Welcome to How To Land A Job On A TV Show. This blog is where I will share my journey with you, and help you discover how to land the job of your dreams.
When I started out, I had no guidance. All I knew was that this was the career path I wanted to take, but I didn’t know how to get there. I had no professional experience and no contacts in the industry. So I just did it myself!
I landed a job in an editing trailer for a TV show and worked my way up from there. Now, let me be clear; there are many ways to break into the industry and each person’s journey is different. But one thing held true for me:
If you have a dream, figure out what it takes to get there and then do whatever it takes!
I have been working in the entertainment industry for a little over 5 years now. I have worked on TV shows, Feature Films and Commercials. I have had many different jobs on a set. I have done everything from being an actor to a PA (production assistant).
I am going to blog about what it takes to get a job on a set and what you need to do while you are there to keep your job and move up the ladder.
I will tell you where I found my jobs and how I moved up from being a PA to an AD.
I will talk about the many different aspects of working on a set. From getting hired for the job, to how you should act around others when you get there, to how you should dress when you go into work.
You want to work in entertainment, but how do you land a job in the entertainment industry? There are many paths to get there, but I’m going to describe the one I took. It’s not the only way, nor is it the best way, but it worked for me.
I was born and raised in the mid-west. My parents were blue-collar workers and no one else in my family had any experience in the entertainment industry. I attended schools that were fine for what they were, but we couldn’t afford private lessons or camps or anything like that. So it seemed like an impossible dream for me to find a place in Hollywood, let alone a job on a TV show.
But then, at age 18, I finally did it. So if you think it’s too late for you because of your age or your background or where you live, trust me when I tell you that it’s not too late. If I can do it, so can you.
I’m here to help you land a job in the entertainment industry. I’ve had years of experience working in the business, and I want to share what I’ve learned with you.
If you have any questions, or if you’d like to see me post on some specific topics, please email me at actingagent@tvinsider.com.
Thanks for reading!
I get a lot of questions and emails from people who are trying to break into the entertainment industry and have no idea where to start. This blog is an ultimate guide for those who have no idea what they’re doing. I’m going to give you all the information I can, but I won’t tell you exactly what job to do because I don’t know what your skills are or what you enjoy doing. So this is going to be more of a general guide with some very specific examples.
First of all, there are several different career paths in the entertainment industry, so let’s go over them; Production Coordinator, Production Assistant, Grip, Electrician, Location Manager, Art Director/Designer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Wardrobe, Makeup/Hair Artist and Sound Mixer. These are the main jobs but there are a couple more that we’ll talk about later.
So how do you get started? Well I’m assuming that most of you reading this already live in Los Angeles or New York (where most TV shows shoot) so you’re not going to need any advice on moving here as that’s for another blog post. But if you do live in LA or NY then your first step is getting an agent. Agents are basically
The most important thing to understand about acting is that it’s a business. It’s not enough to be good at what you do. You have to be able to get people interested in hiring you. As I write this, 94% of the people in the Screen Actors Guild are unemployed.
Of course, it’s a business that is unlike any other I’ve ever seen. You can’t apply for a job to become an actor, at least not in traditional terms. All you can do is audition and hope that somebody likes what they see and hires you. One thing that helped me early on was hearing an analogy about acting being like hunting rabbits with a shotgun: if you’re out there long enough, eventually something will run by and you’ll hit it.
I think one of the things that accentuates the feeling among actors that we don’t have any control over our careers is the fact that we’re constantly waiting for phone calls from casting directors, agents and managers. So much of our time as actors consists of sitting around waiting for something to happen and hoping it happens soon! The whole process can be very frustrating and demoralizing if you don’t have a plan for your career and a strategy for self-marketing. If all we do is wait around and
Acting Agents
If you’re going to be an actor, you need representation. You can’t get any auditions without an agent and a manager. There are plenty of sites out there that will gladly take your money in exchange for bogus lists of agents and managers, but there are also a lot of free resources available online that can help you as well. The most important thing to remember about searching for an agent is that it’s a job in itself. Also, know this: If somebody says they’re an agent or manager and they don’t have an IMDbPro account, then they’re lying.
There are thousands of agencies out there, so the best way to narrow down your search is by using IMDbPro’s agency search database. You can find it towards the bottom of the page when you do a company search on IMDbPro. I recommend starting with the top 20 agencies listed on IMDbPro and see if they accept unsolicited submissions (submissions from actors who aren’t already represented). If they do, then you want to send those agencies your headshot and resume (more on this later).
Note: In Los Angeles, there are four unions that represent talent: SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of
