Your Dream Job & Your Real Job

I find myself in a very torn place at the moment.

I've made lots of shorts here and there, music videos which have been well received and dabble with other creative endeavours (a keen musician and story writer).

My problem is I feel in a rut. Whilst not ready to just go out and make a feature film, or walk into a studio job, I feel like my development and ability to jump all hurdles to break into a film career are all held back by the fact I'm an 'evening and weekend' creative.

I force myself up everyday at 5am to get time to write before heading into a 9 to 5 job, which far from being just a turn up, leave, turn off kind of job, involves a lot of project management and technical skill in the IT Sector. I work to the point of mental exhaustion and always need to be thinking about the days ahead when I come home. I also have a relationship I wish to maintain. All of this time eaten, and although my motivation is there, I need more hours in the day to achieve what I need to achieve.

Now, its not a sympathy post, far from it, I'm lucky to have a steady well paid job in such times. However, I want to be a filmmaker, and I feel that my 'day job' severely hinders the time and energy I could spend pursuing the career. Even posts for unpaid film crew, just for experience, want me Monday to Monday, or 'four days next week', something this full time job cannot allow me to do.

I want not necessarily 'do this' advice, but some kind of discussion on what avenues or possibilities could be advisable. I don't want this to be a hobby, but just quitting my job to be a filmmaker, with a lack of savings and bills to pay, would be madness.

I'm 23 years old, and I want the next 7 years to have me ready to GO GO GO at 30. I want to be making films or working on set in TV or in some capacity, and I need the next few years to be serious.

I want to get up early, have breakfast, and then start film related work. I want to hammer that script or that project.

I know pay is going to be a struggle whatever option. Do I take a big pay cut and go for a part time job? Like evening work in a bar? And then use the daytime to build a film career; trying to get any sort of paid work on the side to add to income?

Going to uni? Whilst I've learnt a lot self taught stuff and would prefer to continue on that avenue, perhaps taking advantage of the "you're working on film everyday" and the finance options going to uni provides (initially).

I just feel like, with 7 months until I'm 24, now's the time to make some kind of change - a change that if a mistake I can recover from whilst I'm not paying a mortgage or have kids or something. (I do have bills as mentioned, but they aren't huge and I live at home, they're bills paying for my camera rig lol). I just don't want it to be the completely wrong mistake if you get me.

Thanks in advance, this has always been a valuable place for advice so far.
 
Reply

Hey, I'm probably not the best guy to give advices to you, since I believe I will go trough the same has you are. And actually I have been thinking a lot in what I will do. In your case I will just try to mantain two things, your relationship and your motivation. Find a part time or a late time job in any place just to pay your bills, even go to macdonalds if that is needed. But follow your dream, dont live with but's, I have been told it was the worst thing ever. Find some friends, a crew and start making a project, see ways of making money with your passion. And when you find them, you will be very pleased that you follow your dream.
And the last thing, dont give up! The success doesn't come at first, second, etc... You build success! You just can't lose your motivation.

Cheers
 
Hey LP13-

I'm a recent graduate (only 21) so in a similar, but different, situation to you.

For my own part, I know that I want to be working in film long-term, but it's about being able to do that sustainably whilst living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I do have one full-time job offer in the film industry, but it's an unpaid internship and I'm not sure about the financing. So before I confirm that, I'm trying to find some work that will actually pay me!

It's a tricky situation, because you can undoubtedly crack the film industry by doing lots of unpaid work and gaining experience and contacts that will then transition into a decent paid job – but what do you sacrifice to do that?

You've got a 9-5 which is great, because I know lots of people my or your age who are still struggling for that sort of consistent employment. But if you want to be making a living in the film industry by 30 you're going to have to change sectors. Applying for positions from the security of a job is much better than sitting at home sending off speculative CVs. I think that you've just got to apply for any Film or TV related paid work that comes up and just see what you can get and whether you can start that transition.

Where are you based?
 
I'll be the "older guy" at 27. I'm still in the same place as you. I work 8-4 at a fairly prestigious company and they pay me pretty well. I don't love the work I do, I'd rather be working in film. I think the best thing to do is set goals for yourself. My wife and I have discussed that if I'm not working in film within the next 5 years I'm going to open up a video production house in my area. She works and makes decent money so we wouldn't be hurting if I did, but we'd definitely have a lot less income if I were to do it right now.

The good news about the film industry is that there really is no "age" for when you can start. People break in to the business in their 30's and 40's often. The bad news is that there are a lot of 30 and 40 year olds trying to break in. I believe film is changing though. We are headed to a place where you don't need to work for a studio in order to make or sell a movie. It's exciting, but also scary because none of us want to be left with regrets and "what ifs."
 
I know how you feel. I also have a wife a child and another one on the way to provide for. I've never once thought about quitting though. I know I can create a better life for them if I succeed.
 
I would make friends with the guys at a local rental house. Those guys are there 9-5, often 7-7 or later, depending what's coming in and going out.

Rental houses are great, because it's a viable way to have a relatively stable job and income, whilst still working in the film industry - you're also more likely to get a job there than a film set as they have a bit more time to spend teaching you things you need to know. Assuming, of course, they have an opening, but you'll never know unless you make friends with them.

