Piggybacking on digmedia’a post, how has post grad employment gone one year, two, five years out? It is a tough field to crack ( to quote my daughter as a 17 year old, why are all the directs old men?). Looking for encouraging and discouraging thoughts for future film/tv/animation students on job prospects.
I’ve posted on this many, many times. The future outlook for an “above the line” person (director, producer, screenwriter, major actor, etc.) is bleak. But the outlook for a talented “below the line” person (the other HUNDREDS of people who are in the credits) is probably not bad at all. I see several stages to success in a career:
Stage 1. “Nothing yet:” You’re trying to break in. You’ve moved to LA or NYC and you’re looking. WHAT YOU NEED in this stage: A group of colleagues, other alumni from your school, some working already, perhaps some in your boat. But these are your support group (especially important to keep your spirits up) AND your “bootstrap group.” As each finds work, they can perhaps help others into the business.
Stage 2. “Squeaking by:” You’re getting gigs, some might be for no pay, others might be intern positions or very-low-pay jobs. But you are making your name and expanding your resume/experience/demo reel. It’s still hard, though, and you’d best have no student loan debt. WHAT YOU NEED in this stage: Talent, so that people can see that your contribution is valuable. Make yourself know to the producer. S/he can come back to you on other productions, knowing that you are cheap. You also need your support group, because finding each other work becomes easier at this stage. And you’ll need to work for very little; you are making an investment in yourself.
Stage 3: “Getting paid for your work:” You’re becoming known to enough people that you can now start to get more properly paid (I didn’t say HIGHLY paid) and while you may not constantly be working, you’re working enough to afford your rent and nights out with your “group.” WHAT YOU NEED in this stage: You need to build your reel and resume, and develop network connections beyond your initial support group. You are still a part of that group and, hopefully, can refer new member of that group for THEIR start-up gigs.
Stage 4: “Turning down work:” OK, so you’ve now made it in your career, at least in terms of finding work. Instead of you LOOKING for jobs, you now are in demand, and people come to you, begging for you to work on their projects. You’ll find that you have to start turning people down because you already have contract commitments for the time period they need you. As a matter of fact, you may start turning down work worth a lot more $$$ than you are earning. You’re over the tipping point. WHAT YOU NEED in this stage: Remember to make time for yourself. Gigs may work you up to 16 hours a day (especially as production deadlines approach). Plan down-time for you to get out of town an enjoy life. AND DON’T FORGET TO CALL YOUR PARENTS ONCE IN A WHILE!
So an update on my kid:
He graduated in 2009 with an interest in Visual Effects (VFX), but had an idea for creating some film production software. Actually, he had a prototype, and I was advised by his thesis advisor to support him while he developed the software. That lasted about three months, but he spent some of that time traveling, kayaking part of the Colorado River and hiking the Grand Canyon.
Then he got a vfx job on an independent film, helped by a classmate of his who was doing some camera work on the film and recommended him to the producer as cheap way of getting good vfx done. The film actually went on to some major film festivals such as Toronto, Berlin, and Cannes. It won an award at Cannes and Variety, in its review, mentioned my son’s name. He was working out of his home office in his apartment, but got tired of shipping hard drives back and forth and trying to conduct all business without meeting clients, so he moved to LA. He had quite an alumni support group there, and they seemed to all help each other get various gigs. He also did some low-pay work on a few music videos.
His “break” came with an internship offer from one of the best-known vfx houses to work on a major film (again, through the help of another one of his classmates who started as an intern there, but was later hired). He made his mark and has since worked (on regular contract) on several films for them, four of which have been nominated for Academy Awards for their VFX work (Real Steel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Iron Man 3). In addition, between those major movies, the original producer of that first independent film came back to him for several other vfx and vfx supervisor roles for some of her films.
In between gigs, he has done work for commercials (Apple, Under Armour, Lexus, Exxon-Mobil, Cadillac, and others), and, in 2013, was part of a VERY small team that did the vfx work for a Capitol Records music video: “Safe and Sound” by the group Capital Cities. That video won the MTV VMA Award in 2013 for Best VFX in a Music Video, and was one of the 2014 Grammy nominees for Best Music Video (it lost to some nobody named Justin Timberlake).
