Advice

Looking for advice to moving to LA and getting into the film industry.

I have a good amount of skill in basic video editing, but I'd rather work on set. I have some experience in shooting with my all small projects but not nearly as much.

I have around $10,000 saved up to give myself room to find a place to live in LA and to look for decent jobs, which I know is still not a lot for LA.

I've heard stories of people just moving out and getting jobs over facebook and craigslist etc doing basic things like being a PA, set security, location scout etc and just taking the time to make connections that way.

What's the best route to take? Is the move worth it?

If I could make even just enough to sustain myself doing that kind of work I'd want to do it, can anyone throw me some advice?

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thecitizen.com/2017/06/14/fayette-boosts-georgia-1-world-films/
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Dude I was born here and barely get by with a $40K salary

Nigga I'm looking for the same shit

Well it's just to sustain me until I can hopefully find a decent job or just a job at all. I'm not planning on living off of just 10K in hollywood forever

You in LA?

>I want to move to LA
no you dont
stop
your little youtube edits in sony vegas are not going to be enough
>I've heard people getting jobs over craigslist/facebook
yes, people with experience, who know names and have their names known
>set security
no
>location scout
are you an electrician?
>PA hope you like running coffee and contributing nothing else
You need to go to film school
>b-but films not film school-
yeah, bullshit. Actual filmschools have training programs and certificicates for things like gripping, electrical, AV tech maintenance, and other things.
They also have writing programs.
>is the move worth it?
resounding no
LA isn't even where films are shot, it's where hollywood schmucks hang out
Any more questions?
>t. 7 years of being an AD

OP didn't even specify what job he wants, although that in of itself is probably an issue.

it is

Yeah, it's a problem, since OP also doesn't really seem to understand what certain jobs entail.

I know I want a job on a set as I already said. Being only 21 and not having a crazy amount of experience I'm sorry I don't know what specific position I want yet? I just want to be behind the camera.

I'm in fucking Indianapolis. Not exactly a hub of filmmakers here. I've joined a local filmmakers network, and it's fine, but the fact remains that I still haven't made anything worthwhile (or really anything period).

I just want to get my foot in on the ground floor and learn on-set, make shit for jack and/or shit in my spare time, but it's really fucking hard when you don't even know where the ground floor is

10K? In LA? That's 5 months, maybe.

Dude, there are millions of people who move to LA to "make it in the movies", who end up making coffee like everyone else. You won't be living IN Hollywood, either. Think more...east LA.
Take that 10K, and go to school. Pick what part of the industry you want to work in, and focus on that. Work on student films. Get to know people. That dude who farts in class might be a studio head one day. Get ready to starve, once you graduate, like the rest of your class.
You have no experience, please stop acting like you do. You have experience shooting? Really? You've run a real cinema camera, like a RED system? You know cinema lenses? I doubt it. I know people with degrees in cinemaphotography who can't find work. Editing? Good luck. Go apply to the Art Center, and then try and land an unpaid internship helping real editors. Then...maybe.
I know people who have picked up work through agencies doing stuff like set painting, but it's not real contacts, and it doesn't pay that well, and isn't consistent.
My best advice? Stay where you are. If you have a job, keep it. Find a college near to you, and see if they have a film department. Start taking classes, and volunteer with student films and indy productions. Moving to LA is the dumbest thing you could do without any real experience.
Always keep this in mind - you're one of millions of faces in the crowd who want to get into the movie business.

Experiencing the exact same shit. I live in SC currently and there isn't even a hub of filmmakers really anywhere near here. Just trying to find anyone who wants to make something is really hard, so there isn't even a ground floor that I can see to start on here, hence why I'm trying to jump ship to LA

>learn on-set,
That's not how it works.

What does being an AD entail exactly? Do you want to become a director yourself?

I feel it. I got a few kino-loving friends that I could work with and I'm currently working in a movie theater, so at least I keep the dream burning in me.

