the most important place to find jobs is through networking and making friends.  Hollywood runs on who you know so networking is vitally important.  Make sure you always have your past coordinator’s emails or phone numbers because who knows what they could be working on next.   Websites like keypa.net (which is now apparently The Hollywood Ladder) hosts networking events a few times a year.  Also look into your local film commission or any other filmmaker group in your area.

How do you all find your next gigs?

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Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Job Hunting

Jan 07

Job Hunting

 

As the gig I am currently on sadly comes to an end with no second season picked up I figured it would be a great time to blog about job hunting.  I know it sucks..but as a freelancer you always have to keep looking for work.  Here are a few avenues that you can go through to find the best thing for you:

Call or email your past contacts

This is possibly the most important thing you can do.  All those people you worked on set with before are probably working on a new production now.  While you were working you should have gotten all of their contact information so put that to use and email them to see what they are up to.  DO NOT just flat out as for a job because that will usually annoy people.  Create some form of a conversation that will lead to them asking about if you are working and hopefully they will know someone that needs help.

Job Sites

There are a few job sites that are usually pretty good to check out when looking for production work.  Some are free while others charge per month to use the service.

www.mandy.com – free

www.craigslist.org – free

www.crewedup.com -free

www.realitystaff.com- free and subscription (The subscription allows you to write more in your cover letter).

www.entertainmentcareers.net – subscription

www.media-match.com – subscription

www.filmstaff.com – subscription

www.productionhub.com- free

www.varietymediacareers.com- free

www.productionweekly.com – subscription

www.mercuryreport.com- subscription

You can also check out specific production company websites, studio websites, imdb in the forums section (though it is shady sometimes) and any other place you can think of.  If anyone knows of any more websites please let me know!

Go to a networking event

This is just like calling your old contacts, however, here you are making new ones.  A lot of different film groups or societies tend to have networking parties that you can attend.  Google or ask your other friends in production and go armed with your business card.

Cold calling/ emailing companies

You can always cold call and email production companies to find if they are hiring crew or if they keep potential crew resume’s on file.

UTA job list

This as I have mentioned before is a list created by UTA of all the assistant positions in Hollywood.  This list is awesome if you are looking to be an assistant, but very bad if you are looking to actually work on set in a production.  Keep in mind thousands of people receive  this list so don’t be surprised if you never hear back when you apply for something.  If you want to receive the UTA job list email me at rachelmmarks@gmail.com

It is important to remember to not doubt yourself and give up.  There are a lot of production companies and projects filming that need a hand.  Keep at it and eventually you will land a gig.  Happy hunting!

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Posted in Being a Production Assistant, Job Hunting