Green PA commented on a post from a couple weeks ago, “The Curse of the Origin Story”:
I recently got very lucky and was able to finagle my way out of the mail room and into a sweet PA job on the lot. I have been scouring IMDB to find the origins of all of my producers, show runners, directors, A.D.s, etc, and none of them have any experience listed before they got to the level of “line producer.” Even the writers lack any listings before their first writing gig. Why do you think this is? Typical Hollywood -I -was -born -into -greatness BS, or should we take a page from their book and hide our true job titles when out of the office or off the set?
I’ve noticed this as well. There is certainly an element of pride. These guys aren’t going to add PA experience from the 70s to their IMDb page.
A larger part, though, is just that they’re old. IMDb was only just getting going when I was in college. While IMDb still doesn’t have all of my credits, it has a lot of them, including work on shows I’m embarrassed to admit I worked on.
If/when I someday become a famous writer, those credits will stay there. I’m probably at the vanguard of filmmakers whose entire career, from PA to producer, will be available for all to see. Thus is life in the internet age.
5 Responses
Thanks for posting an answer my comment! I really appreciate it. It’s nice to know that I am not the only one who is looking for that magic career path that will lead us to greatness.
Also it is possible to delete credits once they’re up on IMDB. I know people who have done this.
quite a few people start out in Commercials or Music videos, things covered by unions and such, but not by imdb. check out the link below. specifically the “not eligible” section. It’s possible that’s were a few of your missing careers are. http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?resumeeligible
Thank you for this post! I did the exact same thing and it was very discouraging… it makes it look as if the people who have become really successful just happened to fall into a great position to start with as opposed to working their way up the ladder…
I’m one of those people who tried to find career paths in this industry.. how did the Producers and Directors get to be where they are so I can follow a similar path?
What I found is the same thing, most people don’t have their entire career paths.
I agree with you that if/when I “make it” my entire career will be there so in 30 years when some 18 year old kid is looking around and trying to find his path, he can look at mine and be a little more educated.