Expert: Peter Messaline - 5/7/2009

Question
I am a film school student in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I am wondering if I can get steady work in this the film/tv industry? Business side? etc? I have heard there are period of no work etc. But, I want to be able to have a steady decent paying job that offers consistent non-piece work in this industry while at the same time be able to pursue my goals in making my own film/tv projects. I have considered working an office job in a distribution company is their steady work in that? I have heard alot of doom/gloom stories about joblessness in this industry...

Answer
Hi there, fellow Torontonian.
'Steady work' and 'film industry' don't sit well in the same sentence, especially not nowadays. There is work out there, according to ACTRA income statistics, but my guess is that everyone feels desperate, even if the desperation comes from working, but in a much lower-ranked job than in the past. Certainly, guest stars and leads are notoriously auditioning for day-player roles. The nervousness extends throughout the system, causing anyone who is hiring to go with known people, especially because they can be had as cheaply as newbies right now.

On the production side, I think you can assume that all the well-paid jobs that could lead on to better work are being sat on by last year's graduates. If you are considering working at a grunt job but in a film-related industry, you had much better look for the same sort of job in any other industry at all. Since there are always people wanting to get their foot in the door, I imagine the production companies' administrative assistant jobs are worse-paid than elsewhere, and the conditions worse.

My thought would be to put your name round all the usual places, seriously but with little expectation of landing a plum, then get a pay-the-rent job and become a 100-octane independent film-maker. Making a film is the easiest part of being a film-maker -- getting the support, from crew and backers, mentors and suppliers, will take most time and effort. The film-makers I know seem to have mental Rolodexes bulging with people who have space or equipment or contacts of their own.

If you haven't already, look at LIFT, whose seminars can be useful,
especially because you can count on meeting film-makers a little higher up the totem pole. Talking to a fellow audience member about what you have just shared is a much better networking bet than laying a card on a perfect stranger.
OMDC has an excellent website, bulging with potentially useful info, and workinculture.ca has a jobs board. It's very wide-ranging, but worth a look, I'd have thought.

I hope your rent continues to get paid, and that your career contacts build up into a thundering success story!