Building your network and growing as a cinematographer

[Bradley Credit]

Hi all! I hope everyone's taking care of themselves and staying healthy during this crazy time. As is the case with all of us, social distancing at home means I have a lot of time on my hands. I've been trying to be as productive as possible, using the time to plan future projects and reach out to other cinematographers and directors.

As someone who didn't go to film school and is largely self-taught, I've gotten most of my opportunities working on a set by emailing as many DPs in the area as possible asking to grab coffees and work as a grip. Other than that, the fullest extent of my DP work has been shooting shorts for local students and filmmakers I've met on Facebook.

The trouble is often times feeling stuck and unsure of how to navigate growing my network. The pool of people I know and have worked with previously are awesome but they largely work within their own circles, are years ahead of me in experience, and that pool is simply not large enough for me to have a regular flow of work (as a grip, PA, etc).  An advantage of film school obviously, education aside, is being surrounded by other filmmakers who truly take the craft seriously that you can frequently collaborate with. When you don't have that background, what do you all recommend for ways to go about reaching out to filmmakers (directors and producers) to collaborate with as a DP? Is it talking with the other PAs on set who may also have aspirations for becoming directors themselves? Is it to reach out to local film school communities on social media to find people who may need a DP to shoot their future thesis films? 

I'm sorry if these questions and explanations come off as being a bit all over the place, but these questions race around my head quickly and often.

[Mike Maliwanag]

Hey Bradley,

I feel you're on the right track and you're figuring out what you need to be successful. That being said you don't need to go to film school to make it. There are plenty of DPs who did not go that route and are creating incredible imagery. 

I did attend film school and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for film school. It's been the connections that have presented opportunities but I'd like to think it's my work ethic and (I hope) my personable nature that has maintained my relationships with producers, clients, directors, other DPs, and crew members. 

My advice is to reach out to other film school students and get on set. You said that you were shooting as many thesis films as possible. Keep that up. Don't just shoot their thesis films, try to shoot their first films and hopefully that can evolve to their thesis projects. Shoot and shoot as much as you can. Be the best person on set. Someone will take notice. My network has expanded by taking a job I never wanted to do. On that same gig I met the editor who asked me to shoot a small project for her. It ended up going to festivals. On her gig, I met someone else. He loved my attitude on set and reached out. Because of that one gig I never wanted, I now have two great relationships with directors and I shoot all their projects. Who knows what would've happened if I didn't take that gig. 

Sure you may not get shooting gigs right away and that's okay. In the meantime find work as a grip/electrician/AC. Get in with the film school crowd. Work on their sets and hopefully they'll return the favor and work on your projects. At film school, I definitely met people who I thought were students but weren't. They just wanted to learn. When I moved to L.A., those same people were either there or eventually moved and guess what they're working in the industry as either a DP, grip, electrician or AC. They're the ones to call you for work when they're shooting and need a hand on set. 

One more piece of advice that I took from Phedon Papamichael and he talks about it in this interview (it's $3.95 to rent and worth it). He mentioned to get on the ground floor with any director you can. Grow with them. As he/she/they start flourishing, so will your career. I took that advice to heart and I've worked my ass off finding the directors that want it as badly as I do and I have at least three or four that I shoot for regularly for narrative work and a good set of clients. Lastly, Phedon also talks about it in the interview, keep your overhead low. Find the paid work and then find the projects that gives you creative freedom. 

-Mike

 

[Bradley Credit]

On 4/12/2020 at 2:12 PM, Mike Maliwanag said:

Hey Bradley,

I feel you're on the right track and you're figuring out what you need to be successful. That being said you don't need to go to film school to make it. There are plenty of DPs who did not go that route and are creating incredible imagery. 

I did attend film school and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for film school. It's been the connections that have presented opportunities but I'd like to think it's my work ethic and (I hope) my personable nature that has maintained my relationships with producers, clients, directors, other DPs, and crew members. 

My advice is to reach out to other film school students and get on set. You said that you were shooting as many thesis films as possible. Keep that up. Don't just shoot their thesis films, try to shoot their first films and hopefully that can evolve to their thesis projects. Shoot and shoot as much as you can. Be the best person on set. Someone will take notice. My network has expanded by taking a job I never wanted to do. On that same gig I met the editor who asked me to shoot a small project for her. It ended up going to festivals. On her gig, I met someone else. He loved my attitude on set and reached out. Because of that one gig I never wanted, I now have two great relationships with directors and I shoot all their projects. Who knows what would've happened if I didn't take that gig. 

