Do Your Homework

If you could have a one-on-one discussion with a working professional in the entertainment industry, what would you ask them?

How they got started in the industry?

Did they go to film school, or learn by doing?

How did they get their big break?

What tips can they offer to a beginner who wants to make movies?

You get the idea. With Cinema Studio West, you will have the opportunity to actually get to know experienced, working pros. We’ve lined up a whole array of people in all aspects of the industry who are excited to share their knowledge with you! We plan to have both live Zoom calls (that you can participate in) and archived video calls with these professionals. This is in addition to the personal mentoring that we provide. These filmmakers will become a part of your professional network. Like us, they believe in giving back by training the next generation of production people.

Let me tell you a story. My first job in television was at the PBS station in Tempe, Arizona. I learned a lot in the five years that I was there, but I hated the hot summers and wanted to move on. I applied for jobs all over the country but only received rejections.  At this Phoenix PBS station, I worked my way up from being the Studio Manager to producing and directing. I ended up producing feature stories for their nightly news program. Then one day I actually got a note in the mail from NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw, saying how much he liked a piece I had produced on grizzly bears and the man who lived among them. I immediately wrote a letter back to Brokaw inquiring about a job with NBC. He told me to come see him the next time I was in New York, so, of course, I booked a flight to NYC almost immediately. I had called to schedule a meeting with Tom, so it appeared that I had my bases covered. When I arrived at 30 Rock, I received some bad news. Some breaking news had taken Brokaw out of the country for an indeterminate amount of time. Feeling dejected, I wandered the halls of NBC, ultimately ending up at a newsstand in the basement. Picking up a copy of Broadcasting Magazine, I found an article about a local TV show in Utah that just happened to be the main competition to PM Magazine (a nightly infotainment show) that aired at the same time on KUTV. A few weeks before, I had found an ad in Broadcasting looking for a new show producer for PM Magazine. I had applied but heard nothing back (which is not uncommon.) Studying the article on the competition, I wrote a new letter to the Program Manager at KUTV, outlining how I would change PM Magazine to beat the competition. I mailed it off and went about my normal life. The next week I received a phone call from the Program Manager at KUTV. His first question was, “I suppose you thought that letter would impress me?” I replied that I had hoped so. He said “Well, it worked. How soon can you be here for an interview?” I got the job and started a seven year stretch of producing this Group W syndicated magazine program in three different cities… Salt Lake City, Baltimore, and San Francisco. These were some of the best jobs I’d ever had due to the range of stories we could produce and the autonomy I had to program and mold each show. It was also great training to be a documentary producer, but that’s a story for a different time. But the moral of this story is simple. Be persistent and do your research. Know as much as you can about the job you’re applying for and research the people doing the hiring. Talk to people who might have a connection to them. Remember, you’re in competition with literally hundreds of other people and you need to stand out. Make them remember you. Be impressive and luck will follow you.

Eric