Kickstarting A Career in Film and Video Production
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
Cinema (feature films), Branded Entertainment, Video Production all fall under the Entertainment Industry umbrella. And they’re all great for a fun and exciting career that make billions of dollars each year globally.
It can be a little daunting to establish yourself and get on your feet. Where do you start? How do you get a job? Where can I learn and hone my skills or craft?
These are all great questions considering the entertainment industry is largely made up of freelancers and contractors on a per-job basis.
Here are 7 tips to get started in film and video production:
- Work. Do everything you can and go into with an open mind. Be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge & experience you can.
- Now. Be in the present, you can definitely have long term goals, but take each gig for what it is and walk away better/more experienced/more networked.
- Network. Don’t underestimate the people you know and meet along the way. Don’t overthink this, that’s not being present.
- Be Yourself. Don’t get caught up in gear. Having this camera or that lens doesn’t make you a better [fill in the blank, Director, DP, Editor, etc.] It’s about your unique talent that no one else can deliver but you.
- Learn. There are incredible resources online to learn filmmaking crafts, some are even better than traditional film school. I like NoFilmSchool.com, LearnStory.org andShane’s Inner Circle.
- Fail. Make mistakes. It’s the best way to learn. (AKA Fail Forward)
- Have fun. That’s the reason everyone else got into this business.
Bonus Tip: Be curious. There’s a story around every corner and you’d be surprised by how many people would like hear it.
If action sports is your thing shoot as many great athletes as you can. Try and connect with up and coming professionals and offer to shoot them. Eventually, their sponsors will likely look for content and there’s your foot in the door. That’s how I got my start professionally.
I’m not a fan of working for free (with very few exceptions) but if you are going to donate your time/services, do it for something you believe in where you can make an impact. Find a Non Profit that you like and see if they need a video.
This is a great way to build your reel and meet people in the community. There’s also the networking group Storytellers, Filmmakers and Video Production Professionals.
Serial Entrepreneur, currently Owner/Operator of Vamonos Vans
8 年Thanks for always writing these short articles Tim. I find them very valuable. I'm about 6 months into a very long journey building my own agency, and it's good to have these concepts re-affirmed by someone like you. I am very hard on myself, and run short on patience often, so its nice to hear that even though I'm not where I want to be yet, I am doing the right things to get there.
Content Producer at Hardline Media
8 年Great advice... Have fun and enjoy... Way too many people get caught up in the gear especially since DSLR's came on board. They don't shoot for the edit and can become to creative only to realise that half the shots are no good.... :)