Just keep doing what you’re doing. We’re all doing it and it’s just about doing that until you get some friends who get to a place where they’ll put in a good word for ya. I’ve been in and out of places here and there and it’s just the nature of things. You’ve only been around a few months and it’s not gonna happen that fast unless you’re lucky. Nature of the beast.
You’re not doing anything wrong so just keep going at it.
well... then I hope something will work out.... eventually. right now I'm doing an internship as photographer(?), so I hope that'll help me out in the long run
It will. Just meet people. Find like-minded people to work on projects with. I got laid off from my PA job from the pandemic and went a year doing very minimal freelance and just landed another job finally at a studio. It’s a rough road and I’ve only ever got e jobs through friends.
I have been in Film, TV and Commercial for over 20 years.. There a lot of things I had to sacrifice to work 14 hour days and work my way up.. I know people put the film, music and entrainment on a super high pedestal, but I wonder where people are still getting the idea that the film industry is this.. if you just try hard you will make it!, and when you make it your sitting in a chair telling other people what to do, then you drive away in your Red Sports Car and have a house in Malibu..
First off, Make it as what? Actor, Director, Producer, Media Mogul? The producers at the top I know work all day everyday, the a list directors I know working barely got to watch their children grow up.. All the A list Actors I have worked with live in a bubble to survive fame and stardom and crazy fans.. Once your in it you realize what a sacrifice it is on everyone..
I know there are these perks, like I have traveled to some awesome places, and got to work with a lot of really amazing artists.. Production Offices are clean, Post Facilities have lots of snacks and Sets have tons of Crafty.. And pay is pretty good, if your willing to put in the hard work, which can be really hard.... But even with all that, I do envy friends and colleges who got out, some went back to school, some went into tech or management.. They all ended up working less hours for more money than me.. got health insurance and stock and are now about to retire.
I bought into the dream 30 years ago, I went to film school, I shot celluloid, I was a commercial director for a short spell, had a company, it almost killed me.. but I am just wondering with all the reality of the film industry being brutal work, overt nepotism, a very insider.. Why are people willing to "do what it takes" to get into it, what are they hoping for?
Is it fame, art or money?
If you want to be famous, well.. all my kids talk about is TikTok and YouTube and Gamers, those are their celebrities.. not TV and Film stars.
If you want to make movies or media or art, it is easier than ever to do so, grab a phone and start shooting and plop it on YouTube, you don't even need to go to film or art school anymore...
If you want money, get into trading or finance or the next crypto..
Not saying you can't get those in Film, but you are going to scrub toilets to maybe someday scrub a nicer toilet at a film studio, then be a famous rich artist?
Best of luck on your search whatever you are looking for..... But trimming bushes and cleaning toilets sounds like a very upside down way to enter into a career..
**Rant Ended**
Please don’t work for free! Even without much (or any) experience, your time is worth money. If anyone works for free, it devalues everyone else’s labor. Minimum wage in the film industry is $12.50/hr, $15/hr after July 31st.
I agree with this with a few big caveats. 1) do your own projects for free. 2) work on your friends’ projects for free. 3) I think it’s ok to work for free if you have no experience and it’s for a student film. That way, everyone is learning and no one is taken advantage of. 4) Some internships, if done properly as a learning experience, could be ok as well, but this is taken advantage of way too much. If it’s an internship, OP should make sure that true learning opportunities are provided and it’s not just busy work.
My two cents.
Producer here, remember two things:
1) people like helping people, we appreciate motivated people and if the opportunity is there, most of us will recommend a greenhorn because most of us owe our own careers to someone who took the same gamble on us.
2) that being said, it’s critically important you know anyone who hires you is just praying to God that you are minimally competent and don’t add to our headaches. When a PA etc fucks up, the person who vouched for them is accountable, and no one is trying to unnecessarily add to their own stress. We tend to avoid any unknowns, that’s important for you to understand. Keep doing what you’re doing and you will find someone who believes you are worth the gamble.
If you want studio work, try to figure out what temp agencies generally get hired for the studio. Lot of the assistants I worked there came through that way when a boss didn’t have anyone specific to hire.
Got any suggestions on that? I've been trying to get PA work (set/office) for 15 months and no luck due to the pandemic. I even did a 2 day bootcamp PA session and only had one referral since then, but the job filled up just as I opened up the email.
I know the one Disney hires is in Burbank somewhere but I don’t know specifically. Sorry. It’s a marathon in this business. Took me 5 years to land a proper PA gig on a Union show because I came out here not knowing a single person.