Sure you may not get shooting gigs right away and that's okay. In the meantime find work as a grip/electrician/AC. Get in with the film school crowd. Work on their sets and hopefully they'll return the favor and work on your projects. At film school, I definitely met people who I thought were students but weren't. They just wanted to learn. When I moved to L.A., those same people were either there or eventually moved and guess what they're working in the industry as either a DP, grip, electrician or AC. They're the ones to call you for work when they're shooting and need a hand on set. 

One more piece of advice that I took from Phedon Papamichael and he talks about it in this interview (it's $3.95 to rent and worth it). He mentioned to get on the ground floor with any director you can. Grow with them. As he/she/they start flourishing, so will your career. I took that advice to heart and I've worked my ass off finding the directors that want it as badly as I do and I have at least three or four that I shoot for regularly for narrative work and a good set of clients. Lastly, Phedon also talks about it in the interview, keep your overhead low. Find the paid work and then find the projects that gives you creative freedom. 

-Mike

 

Thanks for this Mike! I recently shot a short film for a freshman director at NYU, which was his first film. Went pretty well and I'm hoping to be able to work with him more as he grows, but I definitely want to find more directors that are further along their schooling (and hopefully closer to my age). 

That's really encouraging to hear about how your relationships with directors were born! There's definitely a couple directors I've connected with that I hope to work and grow with. Just a matter of continuing to push on and meet more (especially when this pandemic is behind us).

[Tyler Purcell]

Hey Bradly, welcome to the forum! 

On 4/11/2020 at 10:13 PM, Bradley Credit said:

As someone who didn't go to film school and is largely self-taught, I've gotten most of my opportunities working on a set by emailing as many DPs in the area as possible asking to grab coffees and work as a grip. Other than that, the fullest extent of my DP work has been shooting shorts for local students and filmmakers I've met on Facebook.

Honestly, most professionals are self-taught because the 4 years you lose going to film school, are the most critical years. If you can find a way to get onto professional sets in some capacity that allows you to be around the camera, I think that's more valuable than anything they'll teach in school. Building credits on IMDB to show that this is what you do, this is the industry you want to be in, that you're a team player and have worked on some decent sized shows, is the critical element. The 2nd most important thing is to buy yourself a decent cinema camera, maybe a blackmagic pocket 6k or something of that variant and every moment you aren't working, shoot stuff. I actually made mini-doc's because they're easy to shoot, simple to edit and you'll get some storytelling chops. 

Now I do believe in going to college, specifically for a business degree. Freelancers don't understand how valuable it is to have those business skills and many people get screwed out of money because they don't protect themselves. If I had it all to do again, I would have majored in business and minored in film. I just wasn't interested in business and in the 90's, the internet wasn't as populated with professional freelancers lol ?

I mean if you're shooting student films, then you are basically doing what every student is doing anyway. More on this later. 
 

On 4/11/2020 at 10:13 PM, Bradley Credit said:

An advantage of film school obviously, education aside, is being surrounded by other filmmakers who truly take the craft seriously that you can frequently collaborate with.

I wouldn't necessarily think that's the case. From my experience, a very small handful of people take film school seriously. Many are in the film programs because they're easy credits. Unless you're at a top school that's literally focused on filmmaking like AFI, it's not a guarantee that you'll ever work with those students again. I have met a few people who after college collaborate on projects, but it's very rare. Most people wind up moving away from school and never seeing each other again. The students you really wanna hook up with are the one's in the graduate program. Those are the ones who are going somewhere and if you're as passionate as they are, if you're focused on only being a cinematographer, if you have the skills, there is a chance they'll take you along for the ride. The problem is, you have to always be available for them and fit into their schedule. To me, that was the hardest part, placing eggs in multiple baskets and always being available for those people. The moment you have a schedule conflict, you're basically off the list for one of those directors. 

