I’ve been giving career advice to film school graduates for the last 10+ years, but for some reason haven’t put much of it down in writing. As the school year has come to an end, and I’ve been having one-on-one conversations with the AFI graduating producers, I thought I’d change that and share my insights here to help those of you who are navigating your early career days in Hollywood.
If you’ve just graduated, you’re most likely feeling both excited and terrified about entering the real world. You’ve spent your college years learning the craft of filmmaking, building your network, and making projects that matter to you. The headlines tell you that Hollywood is dying and that there are no jobs, but I’m here to tell you it’s not hopeless. The media landscape is huge and full of opportunity, you just need to find your place in it.
It won’t be easy, but you have new energy. You have fresh perspectives. You have skills that older generations don’t have. You understand social media, you’re comfortable with new technology, and you see stories that need to be told that others might miss. The industry needs you. It needs your voice, your vision, your generation’s take on what stories matter. So yes, you’ll have to hustle and take jobs that aren’t perfect. Yes, you’ll face rejection and disappointment and moments of doubt. But if you stay intentional about what you’re building, you’ll find your way.
Here are a few things you should know as you begin your journey…
YOU’RE GOING TO BE WORKING ALL THE TIME
The harsh reality is that you most likely won’t be making your dream project right out of school and if you are, it will be at a budget too low to pay you a living wage. This means you’re going to have to take a job that pays the bills while also trying to get your projects made. You’ll wake up early to work on your projects before your “day job” starts. You’ll go to your day job and give it your energy and attention. And then you’ll come home and work on your projects until it’s time to go to bed. You’ll work on the weekend. You’ll work over holidays. You’ll work on vacation. Your family and friends will start to wonder why they haven’t heard from you in months.
An example of this is while I was working full-time at the Sundance Institute as the Manager of the Creative Producing Lab, I put together the financing for IT FOLLOWS. I did not give my 2-weeks notice to leave that job until we were fully financed and a few months out from pre-production. I was lucky to have the support of my colleagues at Sundance who knew I was an aspiring producer, but I was there to do a job, not produce my films, which meant I was working all hours of the day to get the film made.
Having a job is not a failure or a compromise, it’s a strategy. It’s you being smart about how you sustain yourself while you do the work that matters to you. Even now 25 years after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I’m still working a job while building projects. The key is finding work that supports both your bank account and your dreams, not one that demands you choose between them.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT KIND OF FIRST JOB?
Your first job isn’t just about paying rent. It’s where you figure out how things work and what you actually want to do. When you’re looking at opportunities, consider what you’ll learn in the role. What skills will you develop? What part of the industry will you get to understand from the inside? What kind of people will you work alongside and learn from? Your early jobs are building your foundation. They’re giving you the knowledge and skills you’ll use for the rest of your career. Be intentional about what you’re learning, not just what your title is or the amount of your paycheck.
My first big job in the industry was as the assistant to the Head of Acquisitions and Home Entertainment at Lionsgate. In this role, I learned the film festival ecosystem, how to negotiate a distribution deal, and I met buyers and sales agents from around the world. After two years in that role, I was promoted to a Creative Executive in the Production and Development department and that is where I learned how to work with writers, how to develop a script, and how to secure IP. All of this knowledge gave me a leg up when I started producing my own films, which wasn’t until 7 years after I graduated college. When I speak about my early career days I say, “Lionsgate was my grad school.”
Your first job doesn’t define your entire career. It’s one step. The job after that is another step. Some steps will feel like progress, some will feel like sideways moves, and some will feel like steps backward. But when you’re 20 years into your career, you’ll be able to zoom out and see that all of it was building toward something.
KNOW YOUR STARTING POINT
Your first job probably won’t be your dream job, but it should do these things:
Pay your bills. This is non-negotiable. You need to survive.
Give you peace of mind. This means health insurance and enough income that you’re not constantly stressed about money.
Support your growth. You should be learning something about the industry and about what kind of producer you want to be.
Build your network. You want to be in spaces with like-minded people who you can “grow up with” in the business.
Ideally, acknowledge you have other aspirations. The best first jobs are the ones where your employer understands you’re building toward something and supports your aspirations.
