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Here's a question. I've been working in the film and video industry in some capacity for about seven years now. I've got a few regional spots under my belt, I've shot a few spec spots, and I've had a short film do rather well (not like Sundance well, but really great local response). I'm working on a couple more. Is there any accepted avenue of getting representation as a commercial director? How do you get in front of those people? Or is it more "keep going to festivals, hope the right person notices you?" I'm not in New York or LA if that matters, though there's a fair amount of production and a huge number of agencies where I live.
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Jan 8, 2016 06:15
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Can you send a demo reel out to an agency? I found this thing with a google search: http://www.tdnartists.com/ Otherwise I guess just keep meeting people, networking, showing your work. In animation the demo reel and connections is where it all is, not sure about film. Ccs fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Jan 9, 2016 |
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Jan 9, 2016 02:31
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SkaAndScreenplays posted:From what i gathered of Tom Lennon and Ben Garant's book This is like...90 percent of working in Hollywood. Thing is, theres a difference between doing it for connections/portfolio/money and doing it because your professor tells you to. Ccs posted:I'm an animator and I know a lot of people who get into the field and can't maintain their creativity outside of the 8-12 hour days required in this industry. Also you won't be paid overtime if you're a technical artist unless you're at one of the top game or film studios, but may be required to work weekends and late nights. Lots of guys start getting major health problems, and after a year of full time in the field I now have some pretty bad back and shoulder pain. Rigging TDs regularly work 70 hour weeks with no OT if they haven't figured out how to script well enough to automate their more rigorous tasks. Also you probably won't have health insurance. Yeah, ive heard industry jobs are super demanding, do you get establish connections and stuff though? Also, I do find editing and other industry desk jobs nice as a part time gig, but i dont think i can ever go full time becuasse its so demanding, and i would really like to get into directing
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Jan 9, 2016 13:10
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Shinneh posted:Thing is, theres a difference between doing it for connections/portfolio/money and doing it because your professor tells you to. It's really not different. If film school is the faster track to connections/portfolio (but not money), you're going to have to pass, which means doing what the professor says. Sucks in the short term, but if film school nets you the connections, wouldn't it be worth it? From a professional standpoint, there's surely value in being able to make the best of work you're not crazy about. I don't know dick about the film industry, but my guess is you're going to have to deal with it sooner or later. Why not seize the opportunity and try to learn something valuable anyway? Before you're actually in the industry, school IS the industry. So you treat is as such.
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May 3, 2016 02:45
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Any creative who wants to make money at least in part by working on other people's IP needs to, as part of their education, learn how to work on and care about projects that aren't glitzy, popular, well known, or special. Full stop.
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May 3, 2016 03:20
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Discombobulator posted:It's really not different. If film school is the faster track to connections/portfolio (but not money), you're going to have to pass, which means doing what the professor says. Sucks in the short term, but if film school nets you the connections, wouldn't it be worth it? From a professional standpoint, there's surely value in being able to make the best of work you're not crazy about. I don't know dick about the film industry, but my guess is you're going to have to deal with it sooner or later. Why not seize the opportunity and try to learn something valuable anyway? Before you're actually in the industry, school IS the industry. So you treat is as such. Exactly, if you're looking to make a career out of it you're going to have to work on projects that you have no interest in doing. Peter Jackson didn't want to do The Hobbit.
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May 9, 2016 14:06
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mutata posted:Any creative who wants to make money at least in part by working on other people's IP needs to, as part of their education, learn how to work on and care about projects that aren't glitzy, popular, well known, or special. Full stop. Let's be honest here that's kind of an important life skill for everybody. Boring, unglamorous grunt work is pretty much inescapable.
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May 9, 2016 14:15
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHFGLZIDHFYSG UNHILUJHNGyuilnybft dkfljsnrykloijghjufosuklnhfdolstjfiusfhgftius #justfreelancerthings
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May 10, 2016 01:37
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Avshalom posted:AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHFGLZIDHFYSG Every day.
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May 10, 2016 03:06
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Woke up at 11:00. Had coffee, read email, did 30 minutes of work. Taking a break for more coffee and some video games. #justfreelancerthings
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May 10, 2016 16:40
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Got laid off today! #justgameindustrythings
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May 11, 2016 06:16
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gently caress, sorry to hear that mutata  i laid myself off today
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May 11, 2016 10:34
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mutata posted:Got laid off today! #justgameindustrythings 1 Job Application Thrown in = 1 Hour to work on poo poo you've had on the backburner. This is how I finished my drama pilot and found a new day job in the span of 2 weeks.