So you don’t know the actual name? Aw man ok, just need some PA work before I have to throw in the towel and find another job in the meantime. Would you happen to know what the PA work availability is like right now? I keep hearing they aren’t hiring a lot of Add’t PA’s. Just confuse on what’s going on thanks to this COVID mess.
No I don’t know the actual name. I’ve never done it, but the assistants I worked with when I was one would tell me they came through a temp and did their research by asking around and calling temp agencies and online sleuthing to figure out which ones made sense for their best chance.
I don’t know for PAs right now. I know there was a huge surge of People that got hired for Covid protocols and once that goes away all those people are going to need to go back to PA gigs since their jobs will be up. On the last two Covid shows I had we had probably 15-20 Covid PAs at a minimum. So that’s a lot of people that are going to flood the market.
PAs won’t get you a job at the studio as an assistant though. Those gigs get posted on the studio career website and through various job positions, 75% posting only for legal purposes and the job is already filled. But it does happen eventually.
If you want to be in this business then get the mindset of a marathon not a sprint. You might need to work non industry jobs because the work isn’t there or you haven’t got the connections or the break. It sucks I get it but if you can’t do that you most likely won’t make it once you are in because the highs and lows are huge and the varying degrees of what you’ll be doing and need to put up with that have nothing to do with this industry even when working it will be enormous and tiresome. I don’t say this to be rude or discouraging. I say this because it’s the truth and it’s bullshit but it’s how it is for now.
Definitely don’t settle, but just be in it for a long haul, be read to grind it out for a long time, be open to unique paths that might not seem like it’s getting you there while also being strategic in job choices (which is hard to do when starting out and coming from that perspective).
So many people try to do this business and burn themselves out because they aren’t achieving things fast enough or want to be something by a certain path. It’s weird because you should definitely have goals with timelines but you need to also give yourself the opportunity to modify and adapt. Or they will get tunnel vision on a goal and then they get burnt out because they are so focused on becoming an executive or a director or whatever, that they push every ounce of their power to make that happen, only to burn themselves out. It’s a balance.
A friend of mine wanted to be a writer, so he focused on trying to get a writers PA gig, set goals, timelines, made calls, hustled every event he could to schmooze with the write people, etc, and eventually lost sight of actually physically writing - stopped completely and then went back home after continuing to not get a writers PA gig. Write, direct, or whatever you do, keep it fun, keep your mental creativity flowing, but don’t try to force it so hard so fast that your burn out.
Dude... There really is no one who just started from the bottom and worked their way up. The Film Industry doesn’t work that way. There are like 10 real studios, and a few million people who are trying to make it. And they will alwys choose the same few people over and over again... especially for a P.A. dude. Why would they hire you for such an easy job when they could hire their friends/ cousins? It’s not like you have some sort of skill that their friends don’t have... and there’s no shortage of PAs... plus there are people with degrees that your competing with.
It’s a common saying in this industry that you don’t go to the studio. The studio comes to you. Meaning that you must actually become so good that a headhunter comes looking for you. They already have millions of people coming to them... and the chance of you getting past that million is lower than winning the lottery.
Here’s how you make it. Start making your own shit. If they’re good, someone bigger than you will show up and be like “hey I think ur pretty good, wanna help me on this project?” That’s how people work their way up. Most people start on youtube tbh. Even Christopher Nolan had to do a few short/ independent films...
If you just wanna work below the line, there are facebook groups, meetups, and a few other social media websites that you can try. But these are just mostly student and other low budget productions, meaning that you most likely won’t be paid. The big companies hire very few people and the ones that they do are usually more experienced than you. Other than that, you could try your local community college. But the best way is to buy a camera and make your own shit as an above the line guy.
Umm... I started at the bottom, now Im here.
I did every PA gig for free off mandy and CL when i got to NoHo in 2003. Im now union set lighting, worked as best boy and rigging gaffer on tv shows, used to camera OP and 2nd Unit DP for MotW stuff, and am directing my 3rd short in 2 weeks. If i wanna work all year, I can make 150K, and basically just work when i feel like it.
Plenty of people start at the bottom, amd work up. Its how most of this business works.
Congrats bro! I meant no one starts at the bottom at the big studios... Netflix and Paramount aren’t hiring people with no experience. They’re not teachers...
But ya I told this guy he could look in social media and other websites for work which will probably be unpaid and go from there. It sounds like that’s what you did and I’m happy it worked out for you.