On 4/11/2020 at 10:13 PM, Bradley Credit said:

The trouble is often times feeling stuck and unsure of how to navigate growing my network. The pool of people I know and have worked with previously are awesome but they largely work within their own circles, are years ahead of me in experience, and that pool is simply not large enough for me to have a regular flow of work (as a grip, PA, etc). 

So there are a lot of things you need to do.

- Always be on the lookout for gigs via the normal "gig" websites and facebook groups 
- Constantly shoot with a camera when you're not working. 
- Make some connections with some models who want to be filmed and experiment with lensing and lighting.
- Make a website about your experiments with some demo's of your work and make sure your presence is known online.
- Social media will help greatly as well and if you use it wisely, you can garnish a lot of connections from it. 
- Go to parties and events with other trade people, get to know the local group. 
- Diversifying your skills is important as well. Maybe working part time at a rental house, learning the top cameras inside and out and then trying to be a 2nd assistant camera first and then move up the ladder from there? That's what a lot of people do and it can work if you're patient and willing to work up the ranks. It's all about set experience and watching what others do, then experimenting yourself.  

The goal of course is to be working, but also to be working TOWARDS your eventual goal. Learn when you can, experiment when you can and live the role. Understand your abilities and try to take jobs that are challenging, but don't push you too far. You want jobs that will make you look good. 

I hope some of that makes sense, I wrote this in between a dozen other conversations so... eh, I'll leave it for now. 



 

[Michael LaVoie]

It is hysterically difficult to grow a network of crew and job opportunities among people you haven't met already.   There have been many attempts at film crew sites, communities, application boards dedicated to solving this problem but I've yet to see one actually take off with any kind of consistency. 

I have been curious about Productionlist and if anyone uses that and can chime in on whether it's effective for crew seeking work, great.  Most film/tv job seeker sites are not and require subscription fees to apply to anything.  Which is backwards and immoral. 

You should only pay to post jobs. Not to apply to them. That is how indeed.com functions.  Applications are free. The posts are a small charge to the employer.   That's normal across the board for most job sites in most industries. 

But in the world of film & tv, they flip this dynamic.  Because there are so many applicants and the field is so narrow with no other legit obvious pathway toward landing a gig.  So the specialty sites for entertainment exploit and leverage the desperation of the job seekers by charging subscription fees to apply to listings for mostly "reality & ENG based work".

If you want to apply to be an attorney at Nickelodeon, look on the Viacom website.   But if you want to shoot one of their original shows? Uhhhhh.  Yeah.  There is no place to actually apply for any crew to shoot or work as crew on anything anywhere.  That's only a problem for people trying to break into the business.  For those connected, this is not an issue at all.

This exclusivity issue in the industry creates an incentive for the more predatory film job sites to generate fake listings which you will never be actually able to verify.  They might do this just to keep you subscribing and hoping that you'll get a gig when in reality, there are none because there never have and never will be.  People only hire who they or those they know have already vetted.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Michael LaVoie

[AJ Young]

@Mike Maliwanag Great advice!

Here are my thoughts on networking:

• Forcing it won't work, just like dating
• Build your own client management system
  • This means creating an excel (or similar) spreadsheet of your "clients" or contacts. This sheet helps you organize who you know. (From what I've heard, humans can only keep track of about 100 people in their life; how can you manage to keep track of industry people on top of family/friends?!)
  • Your sheet should include:
    • Name
    • When you met them
    • How you met them
    • What you last talked about
    • When you last talked
  • It's tedious to maintain, but it'll help you stay in touch with people you meet and work with in the film industry.
• Talk less about work and more about life. I've connected better with people discussing cooking salmon rather than the latest movie we did
• Networking takes time, so take a deep breath and relax
• Look up unknown filmmakers via small film festivals, watch their work, and find their contact info.
• Connect with other DP's!
• Be active on social platforms online (this one included!)

Hope this helps!

[Tyler Purcell]

Hey AJ, I actually use my built-in "contacts" program on the Mac OS/iOS because it links everyone's data on all devices. I always take notes in each contact and try to fill in the special areas for better searching. This way, when you're on social media, all that persons data automatically will fill when talking to them and such. It works really well, but you're right, gotta maintain it! 

Great advice tho! ?