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May 24, 2016 15:39
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Whats the general consensus on asking for a follow up interview in a cover letter? Something like "I will be in contact with you next week to see if we could set up a..." is what I see in a lot of example letters and my resources, yet it seems pretty pushy. I've seen opinions on both ends either supporting it because it's proactive and advising against it because it is an outdated tactic.
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May 26, 2016 15:07
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This might sound like a dumb question, but I just landed a job interview for a design/illustration job after years and years of working in I.T. Anything I should be prepared for in this upcoming interview vs. the type of thing I'm used to? (i.e. just being drilled with questions so they know that I know what I know)
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May 30, 2016 04:50
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Bring a portfolio with you. Preferably in a format they can read (  ) - I had an interview once for a print job where I brought in my portfolio on a thumb drive, and they weren't allowed to use it on work computers for security reasons. My experience with design and illustration jobs is that your portfolio is the most important thing, you personality is a close second, and technical knowledge of programs, etc. is a distant third. People mainly want someone who they feel will deliver stuff on time and work well with the team.
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May 30, 2016 09:06
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Depending on how much emphasis they put on raw talent and style (which might be more important for illustration than something like graphic design or visual communication design) your personality and culture fit might edge out your portfolio just slightly. Regardless, how you present your work is as important as the work itself. Be confident but not arrogant, practice walking through your work and explaining why you made your design decisions, and have at least two backup plans (I bring mine on a laptop, uploaded to my website, and USB.) Pick 2 or 3 projects to talk about more in depth that you think are representative of your skills and process. Don't show them anything you feel the need to apologize for ("sorry this isn't very fleshed out but..."), if it's not your best work it shouldn't be in your portfolio.
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May 30, 2016 11:25
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That helps out a lot. Thanks!
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May 30, 2016 16:46
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Hey there creative folks. I work at Riot Games and there are some job openings for TV industry folks that opened up in LA & EU. I thought I'd share them here. LIVE BROADCAST COORDINATING PRODUCER - http://www.riotgames.com/careers/232810 ESPORTS BROADCAST WRITER (EU) - http://www.riotgames.com/careers/15373 ASSISTANT EDITOR - http://www.riotgames.com/careers/224684 VIDEO EDITOR http://www.riotgames.com/careers/224675 ASSISTANT REPLAY EDITOR - http://www.riotgames.com/careers/137959 PM me if you have any questions about the jobs or anything else Riot related. PS: There are lots of other jobs posted but I don't know much about them. I will say that the hiring process at Riot is slooooowwwwwww. Just so you know.
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Jun 15, 2016 16:06
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King Lou posted:Hey there creative folks. Awesome, I'm going to have to put together a demo reel of "I've done a bit of everything and dig into the positions a bit. Thanks for sharing.
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Jun 17, 2016 00:04
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Anyone done Schoolism before?
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Jun 26, 2016 07:10
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Yup. Only the self-taught classes, though. The yearly subscription is a good deal. I have also gotten a lot out of the Society of Visual Storytelling (https://svslearn.com/), which is oriented around children's illustration and editorial illustration as opposed to concept art. They also have an annual subscription with all-you-can-eat access to self-taught classes. Of the two, I think SVS Learn is the better deal.
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Jun 26, 2016 14:27
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So just for the fun of it I decided to combine the amount of money the projects I worked on had made (First animation gig was in 1999). 8.5 billion. I don't think we are paid enough folks... Granted, it was 19 minutes worth of frames but still!
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Jul 12, 2016 00:01
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I wasn't sure if this was the optimal place to ask this. I am beginning to do acting as a career and have picked some recent background extra work, voice work, and was in a few stage roles and an awful student film in college. I have signed up with 2 of the casting agencies in my city (Pittsburgh) but I am wondering how would I find out about smaller roles that I could use to boost a resume and build a demo reel (commercials and such, really anything that would not tank myself). Would I need to find a talent agent at this point and how would I go about finding one? Or is it better to do that after getting a few roles and completing a solid demo reel? Or is there a better place to ask these questions?