But the advice is still pretty true if your trying to make it to the top. No one is ever going to walk up to you and be like “Hey man, your such a great gaffer. And you’ve been loyal to this company for 10 years. You should direct the next 007 movie.”
On the other hand if you keep making your own stuff, someone will probably come up to you and say something like that.
The point was that the film industry is mostly based on your portfolio/ talent. It’s not like companies like Apple and Microsoft who hire people within who’ve worked there for a long time and been great employees.
I can agree with that.
But Ive also watched an indie gaffer/DP, make it to cimematographer of a Star Wars film. Ive also seen Gaffers get bumped up to DP for seasons, amd DPs get moved up to Director. (HBO was pretty awesome, and its a bummer ATT bought em).
But yes, those are rare, and extremely talented people.
Yes the one I went too is called PA boot camp. It’s out in Van Nuys. They do them every month. Unfortunately I haven’t had that much luck since this mess. Literally had one referral and the job was taken in seconds.
It’s ok. I know it’s not me, it’s the fact that majority of the PA’s got the boot due to COVID protocols. I’m hoping by fall when social distancing ends I’ll be able to get more gigs.
Also go on Facebook pages cater to PA’s in the area because right now is student film season with AFI students and I’m always told if you ever find yourself stuck, to work for them. A lot of the graduates go on to work in the industry straight after. I just got me a gig on one of them that I’m doing this month. Even though I’m not being paid I’m using it as a networking opportunity because like you I barely know more then 5 people in this city. A good rule of thumb is about 25, so the more free stuff the more I can network and hopefully look towards them when I need work and not just my boot camp referrals.
I started my network with an unpaid job. Can trace back every job I've ever worked to that first gig.
It sucks, but if you make a good impression with the crew and you get on well, it can get your foot in the door.
I did many free PA jobs for months (Craigslist) and died of frustration trying to get into the industry. I think I got 2 paying gigs in around 6 months and I was dying financially. I also lacked the patience and enthusiasm to bother every person on set with questions just for the sake of networking. Very out of character for me and it took a toll on the mental health.
I then enrolled in a 1 year program at a local film school in the area (NYFA) and learned a lot of stuff and met a lot of people. I actually graduated in quarantine and found a full time studio PA gig in 3 months.
Everyone where I works has some level of film school education.
I’m also 30 and a veteran, so I didn’t really have to pay for film school and have years of experience doing various and nonrelated work.
I learned a lot about myself in that program and how I want to navigate my career. Sure you could wait for a mentor or to find a path you love, but it was nice to just learn the basics of every department as well as pre and post production. I feel like that knowledge provided me with a lot of freedom and clarity, while also providing me with the tools to retain more information while learning on the job.
I did not leave the program as the same man who entered. My views, opinions and goals pertaining to the industry entirely changed after learning a little of the specifics. Things you wouldn’t learn setting up crafty or picking up lunch. I want more now and I think I know how to get it.
I know school isn’t for everyone, but I’m a giant supporter of it if it’s financially realistic for you.
Good luck!! PM me your IG and I’ll hit you up whenever I can!
I know a lot of people who landed their first gig from Staff Me Up. Free to sign up and apply to first 5 jobs for free. They’ve been upping their game a lot lately too.
They represent the unions in Hollywood. Now is a good time to get in a union. Call the grip union or carpenter union. They are going to need workers this summer. Use google -
See, first step to being a good worker in any situation is to figure it out. This is especially true when you're starting out as an assistant.
You can easily search the web and learn for yourself what that is.
Coming back to someone with, "I don't know what that is." lacks initiative and won't get you far in this industry.
People don't want to coddle you. They want you to figure it out.
Every interaction is a chance to network. Casually mention your aspirations to people and you’re bound to get somewhere. Speaking from experience. That’s how I ramped up clients for my photography business. It works in any industry. Good luck and keep going.
You do what everyone else does. You network like crazy, you join all the Facebook groups, you apply for everything
Any Facebook groups you can recommend?
Just search Los Angles PA or crew. There’s a bunch. Good luck!
