How To Break Into Film & TV In A Work-From-Home World

Today's Stage 32 Blog comes from Producer and Director Donald Bull, based in Los Angeles, CA. Before lockdown, it seemed easier to break into Film and TV. Once in, it seemed easier to get your next job. You just had to be a hard-working and dependable human pinball. But in this post-pandemic WFH world, how can you be a human pinball, creating and networking and getting your work in front of as many people as you can, when there are no other people around you, for you to bounce off? It was easy to be a pinball when I was starting out. My first job was as a production assistant on PBS news documentaries. We were on an outdoor shoot and the field producer handed me twenty bucks and said, “go find that leaf blower and pay him to stop for 15 minutes.” Three walls and two dogs later, I found the gardener and bought enough silence that cameras could roll. I was the hero of the day. Proximity was destiny. I hung around the camera crew and they liked me. That got me a job as a camera assistant in charge of the ice chests in three camera vans. I kept the drinks and snacks cold enough that summer that I got promoted to Associate Producer (cue trumpets). Lingering. Hanging Out. Listening. Offering to help. Getting coffee. Seeing what is needed. Throwing out the trash. My goal was simple: make myself indispensable. Today, you may only go into an office two times a week, if at all. Your closest interaction with your immediate supervisor may be through Slack and Zoom meetings. This is especially true in television pre-production and post-production; development teams, accountants, production managers, editors, and producers can all work from home. And actual shooting? Since it’s the most expensive part of a production, companies keep it as short as possible. And it doesn’t serve producers if newcomers aren’t learning. Editors may complain, “these people don’t know what they are doing!” That’s because there is no way easy path for new talent to learn different crafts and earn trust. Today, fewer ideas are exchanged. Institutional knowledge fades. Even the tone of a show dissipates when the people who wrote and developed it can't be as involved in production. It can lose its edge because pinballs aren’t colliding. And productions suffer for it. But there is a way to fix this. Newcomers must work to find mentors, and mentors must be willing to teach them when they do. And both parties must carve out time and make it happen since it doesn’t happen through random interaction anymore. This is a serious problem affecting every craft in Hollywood, from hair and makeup artists down to colorists. I found my way into post-production, where it was much easier to be a pinball. All the jobs were right there in one small office – assistant editing, editing, color correction, sound mixing, graphics, online, accounting, production management, and IT, along with rooms for incoming and outgoing camera crews. I could get my work done early and wander into an edit bay and ask if I could watch. Soon they were asking for my help and even my opinion. After a few years, I was a full-fledged editor, and my personal network was large enough to be self-sustaining. I knew a lot of people who I could call for work or for help. Better yet, people were calling me asking me for help, which is when I really felt like I’d arrived. I became a field producer, a director, a writer, an executive producer, and a showrunner – but I’ve never stopped editing. So how do you do it on your own? How do you find other pinballs? Be brave and reach out. Find colleagues like yourself, along with potential mentors. Most of your efforts will be ignored, but most people ignore you in person, too. Now let’s get specific... [Keep Reading Here]( Copyright © 2023 Stage 32, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have an account or have participated in services at Stage32.com. We have some cool things happening on social – follow us! [Twitter]( / [Instagram]( / [Facebook]( / [Tik Tok]( [Manage your email preferences]( Community Success Stories - Look who’s on their way to an Oscar [Check out success stories from our community and see why so many industry professionals work with Stage 32 here!]( Stage 32 in the News [Variety]( / [Forbes]( / [The Wrap]( / [CNBC]( / [Entrepreneur]( Our mailing address is: Stage 32 2711 N Sepulveda Blvd.Manhattan Beach, CA 90266-2725 [Add us to your address book]( Stage 32 is the world's largest online platform connecting and educating the global entertainment industry. [Manage your email preferences]( [unsubscribe]( from receiving these types of emails or unsubscribe [here](. Join over 1 million members from around the world who use Stage 32 to network, find work and learn. Be sure to keep your profile up to date to ensure you are getting the communication you want to receive to help with your craft or career.