This being one of my first posts, I wanted to start the conversation off by talking a little bit about my personal experience. I went to one of the most competitive film schools in the country at Temple University and upon graduating in the Spring of ‘08, I realized that despite being taught the art of “guerilla” filmmaking and being able to do just about anything there is to do in pre-production, on set, or in post; I also had no idea how to convince people to pay me to do these things.
I was taught how to do the job, not necessarily how to get it and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to blog about my job search and or work experience so that some other recent film grads may be able to pull from me and who knows, maybe even get something out of it.
After film school, I admit that I was totally spoiled by the Philadelphia Film Office where I was able to hook up with Cinevore Studios (www.cinevore.com) and got some work as a PA and grip for them and similar work for other productions. Then I decided to move to Austin, TX with my special lady friend as she gets her Masters at UT. This was a bad move. Despite the fact that Austin talks itself up about “being the place to be” to make movies as one producer put it, it isn’t.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the new Texas Film Commission’s tax rules may end up bringing more work to Austin, but if “Waco” is any indication, it won’t.
I’m still not really sure what the Austin Film Society really does (their equivalent of the Philadelphia Film Office) other than offer screening space for members (valuable if they like your movie) and networking opportunities … for the right price. I’m sorry but I’m not going to spend $50 to go to 3-5 “networking” meetings per year. Ridiculous. Call me crazy or elitist or whatever you want, but I’d rather AFS take a more avid role in getting Austin filmmakers work (since now they don’t really do anything) IF they truly are vested in bringing more production to Austin but hey, maybe that’s just me.
Back to point. I had no idea how to get any film related jobs when I got here. I moved without my network of classmates and professional contacts and on several interviews (weird the first time, just bizarre on the second) the production co. rep thought Temple University was a small college in Temple Texas. But, i finally started getting some hits after a few months of just relentlessly sending out my resume and reel and just like everybody else, find myself working for free. But, this is actually a good thing.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to be making beau-coup bucks, but that’s never going to happen coming right out of school. You’re going to have to work for free as an “intern” for some length of time as you build up your professional contacts and network.
During this time, I’ve also gotten paying gigs so it’s not a total financial loss, just not much out here. I’ve actually gotten offers to fly back home to Philadelphia for paid work which, hopefully, works out and I’ll get the chance to prove my skills and my self some more. But if I could offer any budding filmmaker any advice at all, it’s stay aggressive. Keep updating and sending that resume and reel. Only keep the best of the best and make it look good, just don’t stop trying no matter how bleak it looks out there.