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Aug 20, 2016 04:57
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My fiance is convinced that she needs to move out to LA to network to break into TV writing industry. Right now she works in publishing and as a playwright and wants to drop everything and move across country. I have never lived more than a few miles from NYC and am hesitant to drop everything and go - is this actually a thing in TV writing? Can someone with limited experience just appear and start making progress?
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Sep 14, 2016 15:51
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If she does have connections out there, yes. If not, she still can but is going to have to hustle to get into a writers room and will probably have to start out as an assistant for a while. I have friends that did it but it is slow going.
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Sep 18, 2016 11:33
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It's hard to get experience in your industry of choice if it doesn't exist where you live. Most things TV and movie related (from my understanding), you have to be able to physically show up to a place on short notice as well as network face-to-face and hustle pretty hard-core in order to start getting work. You make it sound like she just came up with this idea to move cross-country out of the blue, how sudden is her desire to be a TV writer?
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Sep 19, 2016 01:17
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It is a long standing desire, she is currently working what she refers to as her plan B, and has been making inroads with networking/polishing her spec and pilot writing samples. We have talked about moving before, but the most recent time it felt more urgent that we take the plunge and do it. Options in NYC just seem to be very competitive/limited with almost no entry level work. e; We had a lonnnnng talk about everything over the weekend and are going to basically try to be bicoastal for the time being (we can't move for a while just because of lease, a few months of already planned and paid for trips, our wedding itself) so that she can start actually catching up with old school acquaintances and whatnot in the industry in person. Will deal with sublets, crashing with an old roommate, and airbnb as needed while we test the waters. Nephzinho fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Sep 19, 2016 |
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Sep 19, 2016 15:26
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I want to change careers from an IT/Dev to being a fiction writer, but unfortunately I have no idea how to do this. I've been working on my own stuff while holding down my computer job but this place is killing me and I'm impatient to leave and try writing full time. Since my degree is in comp sci and since I don't have any work experience in this field what is the best way to proceed? I was thinking once I finish this novel I'm working on I would shop it around to different publishers and self publish if I got no takers, but I don't know if that's a good or bad move. I am tempted to quit my day job (I know, I know) and live off savings while I work, but this feels dumb. For the authors out there, have any of you made a similar career switch? Is it best to work on your own stuff and try to sell that first, or to start by getting a job in publishing or something to build contacts? Do i want to get like an mfa in creative writing? I'm eager to escape this corporate hell and spend my time being anxious about writing deadlines instead of reports, but I don't really know the way as an outsider. I looked around at the other threads about freelancing and etc, but I felt like a lot of that is for people with degrees in art, sorry if this question is repetitive.
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Oct 10, 2016 21:05
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Waverhouse posted:I want to change careers from an IT/Dev to being a fiction writer, but unfortunately I have no idea how to do this. If you want to hustle and be a freelance writer, it will be primarily nonfiction, and there is some good career advice we can point you to for that. There is also a Self Publishing thread which shows us that even modest success in this arena is as much about marketing as it is the writing. However, when you say things like Waverhouse posted:I was thinking once I finish this novel I'm working on I would shop it around to different publishers and self publish if I got no takers, but I don't know if that's a good or bad move. quote:Do i want to get like an mfa in creative writing? I'm eager to escape this corporate hell The reason to get an MFA is not "I want to escape corporate." Getting a job in publishing will also not solve your problems. (Working in publishing is an office job that you love because of the material you get to work with, not a stepping stone to being an author) So instead, commit yourself to writing as a discipline for your private time. Join a crit group. Join Thunderdome. Write the first novel, then rewrite it. And again. Write the second novel. And solve your daily misery some other way, because you can't wait for the lightning to strike. Have you considered tech writing? The key is to think of your marketable skills and get into a position where you can use them and not be miserable.
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Oct 10, 2016 22:03
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I appreciate the honesty. Expected that sort of answer before I even asked the question. Hope springs eternal I guess. The other option I had in mind was switching to part-time development work and then playing catch as catch can with freelance writing. Once again I'm not sure of the best way to start, but reading the business of art sticky helps a lot. Would you recommend doing this 50-50 split, or would the time required in writing/hunting for new work be too much, since I'd also be needing to hunt for dev work too? I haven't given tech writing much serious thought to be honest. I have an acquaintance that works as a tech writer and when I asked him about he said he liked it well enough, but the work he described seemed not too much more interesting than what I'm doing now. I dunno if maybe there are 'degrees' of tech writing I don't know about, but I'd be interested what someone else might have to say about it.
