Podeloy Productions Blog

I got a message on Facebook from a young woman named Christine who writes:

“I just graduated from college with a tv production major and moved out to Long Beach, CA in hopes to find an editing job.  I searched Facebook for editors in the area and found your profile. I was just curious if you had any advice for me. I know this is an odd way to get ahold of someone but I’ve tried everything from craigslist, mediamatch, realitystaff, mandy.com, and I’m really stressed and confused as to what else to do to find a job, so I turned to good old Facebook.  Anyway, I have experience with Avid and just recently got Final Cut Studio put on my computer and am hoping to become experienced with that as well.  ANY advice would really help.  I’m not expecting you to give me a job or anything, haha, just some direction would be really appreciated.”

Well, Christine, I’d suggest finding people who are perhaps a little older (and a little richer) than you who share your same interests.  The key is networking with like-minded people who may have been in your shoes.  Are you religious? Perhaps there’s a church nearby with programs you can video tape and then edit.  It is almost guaranteed that in Southern California, at least one regular congregant at any given church or synagogue is in the television industry that would be glad to network with you.

I see that on Facebook, you list yourself as “very liberal.” Organizations like Co-Op America and the Natural Resources Defense Council have plenty of industry people as members, and I’m sure they are always looking for documentarians to further educate the public and politicians. Left-wing documentaries are extremely popular right now.

In short, I wouldn’t think of it as “getting your foot in the door.” That only makes the person slam the door on your foot! Instead, think of being a part of a big family, except that you get to choose your family and, if it all goes well, the family will choose you.

Podeloy blog reader John Wouk asks:

“I’m trying to apply for a job I found on Craigslist directing a short industrial film.  The person who placed the ad is asking for applicants’ reels.  I’m a student at a local college with a few student films and short documentaries under my belt and am confident that I could do a good job on the industrial film, but I’ve never created a reel for myself.  How is it done? Is there a difference between a good reel and a bad reel? Should I just give him one whole student film I made or should I just show the best parts? Any advice would be appreciated.”

Thanks for writing, John.  Its a great question because it applies to directors, actors, editors, cinematographers, and anyone else who needs to create a reel to show off his or her work to a client or producer.

There are two broad categories of reels: (1) specific and (2) eclectic.  A specific reel shows off long scenes of projects (or perhaps even entire projects) whereas an eclectic reel shows off very brief clips of a variety of different projects.  Whether you want to create and submit a specific reel or an eclectic reel depends on a variety of factors including the project you are applying for, the client you are applying to, and your own personal strengths and experiences as an artist.

Cutting an specific reel is fairly easy.  You hardly need any editing skill at all.  All you do is choose the best scenes from your best projects, put them on the timeline, and add your fade ins and fade outs as necessary. This is best for directors and actors who want to show off their skills at creating and sustaining emotion.

Eclectic reels are a little more tricky.  What I like to do is get some fast-paced music (make sure to get the rights first) that would appeal to a variety of musical tastes, lay it on the timeline, and then just cut cool looking or action oriented shots from projects together so that it looks like you’re a jack of all trades.  The eclectic reel should look a little bit like a music video.  Confidence in getting the job done is the dominant feeling the client should be getting, rather than the sensitivity that the best specific reels are best at.  Eclectic reels are best for cinematographers, visual effects artists, and (sometimes) editors who want to highlight their technical craftsmanship.

When burning a DVD of video that you want to play in a regular DVD player, use DVD-R (”dash”) discs! Do not use DVD+R (”plus”) discs! I don’t know enough about the technology to tell you exactly why except to say that I’ve almost always had trouble playing DVD+R’s in regular DVD players and very rarely had the same trouble with DVD-R’s.  Sometimes the DVD+R’s are completely unplayable.  Other times, they just show pixels and play the sound.  Other times they work fine.  Still other times, they work in some DVD players and not others.  To save myself the trouble, I never burn anything (not even data) onto a DVD+R.  I don’t even buy DVD+R’s.  Maybe they are better for some applications than DVD-R’s, but I never found an instance like that in my line of work.

Last Sunday’s episode of “60 Minutes” tackled movie piracy, the practice of copying or recording a film and then selling it on the black market in violation of copyright law.  “60 Minutes” specifically talked about pirating movies that are still in theatrical release by videotaping the big screen and then distributing the low-quality video on BitTorrent.  The journalists interviewed people like Steven Soderbergh who said that piracy of this kind doesn’t effect the movie stars with eight-figure salaries, but it effects the little guys.  The argument is that if the studio is losing money, fewer movies will be made, and if fewer movies are made, that means fewer jobs for the little guys.  While this seems logical, I’m not sure if one thing necessarily leads to another as directly as this argument implies.  Nevertheless, piracy is a huge problem for Hollywood and even us “little guys” ought to take a stand against it on moral/legal grounds and certainly to steer clear of it ourselves.

Reader Patty Tanner writes, “My father is getting older and I’d like to record my his oral history.  Is there a cheap digital recording device I can buy that can get the job done? What would you recommend?”

I’d recommend the Merantz PMD620.  It is about the size of a pack of cigarettes, has a built in microphone, and can record wav and mp3 files in several different frequency and bit rate settings.  It also has a mini input so you can plug an external microphone into it. The unit costs about $400 new, but can be rented from Podeloy Productions for only $36.00 a day.