I would expect not. I gotta actually go to classes and learn shit, I'd imagine, which I probably would have done were I not an autist and my mom not so controlling and funds not so tight.

if you have (((tribal))) connections you have a shot, if not don't bother.

>currently working in a movie theater
I know I'm probably in the wrong but I always felt like that would be a really comfy job.

It's not bad, I've worked there for about a year. I really want to shoot a horror comedy there, been planning it thebpast few weeks.

Find a small school with a decent film department, and go study it. Film sets are not school rooms, they don't have time to teach you, or deal with fuckups - if you cause the cameras to not roll for even a minute, you're costing the production more than your salary.
Stay where you are. I hung out in Hollywood for years, around the film and music industry types, and watched people get chewed up and spit out daily. LA sucks, and Hollywood sucks even more. You're better off right where you are, or going to a school somewhere to learn film. Figure out if you have any passion for one particular part of it, and dig into it. If there's no indy scene there, move to where there is one.
You're young, young enough that you have plenty of time to figure it out. With no experience you'll get bottom of the barrel work MAYBE, and work a shitty job or two to afford a shitty shared apartment somewhere in LA.
I know what the appeal is, but after seeing it, I have zero interest in being part of it. You better love it, because you're gonna grind in the beginning like everyone else. A degree is crucial. You need to know film, as an art form, and the technical aspects, before you every step foot on a set.

Is this serious?

protips:

1. you're not going to get that experience unless you fall in with the right crowd and not knowing anybody and moving out there is a mistake.
2. you'll have more luck across either border.
3. film is an entrepreneurial industry which is essentially the creation and controlled failure of a business start-up every single time.
4. nobody is there to make your project, they are there to make their own project
5. film is fascism manifest
6. the idea of film school is that you're stuck taking the gen eds and earning about things other than movies because otherwise you're just going to be stuck posturing endlessly rather than producing anything of merit
7. film is primarily a side gig, almost never a main one

we need a film general

>Being only 21
>wants to be behind the camera
ok
here's what you do
take photography classes
save your pennies for a decent camera (t3i is a good starter camera)
learn how to use it
start doing photography. While you are doing that, and maybe even making money on it, you can start looking for jobs requiring video production, camera use, etc. Video production is gonna be things like adverts and youtube videos, usually. Set jobs will be things like AC (assistant camera).
Get to know people and develop a network at that point.
Make good shots, and you'll get noticed. You bring in clients, you get noticed. But none of that matters if you dont know what you're doing.

Why don't you just make a movie?

This is extremely helpful. I tried going in for a year or so in a "digital media" class in a college near me, but it didn't focus on film enough (and in any case I was fucking terrible). I'm gonna try and go again, once I work some shit out and get my mom to trust me going to school again.

AD stands for Assistant Director. They don't direct. In fact, they do nothing relating to directing. One of the first signs of a newb is thinking that AD involves directing. That, and calling WB "Warner Bros."
Remember that part in the office where Dwight keeps saying he's the assistant manager, and gets corrected to "assistant to the manager"
That's basically what AD is. Assistant TO the director. Organization is KEY. If you cannot organize, you cannot AD. Pretty much all crew complaints aimed at the director goes THROUGH the AD. A vital role, to be certain, as a good AD who can save days (thus dollars) is worth their weight in gold, but it's not gonna get you into directing.

yea I don't know anything about filmmaking, just curious.

I live in South Carolina where I know maybe two other people total that know how an actual camera works.

The /fmg/ comes around once in a blue moon, but make them too often and they become cesspools of shit.

protip, Scottsdale Community College is a great film school that is cheap and close to LA

Oh, also, go to film festivals. Auteurs and Amatuers alike will screen their films there, and you may be able to meet them there. I got my first two PA jobs at a film fest.

Also it's hard to write, direct, edit, find actors,
and equipment with no money in a place where anyone else that cares about actually taking the time to making a film are extremely rare.

