A career in filmmaking… It sounds exciting, all the hot bodies walking around on set, the money, the exciting action sequences, the stunts, the…
Okay, in case you didn’t know, the above descriptions are pretty much a misnomer. A career in filmmaking means a LOT of hard work. Just the amount of work you have to do in order to FIND work in the film industry is hard. You try and try and try to get a foot in the door. Depending on your location, this can take weeks, months, and even years…
When you finally land a gig, you quickly find that there are many long days and nights involved. Sometimes they are extremely boring days and nights. Sometimes they are absolutely hectic. Sometimes you start work at 6AM and work so hard for so long, that you don’t even get lunch and/or dinner, only to wrap for the day at Midnight. You finally get home, fall asleep without a shower, and it seems like you just closed your eyes when your alarm goes off and you have to get up to do it all over again.
And don’t think you’ll do any better acting. Actors seem to have a rougher life. Casting calls are full of rejection. When you finally land a gig, the call sheet has you scheduled to show up at 7AM, but no one is ready to shoot until close to Noon – right before lunch… The days can be boring. You go over your lines, over and over and over… Until you are absolutely sick of them. And then, when the crew are finally ready for you to do your performance, the Assistant Director springs a new version of the script on you that he/she forgot to hand you earlier. All the lines you took all that time to learn are now completely different. Needless to say, “frustration” is not the word you’ll be thinking in your head.
Other not-so-fun things are the constant squabbling on set, nature ruining your shooting schedule (or one of the main actors being sick), equipment issues, etc., etc…
So, why should you be seriously thinking about a career in filmmaking anyway? With all the listed issues above, there are benefits.
1) The people. You constantly meet new people on sets. Some good some bad, but it’s a great opportunity to meet and talk with other, that’s if you actually have a few seconds to talk!
2) The travel. Honestly, this is a lot more rare than you’d thing. Sometimes you get to travel, but for a majority of the time, this isn’t always the case. Most producers hire local crew to keep from paying overnight fees.
3) You get to use your imagination. On a film set, there are many different avenues for your creative juices to flow. Makeup artists, set carpenters, Director of Photography, etc – creativity is in every nook and cranny.
4) The money. Honestly, the money can be good, but that’s only if your skills are good enough to warrant that good money and you get hired more than just a few times a year. Other than that, it’s not always that great. (The first few years in the industry, you will probably make more money working at a burger joint flipping burgers!)
5) The challenge. This has to be the single most important reason (much like when George Mallory was asked, “Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?” He retorted, “Because it’s there.”). Filmmaking is a challenge like you’ve never seen before.
If you have a career in filmmaking, do you have any benefits to add?
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