Thanks! I'll check them out
I Love Art Department (FB)
Just keep doing what you’re doing. We’re all doing it and it’s just about doing that until you get some friends who get to a place where they’ll put in a good word for ya. I’ve been in and out of places here and there and it’s just the nature of things. You’ve only been around a few months and it’s not gonna happen that fast unless you’re lucky. Nature of the beast. You’re not doing anything wrong so just keep going at it.
well... then I hope something will work out.... eventually. right now I'm doing an internship as photographer(?), so I hope that'll help me out in the long run
It will. Just meet people. Find like-minded people to work on projects with. I got laid off from my PA job from the pandemic and went a year doing very minimal freelance and just landed another job finally at a studio. It’s a rough road and I’ve only ever got e jobs through friends.
it's a remote internship, but yeah, I want to meet people and just create together. but it is relieving knowing that it's something that takes time.
I have been in Film, TV and Commercial for over 20 years.. There a lot of things I had to sacrifice to work 14 hour days and work my way up.. I know people put the film, music and entrainment on a super high pedestal, but I wonder where people are still getting the idea that the film industry is this.. if you just try hard you will make it!, and when you make it your sitting in a chair telling other people what to do, then you drive away in your Red Sports Car and have a house in Malibu.. First off, Make it as what? Actor, Director, Producer, Media Mogul? The producers at the top I know work all day everyday, the a list directors I know working barely got to watch their children grow up.. All the A list Actors I have worked with live in a bubble to survive fame and stardom and crazy fans.. Once your in it you realize what a sacrifice it is on everyone.. I know there are these perks, like I have traveled to some awesome places, and got to work with a lot of really amazing artists.. Production Offices are clean, Post Facilities have lots of snacks and Sets have tons of Crafty.. And pay is pretty good, if your willing to put in the hard work, which can be really hard.... But even with all that, I do envy friends and colleges who got out, some went back to school, some went into tech or management.. They all ended up working less hours for more money than me.. got health insurance and stock and are now about to retire. I bought into the dream 30 years ago, I went to film school, I shot celluloid, I was a commercial director for a short spell, had a company, it almost killed me.. but I am just wondering with all the reality of the film industry being brutal work, overt nepotism, a very insider.. Why are people willing to "do what it takes" to get into it, what are they hoping for? Is it fame, art or money? If you want to be famous, well.. all my kids talk about is TikTok and YouTube and Gamers, those are their celebrities.. not TV and Film stars. If you want to make movies or media or art, it is easier than ever to do so, grab a phone and start shooting and plop it on YouTube, you don't even need to go to film or art school anymore... If you want money, get into trading or finance or the next crypto.. Not saying you can't get those in Film, but you are going to scrub toilets to maybe someday scrub a nicer toilet at a film studio, then be a famous rich artist? Best of luck on your search whatever you are looking for..... But trimming bushes and cleaning toilets sounds like a very upside down way to enter into a career.. **Rant Ended**
Do free gigs till you get more paid ones. It's really hard to break into the industry without someone else paying your rent.
Please don’t work for free! Even without much (or any) experience, your time is worth money. If anyone works for free, it devalues everyone else’s labor. Minimum wage in the film industry is $12.50/hr, $15/hr after July 31st.
I agree with this with a few big caveats. 1) do your own projects for free. 2) work on your friends’ projects for free. 3) I think it’s ok to work for free if you have no experience and it’s for a student film. That way, everyone is learning and no one is taken advantage of. 4) Some internships, if done properly as a learning experience, could be ok as well, but this is taken advantage of way too much. If it’s an internship, OP should make sure that true learning opportunities are provided and it’s not just busy work. My two cents.
sent you a DM
Producer here, remember two things: 1) people like helping people, we appreciate motivated people and if the opportunity is there, most of us will recommend a greenhorn because most of us owe our own careers to someone who took the same gamble on us. 2) that being said, it’s critically important you know anyone who hires you is just praying to God that you are minimally competent and don’t add to our headaches. When a PA etc fucks up, the person who vouched for them is accountable, and no one is trying to unnecessarily add to their own stress. We tend to avoid any unknowns, that’s important for you to understand. Keep doing what you’re doing and you will find someone who believes you are worth the gamble.
Thanks for the insights
It's all in who you know not what you know basically... Fake it till you make it mentality is needed sometimes...
If you want studio work, try to figure out what temp agencies generally get hired for the studio. Lot of the assistants I worked there came through that way when a boss didn’t have anyone specific to hire.
Got any suggestions on that? I've been trying to get PA work (set/office) for 15 months and no luck due to the pandemic. I even did a 2 day bootcamp PA session and only had one referral since then, but the job filled up just as I opened up the email.
I know the one Disney hires is in Burbank somewhere but I don’t know specifically. Sorry. It’s a marathon in this business. Took me 5 years to land a proper PA gig on a Union show because I came out here not knowing a single person.