I would recommend NOT doing the PA thing as a "stepping stone." I haven't moved to LA (yet) but I do have a lot of experience on sets in New Mexico with feature films starring Seth Rogan and Natalie Portman. PAs are treated really poorly and honestly it's better to be an extra or stand-in than PA. At least if you are an extra or stand-in, you have a ton of down time to read or sleep or 4 chan or whatever (while getting paid by the hour). The idea that PAs move up the chain to better gigs is total bullshit in my experience.

Never stopped people before. Art through adversity, you know.

It sounds to me like you're just making excuses in order to avoid committing to big decisions. Take fucking risks in your life for once.

Holy shit
Pls get your shit together before you come here and ruin what's left of my home state, we get enough ppl coming in here thinking they'll be the next thing, either acting or even behind the scenes work.

If you think you'll have a comfy life here in socal....you probably will if you come from a wealthy family. You never have experience the shitty lifestyle most solcaliggers deal with. The shitty cost of living and taxes probably won't effect you if you have a nice benefactor behind you, hell you might be able to get to your dream just by knowing someone.

But when you do I pray you take your monies and move out of california, it's mainly non natives who give this place such a shitty vibe, I hope you get a nice loft in Hollywood so you can deal with all the bums that litter the street there.

You're never going to be successful
You will move to LA, and everyone will make fun of you. Everyone will laugh at you, your "skills", "experience", everything. Your precious $10,000 will be gone, very quickly. You're going to blink once, and there you go, all your saving will dispensary. You'll try to sell all your things, but it will not be enough. You'll be penniless

You will end up homeless. Your family will not help you. You'll end up trying to get help, but no one will help a white boy in LA. Latinos will beat up you, blacks will beat you up. You'll try to suck some dicks to make money, but there are thousands of people who suck dicks in LA. Even in sucking dicks you have competition, these people have experience, talent. What you have? Nothing, absolutely nothing to offer. Just like when when you tried with filmmaking

LA LA Land will not happen to you. You will never become the next Spielberg. Stop trying. It will never ever fucking happen. Grow up.

I would watch this movie

I mean it's always possible that he can be successful. You never know.
But, if he tries to do what he said he was gonna do, that will happen.

kino

t. guy who moved out to LA for six months and is now bitter in Nebraska or some shit

This, just learn to code op

Do i have a higher chance of making it if i am hispanic ? I'll do stereotype roles i don't give a fuck

>You'll try to suck some dicks to make money, but there are thousands of people who suck dicks in LA. Even in sucking dicks you have competition, these people have experience, talent. What you have? Nothing, absolutely nothing to offer. Just like when when you tried with filmmaking.

Dude, this would make a fucking killer speech in a movie. I'm laughing my ass off over here.

I always wondered if it was better to live more comfortably/in a safe way that guarantees a good amount of money, and then once you're older and have money you would be able to fully fund whatever kind of movie you want instead of starting off poor and working your way up, but I also feel like that could be a trap and you would get sucked into whatever job you don't really care about.

No. Unless you're ridiculously good looking. There's a billion beaners in LA. Now if you're Jewish on the other hand...

Step 1: Don't go to Film School
Step 2: Go to F.I.L.M.S

Fuck

Why not try Atlanta? A lot of shit is being shot here. Also, if you want to shoot an indie film here and need a kinda funny black guy, I work for free.

bump

Best post itt

This. It's a lot cheaper living and the city is growing fast. Get on board before the train leaves.

This is "Einstein dropped out of school" tier bullshit
sure you might not need to go to a school but nobody is going to hire you to direct just because you've watched lots of films. You still need to learn skills.

the only problem is the black people

>surprised at the over saturation of spics in LA
I think your biggest problem is that you're retarded
>I'll do stereotype roles
no you won't because guess what you dont know how to act

Train's already rolling. How long until it's the next Hollywood?