[David Peterson]

I found this entire recent thread over here to be on the same general topic and very enlightening, such as this post by @AJ Young:
 

 

On 4/12/2020 at 5:13 PM, Bradley Credit said:

An advantage of film school obviously, education aside, is being surrounded by other filmmakers who truly take the craft seriously that you can frequently collaborate with.

Arguably that's one of the few "benefits" of film school, but remember you're surrounded by people who have almost no experience and no clout, and this remains the same for years after they've graduated as they too try to build up their careers. 

When you compare those benefits vs just leaping into the job market straight away, you'd have a 4 year head start on them by the time they graduate! 

So don't feel like you're missing out on "much". 
 

On 4/13/2020 at 6:12 AM, Mike Maliwanag said:

Lastly, Phedon also talks about it in the interview, keep your overhead low. Find the paid work and then find the projects that gives you creative freedom. 

So true! Keep your overheads low.

That way your build up your buffer of savings for lean times. 

And anything left over you can reinvest into your business, buy that extra lens to flesh out your set, buy that extra monitor for client viewing, upgrade your car to a transit van, etc
 

  

On 4/15/2020 at 7:10 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

Now I do believe in going to college, specifically for a business degree. Freelancers don't understand how valuable it is to have those business skills and many people get screwed out of money because they don't protect themselves. If I had it all to do again, I would have majored in business and minored in film. I just wasn't interested in business and in the 90's, the internet wasn't as populated with professional freelancers lol ?

Agreed, if you go to university then study something else! 

Such as Business, or even say for instance an Engineering Degree would be more useful than a film degree! As it would help you have deeper technical chops than almost anybody else on set with the same years of experience, and it gives you a great career to full back on. (also Engineers do quite a lot of professional development papers, related to business / project management which are useful transferable skills)

You can always possible do a Minor in Film Studies, or your elective papers. Plus you can sign up to the local Film Club at the university, make contacts that way, and work on their student shoots on evenings / weekends.

  

On 4/15/2020 at 7:10 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

I mean if you're shooting student films, then you are basically doing what every student is doing anyway. More on this later. 

Exactly. Especially with the rise of social media, it is so easy to get onto student film sets. 

However honestly once you've got a few years under your belt then you'll likely want to stop volunteering for free on student projects. As they're just not worth doing any more! (with a few rare exceptions, such as if you're getting a key HoD credit such as DoP and you really believe in their project)
 

  

On 4/15/2020 at 7:10 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

- Diversifying your skills is important as well. Maybe working part time at a rental house, learning the top cameras inside and out and then trying to be a 2nd assistant camera first and then move up the ladder from there? That's what a lot of people do and it can work if you're patient and willing to work up the ranks. It's all about set experience and watching what others do, then experimenting yourself.  

Working in a rental house has panned out really well for a few people I know who were recent film school graduates. (even if just being volunteer interns!)

As not only did it give them hands on experience with a wide range of gear they didn't get during film school, it also put them in contact with a large number of working professionals whenever they came into to pick up rentals. 

This helped them get the next step up and get their foot in the door to work as a Grip / Lighting / Camera Trainee, then move up after a couple of shows from a Trainee to the next level. 

 

  

On 4/15/2020 at 8:05 AM, Michael LaVoie said:

That's only a problem for people trying to break into the business.  For those connected, this is not an issue at all.

That's why you have so  many people working in the industry who their father, or aunt, or cousin or whoever was working in the industry already beforehand. There is no better connection than a family connection. 

No such luck for me!
 

Edited April 16, 2020 by David Peterson

[David Peterson]

 

13 hours ago, AJ Young said:

• Look up unknown filmmakers via small film festivals, watch their work, and find their contact info.

That's a good tip, how would your first message to them usually go?

Who are you messaging, just the director? The DoP? The producer? Others?

[AJ Young]

17 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

Hey AJ, I actually use my built-in "contacts" program on the Mac OS/iOS because it links everyone's data on all devices.

Excellent! Whichever works. ?

[Bradley Credit]

On 4/14/2020 at 3:10 PM, Tyler Purcell said:

Hey Bradly, welcome to the forum! 

