Climbing the Ladder
You love film. You breathe film. It’s in your blood. Whether you dream in celluloid or solidstate, it’s all you can see yourself doing. A day‐job never held much interest, numbers make your head hurt, and everywhere you look you see shot composition. You’re hungry. You consume every bit of media you can. You want to make your mark. You’re ready. Just give you a chance.
So, just how difficult is the road ahead? Well, its not easy, but it can be traversed. The media is oversaturated as it is, a sea of voices, and you want yours to be heard. There are a million others just like you, wanting what you want. If you want to rise above the pack, you’re going to have a rough journey ahead of you.
Not to worry, despite the odds, it can be done. The opportunity is out there. However, it’s time for a reality check. Pursuing success in film is a long, expensive, frustrating, and at times soul‐crushing road. Depending upon various factors in your life – finances, contacts, talent, thick skin, location, self‐promotion, perseverance, work‐ethic, and luck – your own path to your goals will vary. Lacking strength in one or more of these factors will often slow you down considerably. If your desire to be a filmmaker is shaken by the idea of hard work, I’d recommend another career. You can still love film as a mechanic. If you hear all this, and still cannot be shaken, then there is nothing I can say to stop you. You’re one step ahead already.
There is no one path that works. From experience, opportunity and advancement can come from the most unexpected places. Flexibility is key. More than anything, no matter what your career or life throws at you, hold firm to your resolve. Remember that a variety of factors will help you move up the ladder, and know when to capitalize on each. Most importantly, realize that for most this is going to be a very long process. Think unforeseeable future, then add five years.
Financing is necessary to fuel your production, and is your largest hurdle. If you’ve got money, through savings or finance, you’re ahead of a lot of the game. You can support your own career at the beginning, invest in yourself, until someone believes in you enough to invest. For the rest of us, money is a struggle. Cost of living is enough, but how do you also pay for the many expenses that accumulate for the average filmmaker? How do you produce on pocket change? Money is the ultimate Catch 22: you need it to create a polished enough product to land possible future investment, but the more you spend without recoupment the more difficult it is to keep afloat on a day‐to‐day basis.
With money, you have to pick your battles carefully. It is true that gear is cheaper than ever before, and polished product can be shot cheaply ‐ but be practical. Do your research, and never make the mistake of believing the advertising. Shop around, and in many cases, rent gear instead of buying. Get to know the costs of the game as you move along, so you can learn how to cut corners. Invest in yourself wisely. Look for related work that pays, and if you’re really stuck, get a day‐job. You’re going to need every penny.
Network. There’s no telling who will actually help you along, so get to know everyone you can. Film really is ‘who you know’, and who is able to recommend or vouch for you. In a business with this much capital thrown around, trust and reputation is everything. The more you network, the more the results will become clear to you. Unexpected jobs and venues will open up in front of you. Find like‐minded individuals, and attend networking events. Most importantly, your team will grow. Your team will be there to help you realize your goals, the lifeblood of every career. Remember, a film sometimes takes an army to make.
Although it cannot be taught, talent is obviously important. You either have it, or you don’t. If you don’t, chances are you have no idea. This is okay – to put it bluntly, the industry will eventually test you, and it’ll be up to your strengths in the other factors to remain afloat. However, through experience and education, great improvement is possible. There’s a high chance your work will be sub‐par as you start out. Honestly, 99% of filmmakers start there. Keep at it, live and learn, and you never know.
Be ready for people to tear your work, and you, to pieces. Especially in the age of the internet. Reviews were bad enough when Siskel & Ebert gave something “two thumbs down”, but now anyone with a digital soapbox can make you feel as if you’ve wasted your entire life and you maybe should have become a doctor. The amount of work it takes to get to a point in your career in which your work is actively criticized is immense, and to have it immediately thrown in your face can be a little bit soul‐crushing. Like talent, having thick‐skin can’t be taught. Just remember everyone has an opinion, and nobody agrees. About anything. Your tastes and sensibilities might be completely outside the general populace (remember the box‐office‐take for Paul Blart: Mall Cop?), and that’s entirely okay. Sleep better knowing that if you keep at it, there will be an audience that appreciates your work. Make no illusions though: filmmaking, by nature, is a narcissistic career path. Therefore, don’t act surprised when some kid sitting in his parent’s basement is able to rip your heart out.
You may have to move from your comfort zone, from your home, to actually make something of your career. It’s common knowledge that some locations have stronger film industries, and you may have to go where the work is. Does this mean you can’t get your career off the ground from the middle of nowhere? No, anything is possible. Statistically speaking, you drastically increase your chances in a thriving industry hub. In North America that’s Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, New York, and any of the states with large tax incentives, such as Michigan & Louisiana.
One area in which you can make a huge impact for virtually nothing is self‐promotion. With the internet, and the popularity of video‐enabled social‐networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, YouTube & Vimeo, you can make a name for yourself without ever leaving your apartment. Follow the trends, know how to advertise your work without being too invasive, and get the word out. Throw events sponsored by your company or film, plaster the city with stickers, hold contests, throw parties, enter festivals – do everything you can to spread your art.
Above all, just keep at it. Work as hard as you can, but never forget that life is meant to be lived. Keep moving forward, at whatever pace you’re able. Eventually, after years of trying, you might actually reach the goal you’d been putting your every effort into. Hopefully when you get there you can look back and think that all the hard work was worth it. If you’ve already been trying for years, and still haven’t made it, that’s okay too. It’s a guarantee that if you actually did try, you’ll have a body of work behind you and the resolve to keep trying. Don’t give up now. Just be realistic as well as optimistic. Your time will come, someday.
Perhaps you’re just lucky. You were born with a golden‐horseshoe up your ass, and after the painful surgery removed it, you had nothing but good fortune. Good for you. Maybe lightning will strike, and you’ll have a career. It can take as little as one phone call, or even a text message, and your goal may be met.
The point is that a career in film, with all it’s smoke and mirrors, it’s glamour and pull, is a fickle bitch. Sometimes the route is direct, but more often you have to walk in a circle three times and hop while clutching a rabbit’s foot to make anything happen. A career can be made overnight, and destroyed just as fast. Something you shot for pocket‐money might make you rich, or you could be conned out of everything you have. The best thing you can do, the only thing, is keep pressing forward. It’s not a race. It’s your life.
Go live.
‐Justin McConnell
