Internship

Long time, no see. After my last post, I simply was not getting anywhere in my quest to raid Hollywood. My dreams seemed to be more and more like they were just that--dreams.

Suddenly, I was granted an interview for an internship at a TV production company and after interviewing, I would begin in a few days. One of the golden pieces of advice for entertainment is to start off at an internship. As a college graduate, finding one was extremely difficult. By California law, companies must compensate interns with either pay or college credit. They'd rather not pay you, so most require you to be a full-time student.

I was lucky to find this internship that did not require you to be a full-time student. Here are some things I've learned:

• Personality counts for a lot in the interview. You may not have the best experience on your resume, but that's why you're doing an internship. Make a good impression. Be eager to learn and ready to do menial work in which you might not really learn much.
• Interning is a golden piece of advice for a reason. To get a job in entertainment, you need that first door to be opened. Internships have the most easily opened doors, and it could lead to more doors.
• Once you start an internship, learn, learn, learn. Again, your menial work might not give you much experience. But ask questions. Talk to people. Volunteer to do more than expected. Actively try get a good recommendation for your next career move.

So, how was my internship experience?  I was given a trial run of a month, and I decided not to continue at the end of the trial. I know, that doesn't follow that golden advice, the age-old semi-rule of interning. While I may not have necessarily made the best move for my career, I needed to take care of me. Here's my situation: I'm a college graduate with student loans to pay off and a dying car. I couldn't afford to do a full-time unpaid internship. I also wasn't learning much from this particular opportunity. I felt the experience did not justify the time. Most likely, it would only lead to another unpaid internship. Not  to mention, this internship made me want to pull my brains out with the amount of boredom I had to endure.

I still suggest you absolutely intern if you can. I would even recommend this particular internship that I did. My personal situation simply called for an end to it. But especially if you're like me, and your resume does not have anything related to entertainment, you have to start somewhere. Find an internship. And learn from it. Really. Especially if you're a student and it will be easier to land one.

Networking Tips

I attended my first industry conference this week. While its focus was around a genre I'm not particularly interested in getting into at the moment, it was still great attending the panels and meeting different people.

This was also my first big opportunity at networking. This experience helped me come up with some advice for those who are not social butterflies or are new to networking. I fall under both categories. This can be applied to any networking event, not just entertainment.

Attend these events
These conferences can cost a lot of money, however. If you can't afford to attend, see if they need volunteers. If it's at a public space, such as a hotel, just show up. You may not get into panels or workshops, but you'll get to meet people in the lobby, during food breaks, etc.

Meet as many people as possible
You'll want to learn as much as possible. Everyone will have a different story to tell, their own piece of advice to give. If you find someone you click with, that's great, but don't get stuck talking to one person because it's easy. That's one opportunity gained, many others lost.

With that said, quanity drives quality
The goal is not just to hand out your business card left and right. You should find the people who can help you the most. Talk to a variety of people to find the few who really understand what you need and can help you get there beyond the small talk.

Seek advice, give advice
People attend these things to learn. And again, everyone has a different story to tell. Your own experiences might be helpful to someone. You scratch their back, they'll scratch yours.

Prepare some talking points
You can't network if you have nothing to say. Be able to engage others. Contribute to conversation, and when appropriate, be ready to steer a conversation so that it can answer questions you may have, if it isn't already.

Anyone in entertainment will tell you the importance of networking. The coordinator of this conference told me that besides her first gig, she never once had to interview for a job. Keep meeting people and get your name out there. You'll never know when that one conversation will turn into something more.

Film Studies

The film minor at UCLA requires seven courses in four different categories. I fulfilled four  reqs on topics that interested me most, like screenwriting and editing. The last three were mostly history courses. I appreciate history, but I'd rather not sit in long lectures about them. A few lectures for one course I took covered silent films. For four hours. Each.

I spoke with academic counselors and asked if I could substitute courses for those requirements. They said no, those requirements are in place to give students "a wide scope of knowledge within film."

I believe filmmakers should be exposed to a variety of genres and styles. But if the film minor intended to build a well-rounded student, why do some courses not fulfill any requirement, like a course on producing independent features? Of all the courses I've taken, that was the single most useful class. It provided practical information for a career.

Two other classes that would not count: one where I was a production assistant on a short film, and a writing course where scenes we wrote were performed by student actors weekly. Again, two of the most useful courses I've ever taken. Yet they would not count towards the film minor simply because they were offered by the theater department.

It's a major disappointment that classes that provide an education as well as practical experience for a career are not considered to give students a "wide scope of knowledge." To top it off, one of the counselors I recently dealt with was disgustingly rude. (Really, why work with students if you're gonna be a dick about it?) I know requirements are in place for a reason, but I absolutely hate that administration so often fails to serve the needs of students.

First Job Interview

I finally received a job interview, and out of all the jobs I applied for, this one was closest to what I want to do: a production assistant with an established studio, owned by a major media company, that produces web shows. They target younger viewers, but I was very surprised and impressed by the quality of the shows they made.

A rule for any job interview is to know your resume well. But since I didn't really have film experience in my resume, I wasn't expecting to talk much about it. Of course, that was the first thing we talked about. I was nervous because I wasn't expecting to go into detail about my resume. But beyond that, the interview went well. It was very conversational, and they weren't expecting anyone with a lot of experience since it is an entry-level position.

Although the interview went well, I'm not sure how promising of a job it will be. It's a part time gig, since they don't have nearly as much shooting time as a network TV show--their web shows are very short. They've wrapped up shooting, and won't start again for a few weeks. The producer simply wanted to have potential PAs to choose from when shooting begins again if they needed any, so even if I did make a good impression, I may simply not be needed.

I was very excited for this job, but it makes me a little nervous how the work would not be steady. I know as a PA, jobs can come and go as production starts and finishes, but at least TV and films can provide more consistent pay.

But alas, it was the only company so far to grant me an interview. I haven't had much luck with other jobs, so I really hope this will be the one that gets my foot in the door.

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.