If you want to get into the film industry, know that you are facing an uphill battle from the very start. Make no mistake: that’s not intended to be a discouragement, just a fact. Building a successful film career is a never-ending journey that requires hard work, determination, and no small amount of lucky breaks along the way. If this is your dream, and you have the determination to see it through, here are a few key points you need to know.
Networking
There is much truth to the old adage, it’s not how much you know but who you know. Social networking is the key to success in most career paths, but the film industry takes that to an entirely new level. The chances of landing an acting role, being brought onboard to a production team, or even being hired as a stagehand is largely dependent upon having an existing relationship with a producer or director.
That does not mean that you have to have a budding friendship, though. It simply means that the statistical probability of being given an opportunity to work with a filmmaker is directly proportional to whether or not you have already worked with that filmmaker in the past. Having a common work history will help to land you more jobs in the film industry than mere talent alone, so your first goal should be to find any entry-level position that you can get and start building your social network from within that community.
Conditioning
Your conditioning is a two-pronged feature. First, there is your physical conditioning, your health, that must be considered. If your goal is to step in front of the camera, you need to first optimise your overall health. Having a healthy body will not only support your quality of life but also your ability to perform more varied roles. To accomplish that, you should enlist the aid of qualified health professionals like the team at the USANA Health Sciences to put together a holistic regimen for the best possible combination of nutrition, exercise, sleep support, skin care, and vitamin supplementation.
Secondly, you need to buff up your reputation. The condition of your reputation is largely dependent on how well you succeed at building your social network, but there is a catch: in such a public, high-risk community as the film industry, a good reputation is often far more easily tarnished than it is reinforced. That means that you have to measure your every word and every action, because decades of work building a successful career can unfortunately be unravelled by a single social media post or an ill-timed picture taken when you are around the wrong people.
The Digital Revolution
With the previous two points being said, in the 21st century, there is a caveat that might make breaking into the film industry a little less challenging than it was twenty or thirty years ago. With the advent of social media and public online platforms like YouTube, amateur filmmakers and actors alike are now able to create independent content without going through the traditional Hollywood route. What this means for you is largely dependent upon your skills, initiative, and determination.
Starting a YouTube channel is not a guaranteed measure of success, but it does present you with two advantages over the traditional method. Rather than relying on past professional experience and agencies to market your abilities, creating digital content independently presents a living portfolio of your skills. It also presents you with the opportunity to gain followers before ever stepping foot on a Hollywood stage, which means earning name recognition without having to rely so heavily on your inside-Hollywood social network.
While none of this guarantees success, understanding these factors will give you a head start in the right direction necessary to succeed. Just remember that whether you take the traditional route into film or try to break in through the new-age digital revolution, it will take time, energy, and determination.
Finnegan Pierson loves business and has a passion for technology and films. As a freelance writer, Finn hopes to influence others so they can have a positive business experience.
