UNDERSTANDING THE TELEVISION AND FILM INDUSTRIES FILM MAKING

So you’ve finished your degree and your looking for a job in the industry. While there may be some of you lucky enough to make the contacts or get offered a job, not everyone will be so lucky. There are many different pathways you will have to look into to continue in your prospective careers.

What Pathways Are There? Internships Shootingpeople.org Making Your Own Film Jobs Through Trade Publications and Websites

Know your Role What role do you want to take? Director? Camera? Script Writer? Editor? This is probably the most important thing to think about when getting into the industry. Where can you go to help with this decision? Skillset.org Myfirstjobinfilm.co.uk

Internships Look for internships on the internet and in trade publications such as Variety, Sight and Sound, Screen International, Play, The Drum. Myfirstjobinfilm.com, Raindance.org, Bfi.org.uk

Unpaid work should be no longer than 4 weeks, afterwards the employer needs to pay you at least the minimum wage. They should also pay travel expenses and you should receive either some form of training or be under specialist supervision. Creative choices has a guide to internships in the Arts to know if your being treated fairly.

Network Networking is one of the best ways to get ahead in the business and gain opportunities for yourself.

Use Social Media Twitter When promoting yourself be it for jobs or just as a general film maker twitter is a powerful tool. It can also be used the other way as a lot of film runner jobs tend to be posted on twitter at the last minute so it pays to follow as many people as you can. What other forms of social media can you use?

Learning on the Job Many areas of the film industry are over subscribed while others are in shortage. Such as craftsmen and production accountants. Do specific courses to gain valued production skills. You can use websites such as Skillset and Ukfilmcouncil, also the BFI website and Raindance.org have a good list of many different courses.

Runners typically get around £59 for an 8 hour day or £236 for a 40 hour week. This can rise to £103 for a 12 hour day or £520 for a 72 hour week. Also look for unpaid jobs on low-budget films using shootingpeople Experience

Make your own Films Script, Actors, Location, Props, Funding etc. With your script you need to think about: Story, genre, length etc.

Exhibition and Distribution Youtube, Vimeo, onlineshortfilms.net, atomfilms.com, ifilm.com etc. Film Festivals Aesthetica, Keswick, Raindance, Leeds, Frightfest, British Student Film Festival. Sundance, Venice, Berlin etc.