>thecitizen.com/2017/06/14/fayette-boosts-georgia-1-world-films/

I saved up about the same amount and moved out here to do the same thing/screenwriting. Had some moderate success right off the bat, since then it's been pretty up and down so I had to get a day job to keep living but I've made enough connections to do random shit every once in awhile. Biggest advice I have is that you gotta know how to talk to people and also don't fucking believe anything in the industry says in terms of jobs/whether or not you're gonna get a chance to do something/even what fucking TIME they're going to meet you at places. Everyone out here is full of shit. My advice is don't be a pussy and give it a shot.

When you say good at editing do you mean actualy good at editing or just good at stiching shit together? If you can genuinely edit well then keep in practice because genuinely good editors are like hens teeth from what i can tell.

Saving this

1. Try to figure out what you'd like to do long term in the film/tv industry. Do you want to write, direct, edit, film, design sets, or what? I'm sure you have at least some feeling. if you can figure out what your goal is it will be a lot easier for you to figure out how to move towards it
2. Start making your own shit. Even if it's just minute long videos that you act in. Then you'll at least have a better feel for what part of the process you like doing and what you want your role to be.
3. If you or your parents can afford it, you should go to a film school. If you're 21 you're young enough where it won't be a waste of time. You will have the opportunity to meet people who have the same goals as you so you can work with them in the future.
4. If you don't want to or can't go to film school and feel the need to go to LA, come out but you should sign up for film related classes. look into UCLA extension-- they have film making programs and screenwriting programs that are very legit. If you have the slightest interest in comedy, take classes at UCB or groundlings - you will meet people with your interests so you can make stuff with them
5. Look up the IMDb pages of any movie or tv show that you like at all and email everyone that had a role in making that thing, that you'd want to do (if you want to write, email the writiers, if you want to edit, email the editors, etc.) be honest and look up how to cold email a mentor. Ask for an internship or some sort. You will be surprised at how many people respond to you.
6. Look into channel 101-- It's a monthly "film festival" type thing. A lot of successful people have come out of it.
7. LA is really not as bad as those people are saying. If you really want to be involved in the film industry and really try to get involved you'll be able to do it.

fuck off

Film school is a meme if you're interested in the art side of it. Writing and directing is based mostly on personal taste and creativity. Might as well just read some cheap books about story structure and study films that you have available to you.

>That, and calling WB "Warner Bros."

what

It's Warner Brothers, not Bros, but normies dont understand the difference

To be a good director you should have a good amount of knowledge of all the aspects of film, particularly photography and acting.

Anyone who hires a director does it because of their previous work. Everybody has to start at an indie/do it yourself level.
If OP has the chops, he could cook up a killer screen play or even make an inventive no budget short if he really studies his favorites and seeks out more film

>If OP has the chops, he could cook up a killer screen play or even make an inventive no budget short
So, basically, if he's Einstein, he'll just invent the theory of relativity.
You're right, you still need to actually direct things on your own before anyone will take you seriously, but that's different from "I've seen lots of movies that means I'm a good director :)"
In all likelyhood OP isn't going to make a great first project, in all likelyhood it will suck ass.

A movie about some kid who moves to hollywood to make it in the movie business but he starts sucking dicks to get by and the underworld of top tier competitive dick sucking pulls him in, challenging him and fostering his growth as his spirit for smoking pole and never giving up help him overcome all obstacles to become the greatest dick sucker that tinseltown has ever known

I don't know if it still happens, but in 2011 there were massive tax breaks for shooting film in some places like Michigan, I'm talking over 55% tax breaks which is almost double the budget so there were a fuckload of films being shot there and a major demand and shortage of people to work on the set so basically anyone that seemed to know any of the work could get some job on the set if he wanted to then.

Learn Avid
Reels don't work find someone who works in the Union
Pay the fee
You will start in Reality TV
Save and ask friends for help
Bust your ass in all areas of the pipeline
Learn Narrative editing
You might start to make money in about 2 years.

Change your last name to Shekelstein