I think he’s now in Stage 4 (see above). Going out to dinner with him in LA is a series of him excusing himself from the table to take calls about work. He works (very hard) as much as he wants but reserves time for himself for adventure travel (Mt. Everest (base camp), climbing Mt, Kilimanjaro (highest in Africa), Mt Meru (9th highest in Africa) and Mt. Rainier, helping a lemur study in the mountainous rain forests of Madagascar, cave diving in Mexico, and other backpacking/climbing trips).
His “group” still has alumni and former classmates, but has expanded greatly beyond that to include many, many people in the industry. I’m an outsider, but I think such a group of friends and colleagues is extremely important for success (IMHO).
But he does need to call his parents more (Hahahaha).
Digimedia, thank you for posting this update on your son. It gives good insight on how students might navigate their careers after graduation. Certainly more useful than the dismal outlook usually given. At least, I can show this to my D and tell her: "Here is an example of what you can expect. Are you willling to do this? "
There are many other “alumni parents” on CC. I’d like to hear some other career paths.
Update on my D, graduated in December, 2013 from LMU in film production. I would say that after 15 months she is a late stage 2, hoping to stay in the stage 3 she has been in the last two months. LMU has what they call the Incubator program, graduates apply for a one year unpaid support system, a great idea with monthly seminars, use of space, insurance and equipment, etc. Goal is to get graduates first project off the ground in a year. Didn’t really get where she wanted, mainly due to not enough money, and a script now in it’s third rewrite.
So how do you keep yourself fed, sheltered, and pay off your loans while living in LA? First, minimal loans, she only owes about $10,000, so I think her payments are about $100/month. Next, she knows how to live extremely cheaply, sharing a bedroom in an apartment, definitely has not indulged herself in expensive habits. Likes to cook, so her group of friends eat pretty well at home, or on film sets.
The past 15 months have been filled with freelance work on film sets of various types, and paying back favors volunteering with her circle of colleagues still doing senior or graduate this films. I think every paying job she has had since graduating is connected to a fellow student or professor from LMU, including Freshman year. That network is created by your talent and reliability on student sets from the very beginning. Be there, don’t be a jerk, work the long hours. She still aspires to be a director, screenwriter, producer,“above the line”. But, you stay in the game and gain experience from making connections and supporting student projects throughout your four years.
The variety of work possible is amazing. She has been paid anywhere from $135/day to $750/day, mainly for 1st AC (cause she has great eye and hand coordination to pull focus), but also grip, camera, assistant director, assistant producer, camera operator, director, script reading. In the beginning paid days can be interrupted by weeks of nothing. Where did she get the experience and training to begin with? Mostly student sets. Hands on experience trumps the classroom, but it is hard to do this outside film school.
There are so many different types of media also, everyone thinks of film as feature film, but she has worked on live broadcasts, music videos, documentaries, feature films (low budget, to the point of suing for pay), advertisements (they pay the best, go figure), web series, promotional videos.
One of the difficult tasks of freelancing is coordinating jobs, it seems that a lot of her work is very short notice, and time schedules are often pushed back, nature of the business. Not a good thing for someone who needs to know what they are doing every day.
Where does the future lie? Just last week she paid off her credit card debt for her thesis film. The next couple months are so busy she will fight to find time to rewrite the third draft of her future blockbuster script. Most important to her, she still won’t have to take that restaurant job I’ve been trying to get her to take since she was 15.
@jtmoney - Thanks for the story. From the few people I know trying to make it the same way, this seems like a typical experience, working so many different gigs - especially for aspiring “above-the-line” people.
Thanks for the stories. My D is struggling with where she should transfer for her final years in college. She wants to work in areas ‘below the line’ (after a lot of gentle nudging from Mom)
In reality, almost every film school graduate no matter their aspirations starts out below the line. Unless they can self fund. Also, your training in below the line entry level work happens on multiple opportunities to work on student productions, not in the classroom. The skills you learn, both technical and people skills, and the contacts you make are your entry to working in the industry. Seek out schools where there are lots of hands on opportunities.
@jtmoney - EXACTLY. My son has often said that most of his learning in film school did NOT take place in the classroom, rather on the more than 60 student films he worked on in a variety of roles, allowing him to find his true passion within the industry. He was working on films literally from the moment he arrived as a freshman. Wait, he actually helped on a student crew there when he visited, before he even applied.
Number one recommendation from me (actually two recommendations): Find a school where you begin making films IMMEDIATELY, and volunteer for as many films as you have time for (always keep in mind that the students you are working with may be your “bootstrap” into the industry).