Something surprising about the people in this industry is that most of them have a second source of income. You may not realize it, but on set you work with people who are selling houses, working on ships half the year and more. Close to everyone has another way to make some money during rough time. Being out of film school, you should have one also. Here’s why.

In the film industry, having full time work year long is close to impossible and if it was to be possible, I doubt you would like it. No one likes to do more than 12 hours days for a year. Honestly you don’t have a life after 6 months, so after 1 year I don’t know what you have left. It takes all your energy away and leave you with a burnout. Also, the chance of being employed for that long is very slim. The industry doesn’t work on a year long basis. Show are going on break a few weeks before christmas and start often later in the year.

Also, having full time employment on one show is definitely rare, especially if you start in the industry. Don’t believe that because you’re PAing one day on a show that you will get call backs all the time, it just doesn’t work that way. Also, you could get fired for no reason, which happens a lot. I was talking to a second unit DP today and a Director and we were joking about how being fired is a proof that you’re working in the industry for a long time. “Everyone gets fired at one point” they joked. “Could be because someone doesn’t like the shirt that you’re wearing because it hurts their thinking process.” It’s a very sad but true thing about this industry, you could get fired for no reason.

Backup Plan
There isn’t any certitude in this business so have a backup plan. If you’re thinking about going to film school or about to leave film school you need to plan for the months after your graduation. You’ll not find work instantly. You start by sending lots of resume, so meanwhile you need a job or some money in the bank account.

Taking a loan is probably not the best idea. It does give you some money, but then you have to pay it back + interest. If you don’t work full time it means that you may have to make the choice one day to pay back the loan or for your food. Loans aren’t solutions, just way to postpone your issues.

Get a part time job
The idea is to stay in the industry one way or another. Sell sandwich with catering, who cares? At least you’re still in contact with industry people. If that’s not possible for you, find something that gives you some freedom.

The people that I’ve always found to have the best examples are fresh young actors who are out of school or just starting. They need to be available for auditions, call back, shoot and the terrible schedules. They need to have a job that give them this freedom. You find that quite a lot are working in restaurants and similar jobs while working on short films etc..

They actually have it worst than we do, crew members. They aren’t needed until the end of the shoot, most of them at least, only the leads are.

I have the job, now what?
Keep on sending resumes. Get free work going, as I was talking about in the article “I’m done, now what?“. Most professionals that I talk to tell me that it will take you between 1 or two years, if not more, before you get some steady employment, again not year long. Plan for that right now. Don’t believe that you’re special and it won’t happen to you, because if it does, you might be in big trouble.