Getting into such a creative field as the film industry may sound like a dream that is barely possible to turn into life. Nevertheless, no matter how challenging and competitive it can be, it is possible. You only need to start early and do things the right way.
Ideally, if you want to join this field, you should seek your first job while still being a student. This way, by the time you graduate, you will already gain some basic skills and work experience and will be able to progress your career faster after you leave college. If you are up for the challenge, below you will find a list of the five best entry-level jobs you can get as a student that will jump-start your career in the film industry. Let’s dive in!
1. Production Assistant
Production Assistant or PA is the first and probably the toughest job you can get. People in this role are often called “runners,” so, as you can guess, it will require lots of your time and focus. Balancing it with studying will definitely be hard.
Eventually, it can get you thinking “I need Essaypro to write my essays” but, luckily, you can always rely on professionals in your academic matters. So, when you feel too much pressure, don’t hesitate to ask for help.
The reason why it’s hard to balance out studying and being a PA is that PAs have a very broad range of responsibilities. They support the production process at every stage. Respectively, such positions take quite a lot of time. So, as a student, you might lack time for your homework, which is why it is so important to have a reliable assistant by your side.
Nevertheless, the role of PA is the most logical way to get into the industry. Many top-level film professionals started their careers from there.
2. Assistant Editor
If you want to get into the film industry specifically as a video editor, the best option you have is to aim for an assistant or apprentice editor role. Of course, the most logical career path is to land a full-time job in a local film studio, so that you could learn from pros and gain hands-on experience.
However, it is worth noting that assistant editor positions are quite rare and hard to land. Besides, they take lots of time and can be hard to combine with studying.
Luckily, this is one of the few jobs in this industry you can do online. So, be sure to consider being a freelance editor. If you are lucky, you can get hired to edit foreign movies remotely. But, even if you don’t, remember that you can gain the needed experience in other mediums too. For example, you can jump-start your career as a YouTube video editor and gradually move into the film industry as you build up your skills.
3. Operator Assistant
If you are interested in becoming a camera operator in the future, the only logical path to your dream career is to land an operator assistant job first. People in this role typically assist directors and operators to capture perfect shots. But, at the same time, they can also perform some other assistant’s tasks, for example, related to equipment maintenance.
As you can guess, doing this job remotely is impossible. Therefore, if you choose this path, be ready for having a hard time balancing your work and studies.
Also, it is worth noting that landing this job without having some prior knowledge and skills is simply impossible. So, before you start looking for open positions, be sure to study theory and get familiar with various camera equipment. And don’t hesitate to start watching plenty of good movies in order to get a sense of how operators work and how they create the right atmosphere in a film with the help of exposition, settings, lights, and other tools.
4. Sound Trainee
If you are especially interested in working with sound, the best way to get into the film industry is to start with a sound trainee or boom operator position.
What will you do in both roles? In a nutshell, sound trainees are assisting sound professionals at the post-production phase. Boom operators, on the contrary, work during the production phase. They are responsible for ensuring that during shooting, microphones always stay close enough to capture actors’ voices and other sounds.
Both jobs can be a good start for a career in the sound department.
5. Screenwriter
Finally, one more way to get into the movie industry while still being a student is to become a screenwriter. If you are good at storytelling, writing, and are pretty creative, this might be an option for you.
One way to land an entry-level screenwriter position is to hunt for writer’s assistant jobs. Being in this role, you will likely write only tiny parts of the script, do research, and perform other minor tasks. But, since anyone can put pen to paper and create their own script, one more option you have is to become an entry-level screenwriter yourself. All you need is a well-written script and some patience to offer it to different companies.
Chances are that you won’t make it to the high league straight away and get your scenarios into Hollywood. But, that’s one more job that can be done remotely, so you can try to offer your scripts to smaller studios all across the world. For example, a very promising niche these days is Korean cinematography.
The Bottom Line
Without any doubt, the movie niche is extremely competitive today. There are thousands of production companies in every country, all over the world. But, getting into this field can still be rather hard, especially if you are not sure where to start.
Luckily, after reading this article, you are aware of some of the best ways to turn your dream into reality. Each of these entry-level jobs can give a good start to your career in film. So, all you need to do is to get patient and start acting as soon as possible!
Nicola Holder