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Oct 11, 2016 00:52
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Waverhouse posted:I appreciate the honesty. Expected that sort of answer before I even asked the question. Hope springs eternal I guess. Clientsfromhell has great freelancing advice too.
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Oct 11, 2016 03:58
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Waverhouse posted:I haven't given tech writing much serious thought to be honest. I have an acquaintance that works as a tech writer and when I asked him about he said he liked it well enough, but the work he described seemed not too much more interesting than what I'm doing now. I dunno if maybe there are 'degrees' of tech writing I don't know about, but I'd be interested what someone else might have to say about it. In any creative field, whether it's writing, music, illustration, or whatever, the type of work that pays the bills is almost never the type of work you'd prefer to be doing. Switching to being a freelancer doesn't mean you get to spend your days doing what you want and getting paid for it, it means you get to do varying degrees of what you love for clients who may or may not have an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into what you do. As far as getting published, that's a whole other ballgame in and of itself. I'd recommend reading Query Shark for a little bit of an insight into what it takes to get something published - there's an expected form to follow, and you're also competing against 100's of 1000's of other people who have the same idea as you - that you can just "be a writer" and make a living off it. The number of writers who make a living solely off of novel sales is very tiny. The number of those who made it big on their first novel and first foray into writing is a tiny fraction of that. I'm not making this point to discourage you but you seem to be really, really, really underestimating the amount of work and time it will take to make a career out of writing the way you want.
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Oct 11, 2016 08:33
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I am considering trying to get a job as an animator, but I have a few problems: -My resume is total poo poo. I am 30 years old and I have never really been seriously employed. -I went to school and dropped out about 2 classes short of a degree about 7-8 years ago. -I have no idea what to put in a demo reel. Do people get hired on the strength of their demo reel alone? As in could all the stuff about my resume and education history be overlooked if I put together a great reel? Also, I'm considering for the next few years devoting all my time to personal projects and uploading them to youtube. Do people ever get job offers out of the blue if they have great stuff on youtube, or does everyone always need to go through the entire application process? Could I feasibly make a few short films and if they are high enough quality get some job offers because of them?
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Nov 3, 2016 15:54
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Doredrin posted:Do people get hired on the strength of their demo reel alone? As in could all the stuff about my resume and education history be overlooked if I put together a great reel? What does your work look like? Can you show any examples of what you do?
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Nov 3, 2016 19:57
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neonnoodle posted:Yes absolutely this happens. I haven't really done anything in a while that is worth showing. Right now I am working on making a 3d animation of "loss.jpg" that I will hopefully complete in the next few months.
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Nov 3, 2016 21:44
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OK well if you don't have anything worth showing for the next few months, you probably won't get an animation job in the next few months? 
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Nov 3, 2016 21:45
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Doredrin posted:I haven't really done anything in a while that is worth showing. Right now I am working on making a 3d animation of "loss.jpg" that I will hopefully complete in the next few months. This probably won't get you a job.
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Nov 3, 2016 21:55
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neonnoodle posted:OK well if you don't have anything worth showing for the next few months, you probably won't get an animation job in the next few months? It was more for future reference. I mean I could feasibly throw something together in a short period of time, but I'm in no rush to get a job and wouldn't know where to start looking in the first place. My current plan is to work on personal projects for the foreseeable future, upload them to youtube, and hope that the stuff I put out is high enough quality to get noticed or at least get some decent views. About the only thing that I have worth showing is a quick animation I did 8 years ago in college: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odVlWrkYYzQ It is really old and there are some glaring mistakes, but it is the only thing I really have right now.
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Nov 3, 2016 22:05
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Doredrin posted:I haven't really done anything in a while that is worth showing. Right now I am working on making a 3d animation of "loss.jpg" that I will hopefully complete in the next few months. I don't mean to take the air out of your sails or anything but, kedo posted:This probably won't get you a job. Try and do some work that stands on its own and isn't based on a niche internet meme, you'll get more mileage out of it. To put it another way, I don't know that there's any place in a professional portfolio for work that exists solely to make fun of another creative professional's work, no matter how much the work in question deserves to be made fun of.
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Nov 3, 2016 22:06
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