You’re now done with school, or soon to be, or you just want to start your career in the industry but you have absolutely no idea of what your CV should look like and what it should contain. Don’t worry, I’ll explain you everything in this multiple parts article.

First, you need to know if you want to use your CV for indie work or for union work, including joining an union, because there are differences between both. I know, a CV is a CV but people want to see different things on those depending of what your intentions are. I’m still making sense? Great!

When you’re doing your CV for normal work, here’s what people want to see:

• Name and contact informations
• Production credits
• Education and training
• If you belong to any unions
• Festivals & Awards (if applicable)
• References, including contact details
• Anything else that is related to the job you’re applying for.

I’ll be covering some of these points in this article, and the rest in the following parts of this article.

It probably seems quite similar to what you would find in a normal CV for anyother job, but in the film industry, no one really care that you worked in a corner store. It’s all about the film industry and your experience in it. Here’s the difference explained by Skillset.org.

Film CVs for those freelancers working in production are slightly different from those you would send out for positions in other sectors of the industry, or indeed for positions in other industries. This is because a Head of Department (HOD) is looking to employ you for the duration of the production only and as such want to see your most recent film credits – who you’ve worked on and what the production was. More here.

So comparatively to other industries, the person who receives your resume is probably the person who will hire you. You don’t go through tons of assistants that have no idea of what they should be looking for. Those guys know what they are doing. Now this is good news and bad news because your resume has to not only be good but able to convince them that you can do the job.

Now lets explore each of the previous points.

Name and contact informations

Let me start by giving you some visuals. Here are three different examples that I’ve found on Google Images.

This is probably the most basic thing that you can imagine putting in a CV. The goal of this is that people know who you are and can get in touch with you. So I recommend that you put the following:

1. Name
2. Current position, or the one you apply for
3. Contact number
4. Address
5. Email
6. Website
7. Agent

Name

So obviously you know what I mean by your name (first, middle if you have one, and last). Some people prefer to go with the name they use for their credits, which is quite a good idea since people will look you up, that’s totally up to you.

Current Position

Your current position or the one you’re applying for is what you’re currently doing or the job you’re applying for, in the industry. I would suggest that you don’t try to sell yourself for something that you’re not. If you’re new in the “film world” you shouldn’t try to sell yourself as a director, or any other position that you don’t have any real experience in. It’s not because you directed a film in film school that you are a director, for commercial films. Anyone can direct a short, so you’re not Special.

Contact Number

So you have your name, now you want people to be able to contact you. Some people will put their home and cellphone number, I personally only put my cellphone. People don’t need to know everything about you in a resume. If they want to call you they can do it on your cellphone. It’s also better since you’re not always home to answer anyway.

Address

Some people will put their address some won’t. This is a personal decision. I personally put it when I send my resume to big production company but will not put it on my CV for smaller films. It all depends of how you feel about it.

Email

The two following points are optional really. I personally like to have my email in my CV since some people will want to email you instead of calling, it’s rare but it happens, or just send you information later on. It’s your choice really, but if you decide to have it I wouldn’t put something like: matchoman69@whatever.com. It’s your professional CV, not something that you send to your friends. Use an email that is simple and clean. Something like: Johndoe@whatever.com.

Website

Another thing that you can decide to include or not. If you have a website with more information on you, go ahead, it doesn’t hurt. Again, be professional with your website if you have one. If the person you sent your CV to wants to know more, they might want to go on your website.

Agent

This is only for some jobs in the industry, so if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Actors, writers and few other should include their agent contact informations.

This is all there is for Part 1 of the article, more in the following parts, which will be published this week.

Go to:
Part 2 of “How To Write your Film CV”