How do I join the film industry?
I love movies. I want to be involved in making them. Does anyone here know anything about the film financing/producing industry? It seems like such a a glamorous job: find movie investment opportunities--> evaluate them--> watch the film come to fruition--> profits. Looks like PE/VC, but for movies instead of companies. I'm guessing I have a naive view of how this industry, which is why I'm here. Does anyone know about this world? Would a background in high finance set me up or would I have to get in another way? And of course, how well would it pay? Enlighten me please.
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My buddy Harvey always told me that the best way to break in and advance your career in the film industry is to bend over and let your superior really pound out the career opportunities into you.
Great. For banking I have to pretend to be gay to get in, but for movies I actually have to prove it.
if steve bannon did it, so can you
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hey I lived in L.A. during my grad courses and afterwards. While I am currently not there, I am moving back after the pandemic (around mid- to end of 2022). half my friends from various frats, business clubs and through my network are in the industry.
I can not help you answer the question you asked because I don't work in that field. But from what my friends have told me there are various approaches:
- talent agency:
good schools, appropriate degree, you start at the bottom, but can quickly rise through the ranks up to a certain point (not as easy to make higher titles as it might be elsewhere).
- film financing:
before I write something completely false, I will contact a friend and then get back
- technical things:
my cousin is on the production side of things and more focused on technology. anything from drones to lights to props, special cars, cameras and equipment. sometimes he is sourcing stuff, sometimes he is behind the camera, sometimes he is assisting larger productions. He has a traditional degree in film making but operates through his own LLC.
- self-produced: there was a market when DVDs and tapes were around, but with the advent of streaming services and youtube the whole DIY producers kind of moved there. if you can produce and have good content, chances are you'd be making money on youtube or comparable channels already.
I am in VC/PE myself and I can tell you it is not as similar as it seems. Having witnessed the politics of film financing and production myself, it is different from evaluating early startups in, say, technology or fintech. the principle is comparable, but the technicals and processes are not IMO. Especially the financial models are different.
After my finance degrees I actually applied at various agencies and production houses and was rejected straight away. Even with internal referrals. So banking it was and I left L.A. The people and the culture in the film industry are entirely different compared to banking.
Pay: a LOT less than in high finance, by a very large margin. Most of the talent agents I know started in the mail room or as interns, some of them were only paid travel expenses and subsidies. Also, please read up on TMZ (thirty-mile zone), which has an impact on labor union laws and pay in this industry.
The biggest compensation I have seen are for suppliers and the facilitators like my cousin who work on c2c basis. If you have the stamina, skills, and EQ to make it through in talent management you will be rewarded, but it will still be lower comp than in finance. I think it is a lot more difficult breaking into key roles in Hollywood compared to banking. The industry is more tight-knit and also smaller than banking, also, if minorities are interested in working in Hollywood - read up on the various articles that were posted in 2020 to get the insights. A very different animal than global banking or the deals we work on.
There are also alternatives ways to be involved in the industry with other jobs - become a talent manager instead of agent (ie Scooter Braun), do a "normal" job but in this industry (corporate fin, strategy, consulting work within entertainment), or similar.
I have a friend that started working at Paramount in their financing department just before the pandemic hit but they either got laid off or idk what really happened, I had these same questions that I was going to ask them
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