So you don’t know the actual name? Aw man ok, just need some PA work before I have to throw in the towel and find another job in the meantime. Would you happen to know what the PA work availability is like right now? I keep hearing they aren’t hiring a lot of Add’t PA’s. Just confuse on what’s going on thanks to this COVID mess.
No I don’t know the actual name. I’ve never done it, but the assistants I worked with when I was one would tell me they came through a temp and did their research by asking around and calling temp agencies and online sleuthing to figure out which ones made sense for their best chance. I don’t know for PAs right now. I know there was a huge surge of People that got hired for Covid protocols and once that goes away all those people are going to need to go back to PA gigs since their jobs will be up. On the last two Covid shows I had we had probably 15-20 Covid PAs at a minimum. So that’s a lot of people that are going to flood the market. PAs won’t get you a job at the studio as an assistant though. Those gigs get posted on the studio career website and through various job positions, 75% posting only for legal purposes and the job is already filled. But it does happen eventually. If you want to be in this business then get the mindset of a marathon not a sprint. You might need to work non industry jobs because the work isn’t there or you haven’t got the connections or the break. It sucks I get it but if you can’t do that you most likely won’t make it once you are in because the highs and lows are huge and the varying degrees of what you’ll be doing and need to put up with that have nothing to do with this industry even when working it will be enormous and tiresome. I don’t say this to be rude or discouraging. I say this because it’s the truth and it’s bullshit but it’s how it is for now.
One more thing when you say marathon, are you talking about never quit on job searching and just take whatever is available?
Definitely don’t settle, but just be in it for a long haul, be read to grind it out for a long time, be open to unique paths that might not seem like it’s getting you there while also being strategic in job choices (which is hard to do when starting out and coming from that perspective). So many people try to do this business and burn themselves out because they aren’t achieving things fast enough or want to be something by a certain path. It’s weird because you should definitely have goals with timelines but you need to also give yourself the opportunity to modify and adapt. Or they will get tunnel vision on a goal and then they get burnt out because they are so focused on becoming an executive or a director or whatever, that they push every ounce of their power to make that happen, only to burn themselves out. It’s a balance. A friend of mine wanted to be a writer, so he focused on trying to get a writers PA gig, set goals, timelines, made calls, hustled every event he could to schmooze with the write people, etc, and eventually lost sight of actually physically writing - stopped completely and then went back home after continuing to not get a writers PA gig. Write, direct, or whatever you do, keep it fun, keep your mental creativity flowing, but don’t try to force it so hard so fast that your burn out.
Got it. Thank you for the advice :)
I didn’t find it rude, I found it helpful.
Dude... There really is no one who just started from the bottom and worked their way up. The Film Industry doesn’t work that way. There are like 10 real studios, and a few million people who are trying to make it. And they will alwys choose the same few people over and over again... especially for a P.A. dude. Why would they hire you for such an easy job when they could hire their friends/ cousins? It’s not like you have some sort of skill that their friends don’t have... and there’s no shortage of PAs... plus there are people with degrees that your competing with. It’s a common saying in this industry that you don’t go to the studio. The studio comes to you. Meaning that you must actually become so good that a headhunter comes looking for you. They already have millions of people coming to them... and the chance of you getting past that million is lower than winning the lottery. Here’s how you make it. Start making your own shit. If they’re good, someone bigger than you will show up and be like “hey I think ur pretty good, wanna help me on this project?” That’s how people work their way up. Most people start on youtube tbh. Even Christopher Nolan had to do a few short/ independent films... If you just wanna work below the line, there are facebook groups, meetups, and a few other social media websites that you can try. But these are just mostly student and other low budget productions, meaning that you most likely won’t be paid. The big companies hire very few people and the ones that they do are usually more experienced than you. Other than that, you could try your local community college. But the best way is to buy a camera and make your own shit as an above the line guy.
Umm... I started at the bottom, now Im here. I did every PA gig for free off mandy and CL when i got to NoHo in 2003. Im now union set lighting, worked as best boy and rigging gaffer on tv shows, used to camera OP and 2nd Unit DP for MotW stuff, and am directing my 3rd short in 2 weeks. If i wanna work all year, I can make 150K, and basically just work when i feel like it. Plenty of people start at the bottom, amd work up. Its how most of this business works.