Honestly, most professionals are self-taught because the 4 years you lose going to film school, are the most critical years. If you can find a way to get onto professional sets in some capacity that allows you to be around the camera, I think that's more valuable than anything they'll teach in school. Building credits on IMDB to show that this is what you do, this is the industry you want to be in, that you're a team player and have worked on some decent sized shows, is the critical element. The 2nd most important thing is to buy yourself a decent cinema camera, maybe a blackmagic pocket 6k or something of that variant and every moment you aren't working, shoot stuff. I actually made mini-doc's because they're easy to shoot, simple to edit and you'll get some storytelling chops. 

Now I do believe in going to college, specifically for a business degree. Freelancers don't understand how valuable it is to have those business skills and many people get screwed out of money because they don't protect themselves. If I had it all to do again, I would have majored in business and minored in film. I just wasn't interested in business and in the 90's, the internet wasn't as populated with professional freelancers lol ?

I mean if you're shooting student films, then you are basically doing what every student is doing anyway. More on this later. 
 

I wouldn't necessarily think that's the case. From my experience, a very small handful of people take film school seriously. Many are in the film programs because they're easy credits. Unless you're at a top school that's literally focused on filmmaking like AFI, it's not a guarantee that you'll ever work with those students again. I have met a few people who after college collaborate on projects, but it's very rare. Most people wind up moving away from school and never seeing each other again. The students you really wanna hook up with are the one's in the graduate program. Those are the ones who are going somewhere and if you're as passionate as they are, if you're focused on only being a cinematographer, if you have the skills, there is a chance they'll take you along for the ride. The problem is, you have to always be available for them and fit into their schedule. To me, that was the hardest part, placing eggs in multiple baskets and always being available for those people. The moment you have a schedule conflict, you're basically off the list for one of those directors. 

So there are a lot of things you need to do.

- Always be on the lookout for gigs via the normal "gig" websites and facebook groups 
- Constantly shoot with a camera when you're not working. 
- Make some connections with some models who want to be filmed and experiment with lensing and lighting.
- Make a website about your experiments with some demo's of your work and make sure your presence is known online.
- Social media will help greatly as well and if you use it wisely, you can garnish a lot of connections from it. 
- Go to parties and events with other trade people, get to know the local group. 
- Diversifying your skills is important as well. Maybe working part time at a rental house, learning the top cameras inside and out and then trying to be a 2nd assistant camera first and then move up the ladder from there? That's what a lot of people do and it can work if you're patient and willing to work up the ranks. It's all about set experience and watching what others do, then experimenting yourself.  

The goal of course is to be working, but also to be working TOWARDS your eventual goal. Learn when you can, experiment when you can and live the role. Understand your abilities and try to take jobs that are challenging, but don't push you too far. You want jobs that will make you look good. 

I hope some of that makes sense, I wrote this in between a dozen other conversations so... eh, I'll leave it for now. 



 

Thanks for the welcome and the feedback Tyler! I've definitely been keeping an eye on gigs and going after them, Facebook can be a nightmare though if you're not on it in a heartbeat. I'm still constantly shooting though, how would you suggest going about finding grad film students?

[Bradley Credit]

On 4/15/2020 at 11:25 AM, AJ Young said:

@Mike Maliwanag Great advice!

Here are my thoughts on networking:

• Forcing it won't work, just like dating
• Build your own client management system
  • This means creating an excel (or similar) spreadsheet of your "clients" or contacts. This sheet helps you organize who you know. (From what I've heard, humans can only keep track of about 100 people in their life; how can you manage to keep track of industry people on top of family/friends?!)
  • Your sheet should include:
    • Name
    • When you met them
    • How you met them
    • What you last talked about
    • When you last talked
  • It's tedious to maintain, but it'll help you stay in touch with people you meet and work with in the film industry.
• Talk less about work and more about life. I've connected better with people discussing cooking salmon rather than the latest movie we did
• Networking takes time, so take a deep breath and relax
• Look up unknown filmmakers via small film festivals, watch their work, and find their contact info.
• Connect with other DP's!
• Be active on social platforms online (this one included!)

Hope this helps!

The spreadsheet suggestion and especially looking up unknown filmmakers at small festivals is great advice! Definitely a fan of talking more about life than work as well. I'd rather work with people I actually get along with rather than it feeling super transactional. I think everyone creates better stuff that way.