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.
