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I was asked to send in a resume and a reel for a job recently. I have no professional experience but have made films on my own time. Advice on what to


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To put in a little more detail, I have been making films on my own for almost four years now. They're mostly shorts I made with friends. Some good, some not. But I do feel like I have enough to put together a decent reel.


Now, what about the resume? I've only worked random retail or warehouse jobs. I've never been on a real film set. I feel like they'll barely look at it.


Any advice would be great


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To put in a little more detail, I have been making films on my own for almost four years now. They're mostly shorts I made with friends. Some good, some not. But I do feel like I have enough to put together a decent reel.

Now, what about the resume? I've only worked random retail or warehouse jobs. I've never been on a real film set. I feel like they'll barely look at it.

Any advice would be great

 

 

If you're apply for a job on a film, they want to know your relevant industry experience - not how much experience you have flipping burgers. One of the biggest resume mistakes is including non-relevant work experience on a resume. This hold's true for all professional positions, not just the film industry.

 

If you have made your own stuff in the past, even shorts - put that experience down, as well as what job you did on each short. Might help to give information about where a screener can be obtained if you're applying for a more creative position.

 

If your industry experience is really daft, you can make a seperate resume section called 'non-relevant experience', but for heaven's sake don't boggle it down with every menial job you have ever had. Maybe 2 of the most 'major' and 'important' jobs you have had.

Edited by Landon D. Parks
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I'll also add that if you have made several shorts in the past, is there a reason why you don't feel it's enough for a 'reel'? Also, a 'reel' is something that main applies as a calling card for creative talent (directors, DOPs, etc) rather than below the line and even key set technicians.

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Definitely cut a reel together from what you have and send them something. List all of your shorts on your resume, along with your job title on those films and make up your own production company name if you have to. You don't need to list anything on there that isn't relevant to filmmaking.

 

It's always hard when you're first starting out - you may feel embarrassed about not having enough credits or the quality of some of those projects, but rest assured we all go through that. You have to start somewhere. Just keep pushing forward and adding one project at a time, and in a few years you'll be amazed how far you've come.

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