Living in the midwest can hamper your prospects.
First off, the amount & level of the work available in the midwest is not the same as on the coasts. Where as there are many larger production companies in these regions, they generally shoot local only when their budgets are not large enough to travel to the beach!
This is speaking of commercial productions.
Ad agency folks really like to vacation/work in fun areas, and they will do so when their budget can handle it.
Otherwise, they will shoot in their own region, but that means that the budgets are already low to begin with.
Lower budgets mean that they are more hungry for cheaper labor, so for a DP to start to build his/her reel, this is a great way to do so. But eventually you will want to branch out to 'greener pastures'.
Just trying to get an agent on the coast whilst you live in the midwest is a REAL challenge!
I tried for a number of years to even get return phone calls from agents and it wasn;t until I did a Bud-Light SuperBowl spot and was written up in SHOOT & ADVERTISING AGE before I even got to actually speak to an agent.
So, it's a tough nut to crack.
Now, you can live in the midwest [where its a helluva lot cheaper] and work on the east or west coasts, but you sometimes need to bend the truth as to your real zip code actually is...plus travel expenses may have to be eaten by you.
The market is so saturated with other incredible DP's, that unless you have a great director or producer friend who will really go to bat for you, production would rather not eat the costs of your travel & hotel & per diem & car rental, etc...
So, find a friend or cheap apartment in LA or NY [if you can] and go at it!
Good luck!