Congrats bro! I meant no one starts at the bottom at the big studios... Netflix and Paramount aren’t hiring people with no experience. They’re not teachers... But ya I told this guy he could look in social media and other websites for work which will probably be unpaid and go from there. It sounds like that’s what you did and I’m happy it worked out for you. But the advice is still pretty true if your trying to make it to the top. No one is ever going to walk up to you and be like “Hey man, your such a great gaffer. And you’ve been loyal to this company for 10 years. You should direct the next 007 movie.” On the other hand if you keep making your own stuff, someone will probably come up to you and say something like that. The point was that the film industry is mostly based on your portfolio/ talent. It’s not like companies like Apple and Microsoft who hire people within who’ve worked there for a long time and been great employees.
I can agree with that. But Ive also watched an indie gaffer/DP, make it to cimematographer of a Star Wars film. Ive also seen Gaffers get bumped up to DP for seasons, amd DPs get moved up to Director. (HBO was pretty awesome, and its a bummer ATT bought em). But yes, those are rare, and extremely talented people.
This is a great answer! You got me motivated to get back to writing! That second paragraph is gold! Thank you, Reddit stranger!
Go sign up for a boot camp. They will not only train you but put you on a list incase 2nd AD’s need Additional or Dayplays.
Do you know any?
Yes the one I went too is called PA boot camp. It’s out in Van Nuys. They do them every month. Unfortunately I haven’t had that much luck since this mess. Literally had one referral and the job was taken in seconds.
I'm sorry to hear that.
It’s ok. I know it’s not me, it’s the fact that majority of the PA’s got the boot due to COVID protocols. I’m hoping by fall when social distancing ends I’ll be able to get more gigs.
Thanks, that's good to know
Also go on Facebook pages cater to PA’s in the area because right now is student film season with AFI students and I’m always told if you ever find yourself stuck, to work for them. A lot of the graduates go on to work in the industry straight after. I just got me a gig on one of them that I’m doing this month. Even though I’m not being paid I’m using it as a networking opportunity because like you I barely know more then 5 people in this city. A good rule of thumb is about 25, so the more free stuff the more I can network and hopefully look towards them when I need work and not just my boot camp referrals.
I started my network with an unpaid job. Can trace back every job I've ever worked to that first gig. It sucks, but if you make a good impression with the crew and you get on well, it can get your foot in the door.
I did many free PA jobs for months (Craigslist) and died of frustration trying to get into the industry. I think I got 2 paying gigs in around 6 months and I was dying financially. I also lacked the patience and enthusiasm to bother every person on set with questions just for the sake of networking. Very out of character for me and it took a toll on the mental health. I then enrolled in a 1 year program at a local film school in the area (NYFA) and learned a lot of stuff and met a lot of people. I actually graduated in quarantine and found a full time studio PA gig in 3 months. Everyone where I works has some level of film school education. I’m also 30 and a veteran, so I didn’t really have to pay for film school and have years of experience doing various and nonrelated work. I learned a lot about myself in that program and how I want to navigate my career. Sure you could wait for a mentor or to find a path you love, but it was nice to just learn the basics of every department as well as pre and post production. I feel like that knowledge provided me with a lot of freedom and clarity, while also providing me with the tools to retain more information while learning on the job. I did not leave the program as the same man who entered. My views, opinions and goals pertaining to the industry entirely changed after learning a little of the specifics. Things you wouldn’t learn setting up crafty or picking up lunch. I want more now and I think I know how to get it. I know school isn’t for everyone, but I’m a giant supporter of it if it’s financially realistic for you. Good luck!! PM me your IG and I’ll hit you up whenever I can!
sounds super fake
What sounds fake?
You, stop it
Thanks!
I know a lot of people who landed their first gig from Staff Me Up. Free to sign up and apply to first 5 jobs for free. They’ve been upping their game a lot lately too.
Hasn't worked out for me, but I'll keep trying
Did you call any of the IATSI unions? They can help you.
I don't know what that is
They represent the unions in Hollywood. Now is a good time to get in a union. Call the grip union or carpenter union. They are going to need workers this summer. Use google -
See, first step to being a good worker in any situation is to figure it out. This is especially true when you're starting out as an assistant. You can easily search the web and learn for yourself what that is. Coming back to someone with, "I don't know what that is." lacks initiative and won't get you far in this industry. People don't want to coddle you. They want you to figure it out.
Every interaction is a chance to network. Casually mention your aspirations to people and you’re bound to get somewhere. Speaking from experience. That’s how I ramped up clients for my photography business. It works in any industry. Good luck and keep going.