The Job Search Begins

I was hoping I would get to update this blog more often. But the job search is going even slower than my updating.

I've been scouring through Craigslist hoping to find a job, even an unpaid gig, just for the experience. Most of the listings are looking for experienced editors, DPs, producers with finances. Like I said in my last post, people like me who are trying to "make it" aren't going to hire someone with no experience. How can they make a good film if a bunch of unexperienced college graduates are working on it? It's a bit of a Catch 22. You need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience.

One of the paths into the industry I've learned of is being an assistant to a talent agent. After you've proven your worth, perhaps the agent will read your script. You'll build relationships with their important clients. But don't be fooled by the term "assistant." Apparently, it's no easy task. Whether a personal assistant, office assistant, or executive assistant, you need at least a year of experience as an assistant. Again, a Catch 22. Can I put "being a good son" on my resume? That's over 20 years of experience right there.

Now and then, a new listing would be posted that made my eyes glow. A production company looking for a production assistant that recognized it's no glorious role but it will get your foot in the door. Part time gigs that will teach you the business behind film and television. Paid internships, which are hard to come by.

I applied for several of these jobs. I received one response: a volunteer gig for a reality TV conference. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I even applied for a non-entertaiment-related part time admin assistant job with an after-school youth program. Even such an honorable company did not have the decency to reply. Such is the state of my job search. I would have assumed there would at least be more listings recruiting PAs for indie and student films, but they are few and far between.

I started to consider other temporary gigs, perhaps as a full time administrative assistant. But, as I've been reading more blogs (looking to better mine), I found The Anonymous Production Assistant, a very helpful resource from a PA. One post about networking says:

Now, I’m surrounded by people who won’t settle for second best, who aren’t satisfied with simply getting by, and who are definitely smart enough and talented enough that they can’t imagine anything less than conquering Hollywood.

I like those five people.

I like that attitude. Like I ended my last post, I am forcing my way into Hollywood. And I won't do it by filing papers in a cubicle. At least for now. My student loan bills haven't started coming in yet. Eventually, I might have to settle temporarily. I've read mostly about going into TV, not film. Maybe there's more luck there?

A Blogger Is Born

The economy is in a funk (at least that's what a Googlism search tells me). California hits its highest unemployment rate since World War II. Worst of all, Lindsay Lohan is speaking with a British accent.

If these aren't signs of impending doom, I don't know what is.

Okay, so maybe the world isn't that bad right now. But the fact is, despite my Bachelor's degree from one of the top universities in the nation, the University of California, Los Angeles, I can't find a job. Maybe it's because I haven't really been looking. But when I did search, boy was it rough. I couldn't even get a gig walking dogs without a degree in engineering.

Joking aside, I've decided to create a blog detailing my quest for a career. Why? Several reasons, actually.

1. I watched Julie & Julia earlier this week. It made me want to do three things: cook, eat, and blog. Mostly eat.
   
2. I wanted to share my job search experiences with my fellow unemployed college graduates and other Hollywood hopefuls.

Okay, that list was shorter than I was imagining. But #2 can be broken down into several more reasons and it'll help explain more about who I am.

I've always had an interest in film, ever since I took the Universal Studios Tour when I was a kid. I wanted to study film at UCLA, but I somehow ended up a Design major, then switched to Psychology. I worked as a high school peer advisor and with the campus newspaper. Upon graduating, despite my many detours, I realized I still wanted to go into film.

So I walked in my cap and gown. Friends and family wished me luck in this thing called life. So far, I haven't had much. All I had in my alumnus arsenal was a minor in film and television--which, by the way, didn't give me any practical information and definitely not a single ounce of experience.

I've heard that the film industry is 5% talent, 5% hard work, and 90% who you know. Or something like that. Unfortunately, I know psychology majors, and a Spanish major, too. I didn't realize I absolutely wanted to go into film until I graduated, so I missed out on all the student filmmaking and the networking.

But I want to try anyway. Wait... Where exactly do I start? Actors get into film by auditioning. What do directors do? Do they send a film reel somewhere? Doesn't matter, I don't have a film reel. How about writers, do they send writing samples to someone? But all I have are B-grade papers in psychology. Who do they get to see their work? And how? I've read a lot about producing, probably the most practical part of the film classes I've taken. But I learned that $1 million for a film is considered low budget, and it's the producer's job to secure these finances. Um, what?

And it's not like they post these things on Craigslist. "Top director needed for final Harry Potter film." "Looking for DP to work with Steven Spielberg." "Work behind the scenes with Brad Pitt." Alright, I'm exagerrating a bit. Of course they wouldn't post those jobs on Craigslist. I did find listings for student projects and indie films. But even those jobs require experience. People who are trying to "make it" like me aren't going to hire someone like me with no experience.  Back to square one.

Still, there has to be something.  Maybe that 5% of hard work just might get me somewhere. Wait... one more thing. What exactly do I want to do? I talk about getting into film, but that can mean almost anything. Directing, producing, writing, cinematograpy, grips, gaffers, props, art direction, post production. The list goes on and on, and I'm still learning what all these people do. How can I begin to even network with others--the other 90% I need--when I'm still finding my way through the industry's vocabulary, what people "in film" actually do?

Writing is probably what I'm leaning towards most right now. I've taken several writing classes at UCLA. I've written a complete spec script for an episode of 30 Rock. And now I'm writing this blog. Perhaps this is my first step in my foray into the entertainment industry. So begins the chronicles of a recent college graudate forcing my way into film and television.