My last stab at being a shameless media whore.
Every year or so, when I lose whatever job I happen to be doing at the time, my thoughts turn to old dreams of working in the film industry. I’m not sure if it’s an attempt to harness the countless hours of joy I’ve felt watching movies that have shaped the way I feel, think and see the world since childhood or the promise of copious drugs and money, but I have always harboured a desire to be part of the business they call show.
As you may have guessed, I haven’t quite managed to “live the dream”. After studying film history at university I did a few unpaid runner jobs, mainly for TV, but ran out of money before they amounted to a proper job. Then an old flatmate introduced me to the possibility of getting into CGI effects while he was working for CFC Framestore on the Danny Boyle movie Sunshine. So, as I was of the understanding it was the only way to break into the industry with no technical know-how and I rarely learn from previous mistakes, I applied for a runners post at said VFX house. A brief interview later and I had the job! Almost. There was just the small matter of a trial day, just to see how I would fare. I spent the morning taking sandwich and coffee orders and the afternoon changing a shit-load of lightbulbs (I can only assume they saved them up before getting some mug to change them rather than them all blowing out at once). At the end of the day, I was told they would let me know and I never heard from them again. The longer I stayed around Soho, the clearer my problem became. Post production houses pack this part of London and each of them have a team of staff rushing back and forth, looking after clients, taking tapes from place to place. These people are the face and image of the company that they project to other businesses. If they don’t look a certain way (young, good-looking, cool) it will reflect badly on the company. They won’t tell you you’re an ugly fuck on the day, they let you do a bunch of shit for free, then say thanks, but no thank. It’s like X Factor, but instead of a succession of slack-jawed idiot singers, they have a steady stream of slack-jawed idiot slave labour to find the one they hire.
Needless to say, that was my last attempt at breaking into the film industry.
That was until I met Poncho yesterday. Apart from having the world’s coolest name, Poncho is a friend of a friend who works at The Moving Picture Company*. He kindly agreed to meet me and chat about what he does and how he got into doing what he is doing. Turns out his story is similar to mine. Had a job in marketing until he was 28, came to the UK from Mexico interested in becoming a photographer and took evening classes in various forms of 2D and 3D image software. He told me there were skills you can learn that are the kind of stuff established animators are too busy / important to do. These can give you an entry level position, usually night shifts that make it much easier to get a foothold and work you way up. Best of all: no fucking running.
It’s still a pipe-dream. It’s still highly likely I’ll spend a wheelbarrow full of money on college classes with not a great deal to show for it. But now’s the time to try. I have no job, I’m still *cough* fairly young and I still have the tiniest spark of what was once a burning passion to see something I worked on up on the big screen.
* MPC have done some of the CGI for the new Chronicles of Narnia sequel, Prince Caspian as well as Sweeney Todd and all the Harry Potter movies.
It’s a plan.
When you’re rich and famous you’ll have to relive the days of crappy media gnvqs and writing for the Echo in your autobiography!
I hope the big dream works out x