Jackie writes in:
Any advice on how best to get the contact info for a production coordinator of a specific show?
Generally, it’s a know-someone-who-knows-someone kind of deal.
Think about it. If you have something that a lot of people want (a job to offer), would you publicize your email? Coordinators would get millions of emails if they put their addresses out for anyone to see online, instead of just thousands.
The system of connections and referrals that Hollywood uses is mostly a way to limit the number of emails they get in a given day. It’s the same with coordinators and PAs as it is for agents and writers.
Sure, some wheat may get caught up with the chaff, but there’s still plenty of wheat to go around. You might be a great PA, but you don’t know the right coordinator, and she doesn’t hire you. But she probably will hire someone who’s just as good, or good enough, in any case.{{1}}
Your only option, then, is to increase the number of people you know. You pretty much have to start at the bottom, working on the kinds of shitty jobs you find on Craig’s List and Mandy.com. There, you’ll meet people who can refer you to bigger shows.
The more people you know, the more likely it is that you’ll know someone who knows someone who’s hiring people like you. In short, the value of your network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system.
So, get out there and make friends!
[[1]]Likewise, you might have a great idea for a TV show, but the world will never know, because you don’t know someone who knows someone who knows an agent.[[1]]
9 Responses
I’m a recent college grad trying to find a PA job. If I start my search on my state and city film commission sites (I know some don’t think it’s worth it) and the listings only provide the production email addresses, how should I address the cover letter emails?
Note: I can’t find any info about a lot of the movies listed.
I’m an assistant cinematographer, and I use http://www.productionbulletin.com to help locate jobs. As soon as a movie is listed, I’m on the phone with the production company. There are some other companies out there like http://www.productionleads.com but I’ve never had much luck with their service, plus productionbulletin.com only costs me 40 bucks a month. Forget your local newsletter,if you want to have an advantage, you have to pay for lists and then work your phone. That’s just the way it is.
Justin and/or TAPA,
If I found out the name of the film’s Production Coordinator and found their phone contact in the NY Production Guide, is it rude to actually call?
That’s a tough one, I think email is always better, simply because if they are working on something at the moment they probably have a lot on their plate you know what I mean. I think if you have an email address for them the best thing to do would be for you to send them an email with your phone number asking them to call at a time that’s best for them. I try to think of it like whats the best look for you, and having the forethought to anticipate their busy schedule is most definitely a good look. I would say with personal email addresses and phone numbers the everyday method is not the move haha, I should have noted only do that with production email addresses.
But if NYC’s production guide is anything like GA’s it should have their email address as well!
Best of luck!
So I ended up contacting the Production Coordinator and Location Managers from info I found on a Production Guide. Neither seemed to mind. The LM seemed more promising saying they seemed staffed at the moment but should be looking for dayplayers so she would personally hold onto my resume for that instance. Now my question is: if it has been a week or so, should I just send a casual follow up to say I’m just checking in with hopes of staying on her radar and let her know I’m ready to work? It is a pretty noteworthy feature film, so I’m really wanting to get on. Even if it is a one day gig, I really want the experience. And I know how busy all of these dept heads are. Maybe the more frequently she hears from me (without being annoying), she may remember to call me when they bring in extra PAs.
Thanks!
Touching on what Justin said–sending a resume everyday…is this a good or bad idea for a major feature film? I know the email traffic is probably very heavy, but still, does it come across as annoying or can it not hurt?
Here’s my thought process when I was doing it, “what are they going to do? Not hire me, that’s already happening”, as someone that’s worked on 3-4 shows in the office now, I can tell you it’s not a huge annoyance at all, and to be honest we didn’t pay too much attention when they came in, but the well written ones, those being ones that provide an introduction that dug a bit further than “I’m Steve and I want to work in film” seemed to garner my attention more. Furthermore, I later learned essentially what happens is your résumé goes in a pile with everyone else’s resume, the difference is when they need somebody and you’ve sent you’re everyday, not only do they recognize your name, but yours goes to the top of the pile with each send. It doesn’t work immeadeatly, I got my first office gig from a show where the APOC saw my name from a previous show, but I’ve probably been out of work a total of MAYBE a month and a half two months since my first show in the office working full time and that spans three shows so, while it isn’t the quickest fix I can attest to it being something that works! And I’m now on my first show as a Secretary so I’m a huge proponent of doing this haha!
Good luck to those trying to get their foot in the industry. When people say it’s all about who you know it’s the absolute truth, now this way worked for getting in the office if you want to get on set (I thought POC’s were the people to contact too) I would cold email 1st AD’s as they usually will work with their teams.
Also from my experience, don’t pretend to know or have met the people your reaching out to, be completely honest about “I came across you info on the Internet” or some kind of database I’ve had UPM’s, POC’s, etc… Thank me for my honesty.
I know numerous states film offices have industry resource publications, dig a little on the Internet you should be able to find some info I know GA has a resource book. Find what’s shooting in town and email them a resume EVERYDAY, that’s a great way to get in the PO if you want to be there, eventually an office PA will have a commercial, come down with a cold, possibly just want a day off, and if your résumé is at the top of the pile you can get a call (worked for me on a major studio feature). If set is where you want to be email ADs, introduce yourself honestly “I found your info from…” (same with POCs) and let them know you’d love the opportunity if they need a hand one day etc… finally buy yourself a surveillance to keep on your person/in your car, if your out and about and see a crew grab that sucker and see if they need an extra body, I know PAs that have gotten on the run of shows doing that!
Good luck!
– PA from ATL
Meet someone who will let you use their studio system login. Everyone knows that’s the easiest way to get emails and phone numbers