• Come to NY with some savings, since you will be working for free for a short time – you’ll need to pay the rent, right?
• Because of the freelance nature of film, find a part-time job to do between jobs.   Ideally, find something that allows you flexibility in your workq schedule. Since the goal is for your main source of income to come from film production, this ‘side-job’ need not be rocket science and probably shouldn’t be a steady nine-to-five, but should be enough to support you through the gaps between production gigs.  Some ideal examples of side-jobs are:
  • Tending bar – open schedules during the daytime and inherent flexibility due to bar/ club manager’s ease of finding a temporary replacement;
  • Voice-over gigs – usually well paid, short term, relevant to production (thus, resume-enhancing);
  • Go-go dancer?
  • Food service employee – sometimes you just need to pay the rent.  Also, easy to quit;
  • Drug dealer – relevant to film industry, great for networking and lucrative.
• Housing – definitely find a shared living space! In NYC, it’s very easy to find yourself living in a crumbling 10-story shack with windows facing a dumpster (for $1500 - $2000 monthly).  The solution?
  • Invest some time to search Craigslist.org for a reasonable share.  Apartments are expensive and all you really need (unless you have kids) is your own room in decent apartment, close to the action and some responsible housemates.  By doing some searching on Craigslist, you can find yourself the right living situation for a good price.
• Live in the Brooklyn or Queens – Manhattan is only a small piece of the NYC scene.  It’s really only for misled farmers’ daughters, rich kids and bankers.  Unpredictable Call Times demand that you live in close proximity to the City.  Each of the neighborhoods listed below is within 20 minutes of Manhattan on the train.  These areas are also is full of young people in their mid-twenties and have a active social scenes… oh yeah, and the rent would be about 2x cheaper than comparable shares in the City:
  • In Queens, consider Astoria and Long Island City
  • In Brooklyn look at Williamsburg, Bushwick, Park Slope and Greenpoint

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If you’re thinking about film or television production as a career, below are some insider suggestions on how to be successful as a newcomer.  These tips are tailored toward the absolute beginners, but there is some perspective here for the rest of us as well. If you mentally check-off some of these ideas as things you currently do or have done, great.

Understand what the different positions are
Visit websites like this or IMDB.com.  IMDB has a glossary of film terms, including descriptions of various jobs on film sets.  Based on this, you may get an idea of what exactly you would want to do in film and who you’d be working with.

Also, pay attention to the credits in movies and television shows.  Although the titles may not be accompanied by a description, it will definitely give you an idea of what departments people work in.

Employers posting jobs on websites like this or Mandy.com would usually attach a description to the post, explaining the various duties that the position may have

Visit (but don’t loiter at) film/television sets
Major cities such as New York and Los Angeles are constantly filming things year-round. You can usually identify a filming location based on multiple trucks, vans, and/or trailers parked on the street.

If its within a few days before an actual shoot day, there will at least be brightly colored signs on trees and lamp posts explaining when the shoot will be, the name of the production company, and a contact number.  These signs serve as official filming permits issued by the city, but they can help you as well – call the contact number and tell them that you are interested in working on their film.  There is a good chance that they have all of the crew that they need at that point, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.   They might even be able to refer you to another shoot that does need people at the moment.

There is nothing wrong with asking around while walking past a shooting location.  Look for anyone wearing a walkie-talkie with a headset.  You will want to talk to an AD, a PA (especially the key PA) or anyone in production, so ask around for either of these people.  If you do so in a polite and professional manner, you will be taken seriously.

Be prepared to start off as a (grunt) Production Assistant
A production assistant (PA) is the entry-level position on any film set.  Some shoots will hire unpaid interns as well, but usually the duties are about the same.

Even if you know that you want to work in a certain department, you must still start off as a PA.  Sometimes, you might be able to be a PA in a specific department (for example, the camera department sometimes has camera PAs, who would be assigned specifically to assist the camera department).  Not all shoots have department-specific PA positions, but ALL shoots have PAs.

NETWORK!!

Whenever you meet anyone who works in film, especially when you are just starting out, make sure to ask for his or her contact information, and definitely hand off yours.  This simple interaction WILL go a long way to having them remember you for the future.  It shows initiative and professionalism and those are two of the most important attributes that any PA can have.

If you have already started working in film, share contact info with people you are working with.  On the last day of shooting, on your last day of working (sometimes, you may only work a few days when they need additional people, but the shoot will still go on) or at a wrap party, make sure that your info is shared with as many people as you can (especially with people in the department that you know you would like to end up).  This leads to the next point…
Get a business card.  It isn’t necessary to have, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.  No one will EVER think that you are TOO professional.  As long as is has your name, phone number and email address, it will be fine.  In your business card, avoid specifying that that you are a freelance PA, because when you do excel and move up to a different department, people who have your card will always associate you with being a PA and will hire you as a PA.

Don’t suck!

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