Most importantly, apply for roles that match your actual skill level. A few months ago I met with someone just a year out of school who was feeling really down because she had applied to hundreds of jobs and hadn’t gotten any interviews. She showed me her amazing spreadsheet tracking all her submitted applications and what I noticed was that she was applying to the wrong level of jobs. When I explained this to her, she was both relieved that the rejections weren’t as serious as she thought, but frustrated with herself for wasting so much time.
It’s vital to understand the hierarchy of roles so that you apply to ones that you actually have a shot at getting. While you may feel more skilled than an entry level job, that is where everyone starts. If you weren’t taught this hierarchy in school, meet with your favorite professor or reach out to alumni to talk you through it based on where you want to work before you start your job search.
Also know that you are going to work dozens of random short-term jobs before you land your “first job.” I’m reminded of the time I produced a graduation in a Los Angeles jail for a group of women who had completed a rehabilitation program through a nonprofit organization. I found the job on Craigslist and while it was not on my list of jobs I was seeking, it was very rewarding.
EXPAND YOUR DEFINITION OF WHERE YOU CAN WORK
It’s true that Hollywood layoffs have been relentless and competition for open positions is ruthless given the amount of talented people out of work. However, the skills you have as a producer translate to many other fields. It’s crucial that you don’t limit yourself to just film jobs. The media landscape is large and you should be looking in all corners of it’s world.
Producing is fundamentally about project management, storytelling, resource allocation, relationship building, and problem-solving under pressure. Those skills are valuable everywhere, not just on film sets. Working in adjacent industries doesn’t mean you’re abandoning your goals, it means you’re building a more diverse toolkit and network while getting paid. I know jobs are hard to come by in every industry, but think about these areas when you’re sifting through job postings to widen your search…
Sports organizations
Arts nonprofits
Museums & cultural institutions
Podcasting companies
Fashion brands
Advertising agency
Tech companies
Book publishing
Video game companies
The goal should be to find a job that puts you in creative spaces with people who inspire you and challenge your way of thinking and help you build new skills. All of this can happen beyond the walls of Hollywood.
JOB HUNTING REQUIRES A FULL-COURT PRESS
Most people apply to jobs passively. They send out resumes and wait. They hope someone will notice them. But that’s not producing. Producing is active, strategic, and intentional. Treat your job search like you’re producing a project:
Customize your pitch for each opportunity. Don’t send the same generic cover letter to every job. Show that you’ve researched the company, that you understand what they do, and that you’re genuinely excited about this specific opportunity. Be clear why you want *this* job, not just *a* job. And make sure your resume highlights the experience you have that matches the job description. I have three different resumes: one for educational work, one for nonprofit work, and one for producing/production/event work.
Leverage your network to get referrals. A referral from someone inside the company increases your chances of getting a response (though not necessarily an interview). Use IMDB and social media to figure out who you know who knows someone at the company you’ve applied to and ask them if they would put in a good word for you. If you’ve proven yourself to be a reliable hard worker, most people are happy to forward your resume with a thumbs up.
Show up with energy that says “I really want this.” If you do get an interview, make sure they know you want the job. This can be hard to do when your real goal is to be making your own films, but enthusiasm matters. No one wants to hire the person who is always looking for the next best thing. The company who hires you is investing in you as the next generation, they need to know you want to be there.
Accept that landing a job takes time. Job hunting is often a numbers game. You might apply to 100 places and hear back from one. Don’t get discouraged. Keep trying.
WORK ON YOUR PROJECTS EVERY DAY
Once you get that job you’ll be juggling the demands of a company while also trying to launch your own projects. It’s important to immerse yourself in your new role, but you also don’t want to lose sight of the end game of producing your own films. The way I’ve managed this is to make sure I work on my projects every day. This doesn’t mean I’m doing deep focused work on multiple projects simultaneously. It means that every project I care about gets some attention every single day, even if it’s brief.
Send one email. Reach out to a potential collaborator, follow up with someone you met at a festival, check in with a writer about their latest draft, or introduce two people who should know each other.
Make one call. Talk to a potential financier, call a sales agent to understand the market, check in with your lawyer about an outstanding contract, or have a conversation with a colleague.
