Do production companies take volunteers?

Jamaica Daye · September 14, 2005

how can I break in if I never went to school for this stuff?

So far I applied to volunteer at the local community tv channel so that I can learn about lighting, camera and sound stuff, but they haven't gotten back to me as yet.

is there some production companies in toronto you know that uses volunteers? :unsure:

Jamaica Daye · September 15, 2005

still no response...? :(

maybe this should be moved to another forum?

by the way, I am near toronto...

Edited September 15, 2005 by Jamaica Daye

Tim J Durham · September 16, 2005

still no response...? :(

maybe this should be moved to another forum?

by the way, I am near toronto...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I broke in as a courier in 1985. Took it upon myself to learn everything I could and went up from there. I don't know what sort of labor laws you have in Canada, but our local PBS stations rely on volunteers for a variety of things at fundraising time. Call them. Call production companies. Call TV stations and post houses. Find out who you should be talking to and call them. Don't go through HR, that's almost always a dead end. Take any job you can get at the CBC.

Kyle Geerkens · September 16, 2005

Hey,

I would suggest interning with Rogers Cable. theyre always looking for free help in Toronto. I work for a commercial production company freelance, but you really need to meet some PM's to get any work in that. I doubt CBC is a viable option.... being locked out right now, and also, their union tries to prevent free labour from joining. It's not a completely dead end, but you really ahev to put yourself out there to get in with CBC right now. and wait till the Lockout ends of course.

Jamaica Daye · September 16, 2005

thanks guys. I applied to Roger's in mississauga but they told me they have a waiting list of two months before they even consider people... :unsure:

Someone suggested I called TVO. I'll give the CBC a call... I'm really eager... :)

Kyle Geerkens · September 16, 2005

my girlfriend just got an internship with TVO.

youre also starting at a rough time, as it is the beginning of school semesters, and Ryerson for example has about 100 people looking for interships right now. as well as others im sure

But giver and good luck,

kyle

John Hall · September 17, 2005

I'll give the CBC a call... I'm really eager

Perhaps with the technicians strike you might just get in there =) Some hapless management type may need someone to read the manual to him as he tries to operate the camera or TV truck. j/k

But seriously.

Check out L.I.F.T., The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto http://www.lift.on.ca.

They offer tons of workshops every few months in things like Lighting, Camera Theory, Intro to Directing.

It's also a good place to meet other young people who are probably in a similiar situation, looking to gain experience in film & televison.

If you haven't already, check out http://www.mandy.com. When people are looking for crew for a small film (it's almost always for volunteer crew), they post on there.

Apply as a P.A. on any shoots that come up on there. It's helpful if you have a driver's license as you're a more desirable P.A. if you can drive the truck around.

As the crew's are generally small, you'll do a bit of everything and it's easy to keep an eye on the different crew (AD's, Electrics, Grips etc...) and learn from what they're doing.

Don't be down about never having gone to film school. You just have to work harder to try and get your chance to impress people. What you do with that chance will depend on how much sucess you have getting into the industry.

I never went to film school, I just read a lot of film books, took workshops and volunteered at LIFT, and volunteered on sets. As long as yuo show people that you will work long and hard for free, eventually someone will pay you.