If you can get there before close on a Friday, you can look at the gear that's not going out for the weekend and ask really nicely if you can have it for cheap. A lot of the time, they'd rather have their gear out there for some money, than sitting around doing nothing (especially if they like you). You can use this to add production value etc. to things you shoot on the weekend. What can you shoot on the weekend? Short films and music videos, of course! Music Videos are especially good weekend jobs - whether you shoot one yourself, or find some to get onto the set of.

The last thing that's great about rental houses, is the younger guys who work there are often there as a 'step-up' into the industry. They're there because they want to work in film, and working in a rental house is certainly a way to meet the players in your local industry. They often take gear out on the weekends and shoot.
That's good news for you - if you can make friends with the guys there, you might be able to work your way onto their weekend sets.

Set yourself some goals. I think you also need to hone in on what, exactly, you want to do within the 'film' industry - you sound like you want to be a 'full time writer' which is pretty damn hard to make a living off of. But I could be wrong.
 
You're doing great for 23. You're making money and being realistic, which is much better than many who think they'll become a big movie director straight out of college. Many of them end up in the service industry, or freelancing as a PA for a reality TV series that gets them nowhere.

Keep working at your craft, get your projects out there and build connections. Enjoy what you're doing and the flexibility you have without an executive producer dictating your every creative decision. You have 6+ years before you're 30 and you can easily build a network and demand for your work by that time.
 
Young is the time to do it for sure. I'm largely on hold at the moment because of "real job" demands. Nothing this side of becoming wildly successful beyond what 98% of people in the industry EVER achieve could pay my bills on the same level as my straight job right now. I may have to give film-making another serious shot at like 60.
 
I can see from the above that my position isn't unique, and I appreciate the feedback. I'm a writer/director (well, 'in progress', you know what I mean). I'm lucky enough to have done some stuff I'm proud of - it's nothing coming to cinemas or festivals near you, but quality improves with every project and I'm pleased with it.

I just get frustrated with the pace. Last year was a great year with 6 projects completed over the year, and 3 that didn't really work but were fun to work on. However this year, august approaching, I have one complete 3 minute short and a zombie movie that suffered from being turfed out of our location earlier than expected and efforts to resurrect the film (wheeey) have so far failed. Thats all.

I think my concern is that although I do get out and make films, I'm blessed with this either gift or curse that I HAVE to be working on something every second of free time to feel happy. Those nights where I'm exhausted from work or the weekend has just crept up too fast to do any shooting depress me. I have to dedicate as much time as humanly possible, and it just feeds this fidgety need that I don't want to go to work today I want to shoot or write or whatever.

I also feel that pursuing it 'in my free time' certainly slows my progress down to becoming better and getting closer to being paid freelance or selling my own film - as opposed to finding a way to do it full time and find a way to sustain myself.

I guess the thing I'm toying with is wether a 9-5 is the answer, and to carry on with the current slog and keep trying harder and harder - or to somehow take a pay cut in exchange for less hours. Such a fine line. You can trade more time to work on these things for less money but then where's the money to fund it? It's difficult.

It's not a whine, just an interesting out loud discussion with the like minded. There's so many routes you could take, and anything could be right essentially.

The idea of the rental house is great, and I appreciate the congratulations on where I am so far. Much appreciated.

Thankyou for all the positive feedback so far.
 
Hey LP13-

I'm a recent graduate (only 21) so in a similar, but different, situation to you.

For my own part, I know that I want to be working in film long-term, but it's about being able to do that sustainably whilst living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I do have one full-time job offer in the film industry, but it's an unpaid internship and I'm not sure about the financing. So before I confirm that, I'm trying to find some work that will actually pay me!


I just get frustrated with the pace.

I think my concern is that although I do get out and make films, I'm blessed with this either gift or curse that I HAVE to be working on something every second of free time to feel happy.

I also feel that pursuing it 'in my free time' certainly slows my progress down to becoming better and getting closer to being paid freelance or selling my own film - as opposed to finding a way to do it full time and find a way to sustain myself.

I guess the thing I'm toying with is wether a 9-5 is the answer, and to carry on with the current slog and keep trying harder and harder - or to somehow take a pay cut in exchange for less hours. Such a fine line. You can trade more time to work on these things for less money but then where's the money to fund it? It's difficult.

Haha this is all so similar.
I was in the same situation where I was going to university and then working nights on visual effects for all kinds of cool projects (also some from IndieTalk people, best people around :)). A couple months back I quit my parttime job and put my studies on temporary halt to do a 6month internship at a vfx studio.

Two and half months in, I feel like I've learned more in terms of vfx skills that I would in a year on my own. In terms of connections and know-how about the business works, working in a studio is uncomparable to working from home.

One big drawback though. Projects come and go, and you don't really care. It becomes 'work' so easily, that it's hard to stay passionate. Working with enthousiastic young people like the ones making movies here on IT is, without a doubt, my favorite thing about doing visual effects.