Do one piece of research. Look up comparable films and their budgets, research potential cast, find three festivals that might be right for your project, or read long-form articles about the industry.
Solve one small problem. Update your budget, organize your receipts, or make a list of questions you need answered before moving forward.
The alternative is waiting for the “perfect” moment to dive deep into something and that moment rarely comes. Life gets busy. Your job gets demanding. But if you commit to daily momentum, even just 15 minutes, you’ll be amazed at how much progress you make over time. Projects happen when you keep pushing them forward, even incrementally.
NETWORKING IS YOUR SUPERPOWER
I know you’ve already heard this from every professor, but that’s because it is true. Every job I’ve ever gotten since graduating college came from someone I knew. My actual first full-time job in Los Angeles was as a receptionist at a small production company that I got through a temp agency. I was introduced to that temp agency through my friend Natalie who I met at the Cannes AmPav Student Program when I was a junior in college. She went to San Diego State and graduated a year before me and had found work through the temp agency. I also slept on her couch when I first moved to LA even though we had only known each other for the one week we were at Cannes.
Networking isn’t about being fake or transactional. It’s not about collecting business cards or “schmoozing.” Networking is authentically talking about your work and building genuine relationships. When you’re at a festival, at a party, at an industry event, talk to people. Tell them what you’re working on. Ask them what they’re working on. Be genuinely curious. Be yourself. Get to know people as humans first, not as someone who might be able to make your dreams come true. Most of these conversations won’t lead anywhere immediately. You’ll pitch your project to someone and they’ll say “that’s cool” and you’ll never hear from them again. But some of those conversations will turn into something real. Someone will remember you six months or even six years later when they’re hiring. Someone will introduce you to someone else who becomes a collaborator. Someone will actually want to hear more about your project.
This means you need to get out of the house and go do things and participate in the arts community in your city. If there isn’t a big film scene where you are, meet artists in other fields. Support their work, attend their events. Creative people are all around us, go find them.
The key is showing up, talking to people, and then maintaining the relationships with the people you felt a connection with. Send an email checking in. Congratulate people when they have success. Stay in touch without being pushy or needy. This is how careers are built. Not through one big break, but through hundreds of small connections that accumulate into a network of people who know you, trust you, and want to work with you.
PERSIST THROUGH THE DISAPPOINTMENT
My mom always said to me, “I don’t know how you work in this business, there is so much disappointment” and she was right. You will hear ‘no’ more than you hear ‘yes’ and you have to get comfortable with rejection. Actors will pass on your project. Financiers will ghost you. Festivals will reject your film. Collaborators will disappoint you. And even when you do have success it doesn’t automatically beget more success.
In those moments when you want to quit (there will be many), when you’re exhausted and broke and wondering why you’re doing this, look around you for inspiration. Go out to happy hour with other producers who understand the grind. Celebrate the small wins like an agent actually calling you back. Watch an early film by your favorite filmmaker you haven’t seen yet. Or completely forget about your work and “touch grass.”
What I’ve learned is that the producers who “make it” are the ones who persist. It’s not about being the most talented or the most connected (though those help). It’s about who stays in the game. It’s not about one project or one job or one big break. It’s about building something sustainable over years and decades that you are proud of. And that requires persistence, patience, and building a supportive community.
THERE’S NO LADDER
We all know the phrase climb the ladder, but there is no ladder. Your career path won’t be linear and you’ll never be able to predict what will happen next. You’ll take detours that seem completely off-track, but then teach you exactly what you needed to know. You’ll hesitate to say yes to opportunities that end up connecting you to people who change everything. You’ll take what you think is the dream job, but it turns out the company is dysfunctional or the role isn’t what you thought it would be. Or you’ll partner with a filmmaker who ends up being a jerk. But these “wrong” turns often become the foundation for what makes you distinctive as a producer.
Your career won’t look like anyone else’s. It’ll be your own journey full of surprises. And that’s exactly as it should be. In the SubStack The Reprise, Emil J Kang says to the graduates of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, “Your opportunity is to envision the career no one has built yet. The one made from what only you can do, not bounded by the constraints and expectations the field already has names for.”
Welcome to the real world. You’ve got this.
Enjoyable read, thanks Rebecca! B
Another great one! Sharing with my students.