I recently blogged that those who care about keeping entertainment jobs in Los Angeles should vote for Paul Krekorian in the Council District 2 election coming on September 22.  I think Krekorian and others in Hollywood are more concerned about live action productions, but animation has been hit by a related problem that has been around for at least two decades: outsourcing.  Friend of Podeloy Productions, Marlene Sharp, wrote a pretty good article/interview for examiner.com about outsourcing animated productions to India.  Half of the article is about the concept of outsourcing and the big studios who practice it.  The second half was a short interview with Gaurav Jain, a producer at an animation studio in Mumbai.

Jain says optimistically, “Outsourcing strengthens the industry by allowing it to grow at a greater rate.  The western artists should never forget that they have always been the primary content creators, and that position is not threatened by outsourcing, but strengthened by it.” I agree with him, but outsourcing is a double-edged sward and Jain is only describing one of the two edges.  While outsourcing allows the animation industry to create more content faster, it also makes jobs that were once done by western artists to be done on the cheap in India and other countries where wages and working conditions are of a lower quality.

While I don’t see the outsourcing business model to be reversed any time soon (its way too profitable), I’m glad to read Jain say:

“In 5 years I see the animation industry creating content for the indigenous market with less reliance on outsourcing.  … In 10 years I see Indian studios as stakeholders in international productions, offering creating insight and co-owning prestige productions.  I see online and web content becoming more important with greater broadband penetration, and I see licensing and merchandise becoming a major revenue source.”

I’m all for the growth of the indigenous Indian animation market and I’m even in favor of international cooperation.  Slumdog Millionaire was the result of such cooperation between western and eastern filmmakers.  I just wish American studios would keep as many jobs in the U.S. (and especially Hollywood) as possible.

Reader Jan Brannen writes:

“I just got out finished college and am having trouble finding work in the TV industry.  I’m trying to put a resume together and I’m not sure how it looks.  I got straight A’s in both high school and college, but my work experience is basically limited to having a summer job at Starbucks.  Should I put my Starbucks experience? I’m putting my college experience, but what about high school? Thanks.”

A resume is like an advertisement for you.  You should design your resume similarly to how one might market a product.  Since each person is unique, each resume should be tailored to your specific strengths.

Good grades are definitely a boost to your resume, but I found that what’s more impressive to employers are honors bestowed for those grades.  Did you receive a Cum Laude distinction on your diploma? If so, write be sure to mention it.  High school grades are not as important.  I include my high school experience on my resume because I did a lot of film/tv stuff in high school for which I received awards and honors, but if you just had a regular high school experience, then I’d say include nothing more than your graduation year and school name and location.

As for Starbucks, it depends.  In Jan’s case, I would include it, but be sure to have bullet points under it with “power words” such as “Assisted customers achieve the most satisfying experience possible.” Be sure to include anything such as equipment used or learned on the job like computer software.  For someone who has more work experience than Jan, I wouldn’t put Starbucks on my resume if I was looking for a job in the TV industry.

Thanks for the question, Jan, and good luck!

San Fernando Valley residents should know about the upcoming election for Los Angeles city Council District 2 on September 22. Last night, I attended an event at the Adat Ari El synagogue in North Hollywood to hear the candidates speak. I am not an expert in local politics, so some of what they had to say went over my head. The main topic that concerned all of them was recent actions by the DWP which seemed to waste taxpayer money or be corrupt in some way.

I went to the event to make sure that the candidates had an opinion on runaway productions—film and television produced outside of Los Angeles in order to cut costs. Other places like Massachusetts and Georgia have big tax incentives that bring Hollywood productions to their state and away from the heart of the entertainment industry where people like us depend on our livelihoods. Not only are entertainment industry personnel affected by runaway productions, but also local businesses such as restaurants, rental companies, caterers, etc. are affected.

After each of the ten candidates had a chance to speak for five minutes, the moderator asked for questions from the audience. I was able to state my case and ask what specifically each candidate planned to do to combat the trend described above. It seemed to me that most of the ten candidates did not have this issue very high on their priorities list. The candidate who answered the question most satisfactorily to me was Paul Krekorian, who made reference to a program he spearheaded this year as a member of the California State Assembly to give tax incentives to projects that shot in California. You can read more about it here.

Don’t forget to vote on September 22.

A director I respect wrote me a month ago telling me that she met a nice guy who just graduated film school and wanted to network and learn more about editing. She asked me if I wouldn’t mind meeting him and just talking about my experiences with him. That was fine with me, so I sent him an email asking him if he wanted to have lunch with me.

A week later, the director who recommended him asked me if I had heard anything from him. I told her I didn’t. She frowned and said, “Oh well. I gave him an hour of my time.” We both assumed he either chickened out or didn’t care. I could tell that she lost respect for him at that moment.

Then, yesterday, the guy e-mails me back. This is more than a whole month after I sent him my invitation to have lunch. The guy apologized for getting back to me so sluggishly and explained that he was out of the country and hadn’t checked his email the whole time. I sent him back a response asking him to call me if he wanted to meet up. That was four days ago and I haven’t heard from him since.

I’m sorry, but unless you’re in the heart of rural India or something, prompt e-mail/phone responses are essential for building relationships. Promptness ensures that you are still in the mind of the person you are trying to network with. The guy in this story has not been in my mind for a whole month and I completely forgot about him before he e-mailed me. Furthermore, if I’m to trust the guy and possibly work with him, sluggish responses to e-mails is not a good sign of a dedicated colleague.