One of the greatest turn offs for most people when it comes to getting into the film and media industry is the intense competition...in ways this competition is a stigma that transcends tonnes of cynical students and interested parties who have not been able to get in, or, have not made the right effort.
During my first trip to Los Angeles this summer I had the opportunity to meet up with an industry worker who is in development at a major television production company (sorry guys, won't say who) over some nice dinner with them I was given the raw description of how competitive and cutthroat the industry can be when integrating. It involves long hours and extreme amounts of overtime and ambition. You need to love your work and be determined to get where you want to go. As a Canadian, it would pretty much mean little to have my PA credentials in my resume if I am applying in LA, they want people who know people, and who have worked and experienced their system......the *cue angelic music* THE STUDIO SYSTEM.
this does not bother me one bit.
I am a fan of the idea that as long as I can network and get my name out there enough, someone will eventually bite. You have to try everything, get a good position at a film festival as a volunteer and non-intrusively network (which means
wait for their card, don't give them yours), or get into a film program in the united states in the big Two film maker factories: The New York Film Academy (Spielberg, Pacino, etc) and UCLA (Mr Lucas...need I say more?) and from there grab entry level jobs through teaching connections. Fresh, keen and able hands on set are always wanted and if you are determined enough to work your way up, you can have your shots at the big jobs. After Touring Universal Studios and Warner Brothers I was completely flabbergasted to be passing and walking on the sound stages of shows like Ellen, Chuck, Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half men, and see the recreated sets of the War of the Worlds, Jaws, and the lots of Spiderman, The Mentalist and countless others. Knowing that these worlds and characters can be fabricated as an industry of imagination blows my mind and entices me more to work my way to becoming a Hollywood film maker. I apologize to those filmies out there who love their independent and guerrilla film making ways, sticking it to the American studio 'Man', but I am a lover of the mainstream, trapped in an independent world.
Because of this an amazing friend of mine decided to kidnap me for a weekend and took me to the open house of the New York Film Academy. She wanted me to see the possibilities of working with real production tools and learn the ropes of starting my film making career. After taking the tour, hearing the programs, and the potential to study either in New York, LA, or half and half, I was pretty much bought on the idea of learning the competitive ropes of my art in the Mecca of Movies, and because of that trip, I feel I have found my escape.
Many are intimidated by the cameras, lighting, and technicalities of being in film school, but learning by experimentation and careful instruction is a great way to start, and that is what you do in film school. What you gradually learn in a field over months or years you learn in weeks. If you are creative but not very technical or vice verse, they fill in the blanks and sculpt you into a creative and technical film maker with the actual tools of the trade, from 16 and 35 mm to HD.
Never hold back because it is too expensive or too hard, work an extra job and take a year to film and build a portfolio, apply for film school, volunteer, ANYTHING....just don't give up.
Because if you do give up, you give someone else a chance, and every time you see a bad movie, you will know you could have made one better. Hahahaha, well, maybe not the best guilt trip phrase but you get the picture.
Stay tuned for my upcoming blog on scoring and shot organization which will include some behind the scenes leaks of FDNN
Christian A.V. Petrozza
