Pretend that a significant length of time has elapsed since that introductory post. I've started this blog a week into my job-search but I didn't want to group all of my as-of-yet unsuccessful tactics with my introduction. And oh, how they've been unsuccessful.
Disclaimer: I know I've only been on the ground a week here and that I'm trying to find a job in a high profile industry during a recession in what is probably the most depressed state in the union, competing against people who have been unemployed for months, if not years. I get that much. I'm not that naive that I would expect to find a job a week after having moved somewhere.
That being said, it would be nice to get a phone call. To date, my job search has revolved around what I'm qualified for. Believe it or not, the film industry seems to have a slew of entry-level openings for people with business/finance degrees. Paramount, Warner Brothers, Universal, all the major studios have openings almost daily for positions such as "Financial Analyst, Entertainment Analyst, Participations Analyst, etc". Lots of analyzing is needed apparently. Most of them require a degree in finance or accounting (got it), experience in the financial world (got it), basic office skills (got 'em), and some "preferred entertainment experience" (eh, not so much). The downside to approaching the job search in this manner is A) Most of the major studios are owned by parent companies and navigating through their career pages can be tedious and B) I don't really know what I'm looking for. Mostly I'm just making sure I'm qualified for something and hitting "apply". No luck so far.
While it would be nice to have a steady pay-check, benefits and the beginnings of a retirement account, there are other ways to go about finding a job here. The real fun is landing a job as a production assistant. Aside from working in a mail room, it's about as classic of a start as you can get here. The real trick is finding openings. There are a couple of places to find posting about productions needing assistants (As in "Variety" and www.productionweekly.com) but those resources and still no guarantee (obviously) of finding employment.
More to come.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Journey to the center of the earth
Well, not really, but close to. I've decided to start this blog in the hopes that when I reach some yet-unspecified point of my career in the future, I can look back and make some semblance of the choices and decisions that led me to that point. If nothing else, maybe it can serve as a guide (or warning) to other would-be denizens of Tinsel Town, hoping to find success in show business.
As a precursor to this entire blog, I want to just give you a heads up to who I am and why I'm doing what I'm doing. I graduated in May of 2010 with a concrete degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Prior to my graduation, I held an internship with a financial advisory firm in Chicago. The work was dynamic and my exposure to the industry was as thorough as I could have hoped for. That being said, there was definitely something missing from the experience. I found it difficult to reconcile that at the end of the day, my contribution to industry was that I was making people who already buckets of money, more money. That and the whole "sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day" isn't exactly the most stimulating of activities.
The result of this two year endeavor was that I was left extremely confused about what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing after graduation. I understood that I enjoyed business, but I wanted to be able to apply business skills to an industry that was dynamic and contributed to society in some way.
So why not film? That sounds fun. I had the opportunity my senior year of college to write and produce several short, student productions (link to one of them: http://bit.ly/15s1Ry ) and I figured, why not try to replicate that experience? You know, and get paid for it. It is of utmost importance to me that my work during my life, in some way, improves the lives of other people, if only for a short time. If a person can walk into a theatre, watch a film, and for two hours feel good about themselves, then that's an experience I want to be able to provide. Cheesy as it may be, I have always been the happiest when those around me are happy. I'm hoping that film will provide that outlet for me.
Which brings me to where am I now. Having finished a cathartic stint living under my parent's roof for the past 7 months (and working for a trucking company, without going into details, awesome experience), I have driven 2.5K miles coast-to-coast and am now living in the uber-expansive city of Los Angeles. Am I overwhelmed? Completely. Do I have any idea what I want to do professionally? Not at all. Still.
First and foremost, I'm hoping this blog will follow path to employment. I intend to chronicle the avenues I use looking for jobs and the opportunities I come across. As interesting, industry-related bits present themselves, I'll post them here too. Mostly, I'm just going to play it by ear so just roll with it.
As a precursor to this entire blog, I want to just give you a heads up to who I am and why I'm doing what I'm doing. I graduated in May of 2010 with a concrete degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Prior to my graduation, I held an internship with a financial advisory firm in Chicago. The work was dynamic and my exposure to the industry was as thorough as I could have hoped for. That being said, there was definitely something missing from the experience. I found it difficult to reconcile that at the end of the day, my contribution to industry was that I was making people who already buckets of money, more money. That and the whole "sitting at a desk for 9 hours a day" isn't exactly the most stimulating of activities.
The result of this two year endeavor was that I was left extremely confused about what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing after graduation. I understood that I enjoyed business, but I wanted to be able to apply business skills to an industry that was dynamic and contributed to society in some way.
So why not film? That sounds fun. I had the opportunity my senior year of college to write and produce several short, student productions (link to one of them: http://bit.ly/15s1Ry ) and I figured, why not try to replicate that experience? You know, and get paid for it. It is of utmost importance to me that my work during my life, in some way, improves the lives of other people, if only for a short time. If a person can walk into a theatre, watch a film, and for two hours feel good about themselves, then that's an experience I want to be able to provide. Cheesy as it may be, I have always been the happiest when those around me are happy. I'm hoping that film will provide that outlet for me.
Which brings me to where am I now. Having finished a cathartic stint living under my parent's roof for the past 7 months (and working for a trucking company, without going into details, awesome experience), I have driven 2.5K miles coast-to-coast and am now living in the uber-expansive city of Los Angeles. Am I overwhelmed? Completely. Do I have any idea what I want to do professionally? Not at all. Still.
First and foremost, I'm hoping this blog will follow path to employment. I intend to chronicle the avenues I use looking for jobs and the opportunities I come across. As interesting, industry-related bits present themselves, I'll post them here too. Mostly, I'm just going to play it by ear so just roll with it.
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