If you are serious and looking to break into the Film Industry, then you will require all the help you get. I speak as someone who knows the industry very well and will offer all the help I can below.
Remember, the film industry is like any other industry. It is like the Manufacturing Industry. It is like the Car Industry. It is even like the Manual Labour Industry. It is just another industry that makes up the job market. Everyone treats it like an invitation only elite community which in a way it is but it doesn't mean you have to treat it any different to the other industries.
When it comes to the Film Industry, you probably ALREADY KNOW that it is "About who you know, not what you know." Provided that you have basic common sense and you absorb anything that is taught to you, then you can make it in the industry. Obviously, each department on a film production will require you to have different skills: For example, a make up artist is highly unlikely to have the skills required to work in the Camera Department.
This is something else you have to realise when you are looking at breaking into the Film Industry. Be focused! Decide upon the department you want to work in and go for it. You can change of course, and you could change from the Camera Department to the Grips Department and then to the Lighting Department as these department tend to be intertwined with one another, but do not decide you want to be a Director, then a Director of Photography, then a Producer, then a Location Scout and then a Gaffer. These jobs are so varied then you will end up knowing some skills in each 'trade' and not a lot of skills specific to one job.
But this article is about How to Become a Film Director, not how to break into the Industry. If you want to become a director then there is a clear path you must follow:
- Runner
- (Director's Assistant)
- Third Assistant Director
- Second Assistant Director
- First Assistant Director
- Director
By looking at that, it looks fairly easy, in 5 to 6 jobs, you will be a director. No! You will spend at least 2 years being a runner, then 2 years being a 3rd AD then 2 more years being a 2rd AD and then anywhere from 5 to 10 years being a 1st AD before you get the opportunity to become a Director. Going through the ranks allows you to fully understand what there is entitled within the role of the Director. Everyone thinks the director shouts "Actor A go from here to here and smile." A lot of the success of the film rests on the shoulders of the Director. If the director messes up, so does the film and the film is a flop.
One of the big problems with being a Director is that your ability and skill is judged 99% of the time on how successful past films have been. If you have a run of 2/3/4/5 bad films then you will find near IMPOSSIBLE to get that next job.
Below are the THREE THINGS you MUST do to answer: How to Become a Film Director?
1. When you are just starting out, don't turn down ANY job. Whether it be for a Tea/Coffee Boy/Girl on a Low Budget film or a non paid student project. Experience is Experience and in the industry, experience is KEY!
2. When you are not working, get your video camera and start shooting your own stuff. This may mean just grabbing your cousins and siblings and make a short film.
3. Get serious! Create an online portfolio/profile to show everyone you are 100% serious. No, this does not mean you have to create a lavish website.
When it comes to creating an online Portfolio to help you Become a Film Director, a new service called Media Profiles can do it all for you. It adds you to a database of persons within the Media Industry.
Industry Employers can search for ANYONE using the service so make sure you are a part of it. For only ?10/$16 a year as well as a 7 day FREE TRIAL with NO PAYMENT REQUIRED, you have NOTHING to lose: CLICK HERE!
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