When you're working in a professional envrionment there's a lot of dumbed down people (in terms of enthousiasm) who just make commercial crap because it's their job. They don't care, so nobody is expected to care.

Personally I'm pretty excited to go back to university (never thought i'd say that :P) and work visual effects in the evenings again. I know that I can now deliver on a far higher quality standard than I could before. I can't see myself working in a vfx studio in the long-term, which I did think when I first came in.

I hope that helps. If I were you I wouldn't quit my 9-5 just yet. Maybe you can get a temp leave once your project is ready to go into production?

Another tip: collaborate. It sooo cool to come back from a long day of work/uni/whatever, start to work on your film project and find that someone else made some progress. It instantly motivates you to look through the changes, and gets you in the flow. Social pressure works like charm :).
 
I have a roadmap to making my first feature..
Online web series for building a general audience
Amazing short for meeting investors and large festivals

-> crowd source
produce sci-fi feature

Basically all I want to do before I die
 
I'm 42 and over the last 3 years have been through a whole heap of bad stuff. However, I dream of film making.

I wrote out a plan, am sticking to it and still dreaming. Surprisingly, the plan has been working so let's see what happens.

As an aside, I used to have a DoP shooting for me who turned pro. He's shooting a feature film in Ghana shortly, shot another one in Wales and has been doing a whole heap of stuff. He's showing me the way forward and an inspiration. He's 23 by the way.
 
One big drawback though. Projects come and go, and you don't really care. It becomes 'work' so easily, that it's hard to stay passionate. [...] When you're working in a professional envrionment there's a lot of dumbed down people (in terms of enthousiasm) who just make commercial crap because it's their job. They don't care, so nobody is expected to care.

This was similar to what I found as well - and the problem is it can rub off on you. I'd spend all week shooting and editing segments for tv shows, or training videos, or commercials, and the last thing I'd want to do at night or on the weekend was do more shooting or editing. I got a lot better at the basic skills, but I found that after a couple years of doing professional video work I hadn't done a single one of my own projects. I eventually got burned out on it and ended up veering off in a totally different direction career-wise, and it was several years before I eventually started getting interested in filmmaking again.

That's not to say it can't work, just that getting a job in the industry isn't always better than working outside of it. It depends a lot on your particular interests, goals and temperament.
 
Now is the time, when you don't have any major commitments, to take the big risks. For what it's worth, strip your life down the the bare essentials; find a really inexpensive place to live and a very reliable vehicle that will last you a while. Get rid of (or store with your parents/whoever) all of your unessential possessions. When it comes to your relationship, I told my girlfriend when it started to get serious "I'm a musician; that's what I do and that's what I am. To change that would mean I'm not the person you fell in love with. So make up your mind right now; do you want to deal with the odd hours, the long absences, the groupies, etc., etc.,etc." That was 36 years ago and we've been married for 25 years, two kids, mortgage and all the rest.

Once you have your personal life settled keep doing in your dirt cheap minuscule living accommodations what you've been doing and sock away the money for a couple of years; that's your safety net. Then dive into your dream career head first. If, after you've given it a serious shot and things don't pan out, you can be an IT geek in the film industry.

Or not.


Opinions are like a$$holes - everybody has one, and they all stink!
 
Now is the time, when you don't have any major commitments, to take the big risks. For what it's worth, strip your life down the the bare essentials; find a really inexpensive place to live and a very reliable vehicle that will last you a while. Get rid of (or store with your parents/whoever) all of your unessential possessions. When it comes to your relationship, I told my girlfriend when it started to get serious "I'm a musician; that's what I do and that's what I am. To change that would mean I'm not the person you fell in love with. So make up your mind right now; do you want to deal with the odd hours, the long absences, the groupies, etc., etc.,etc." That was 36 years ago and we've been married for 25 years, two kids, mortgage and all the rest.

Once you have your personal life settled keep doing in your dirt cheap minuscule living accommodations what you've been doing and sock away the money for a couple of years; that's your safety net. Then dive into your dream career head first. If, after you've given it a serious shot and things don't pan out, you can be an IT geek in the film industry.

Or not.


Opinions are like a$$holes - everybody has one, and they all stink!

I identify a lot with this, I'm a musician too by the way. Thats kind of my thing, music and film, and I think thats a great point - you have to be realistic and honest in all forms of your life for these things to work. In the sense that you need to be honest with your goals, finances, and people closest to you to even try and climb the ladder.

Any notions that are dishonest leads to a slippery slope. "Oh I can afford to do this swell," you run out of money. "Oh I can live in this expensive apartment still," oops wheres the rent, "Oh don't worry I won't spend that much time away working on projects," A girlfriend that feels that you haven't been honest with her, you could apply this all over.

Being completely honest at all times is a great outlook. No matter what your crazy plan is, you're not lying to yourself and are prepared.

I think my biggest issue with the current plan is that despite being in my job for 6 years, and being honestly focused to trying raise money to pursue a freelance career of somekind, essentially directing my own stuff but more than prepared to be a hired gun to pay rent, I still haven't managed to save a dime.

Money always seems to find a way to spend itself, despite cutting down my outgoings. Thats something I'll seriously have to address.
 
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