A few best practices when trying to get a job in the film industry
This used to be a small-ish part of my weekly job round-up list but I figured I’d expand upon it and make a standalone post to always link back too with not only some encouragement/advice but my suggestions on how to make your resume stand out because you’re probably sending in with a sea of AT LEAST 600 others.
And of course the best places to find job opps is at the bottom!
4 Networking Best Practices
1. Check your referral and alumni networks
even if it’s your fifth cousin twice removed or a friend’s step-dad’s best friend’s wife, if you know someone who knows someone who works at these companies - get that intro and/or REFERRALLLLL!! It can make all the difference for the door creaking open vs. you having to smash it down. It never hurts to ask - I mean… you do need to actually have a semi-softball into this person, NO FULL RANDOS - but the worst they can say is no… or honestly that they just didn’t see the email/call in time. Legit no family connections? Make sure with any of these jobs and really for any place you dream of working… always be on the lookout and research to see if you have connections at the company - maybe you grew up in the same town or city as someone who works there, you went to the same high school, you’re both college alumni of University of Missouri, whatever! Try to start networking with those people today. Ask them for a 10 minute intro chat, buy them a coffee, just connect on LinkedIn with a thoughtful message! So, when the perfect job comes along you can ask about a referral to up your chances.
2. Be a good hang
Before you ask someone to read your script, connect you with their agent, or recommend you for a job, be a good hang. This industry runs on relationships, trust, and vibes. Being talented is one thing; being someone others want to be around on a 12-hour shoot day or in a writers’ room matters just as much — sometimes more.
Start by finding a way to connect that’s real. If you're reaching out on Instagram, Twitter, or email, don’t lead with a request. Lead with respect. Give a sincere compliment about a project they worked on — not something generic like "love your work" but something specific: a scene they directed, a line they wrote, or a performance they shaped. That’s what can really make an impact on folks.
Even better? Offer value instead of asking for it. Maybe you can volunteer at a friend’s short film shoot, help with a pitch deck, give script notes, or support their screening. Reciprocity builds actual relationships, not just career transactions. The truth is, most opportunities in this business come from people who like working with you.
3. Know the Players
This is something I’m still working on myself, but the truth is: if you want to work in film and television, you need to know who’s who. Not in a clout-chasing way — in a this-is-how-the-industry-functions way.
You should know who the major studio and streamer execs are. Who the big-name producers and production companies are. Who’s running the rooms of the shows you love. Who reps the writers, directors, and actors you admire. This doesn’t mean memorizing a Hollywood Rolodex, but it does mean being aware of the ecosystem you’re trying to break into.
If you want to write for TV, know who showruns the shows in your genre. If you’re a director, know who’s producing the kind of work you want to make. If you want to pitch, learn what exec just bought something similar and how they think. These aren’t just names — they’re gatekeepers, collaborators, and potential allies.
Start small: check IMDb Pro, follow Deadline, The Ankler, or podcasts like The Town or The Business. When a show gets greenlit or a film is acquired, take five minutes to Google who’s involved and what else they’ve done. Patterns will emerge. You’ll start connecting the dots.
Why does this matter? Because if you walk into a meeting and don’t know the person across the table produced the show you constantly reference as your inspiration — you look unprepared. Knowing the players shows you take the industry and your future space in it seriously.
4. Make sure you’re applying to the role they’re looking for, not the job you think you “deserve” or want in the future.
I KNOWW it’s annoying to make a custom resume for each “type of job” but if you’re applying to be an assistant, notate it at the top and in the file name if there are no specific file name suggestions. List out all the jobs in the past and how they make you a great assistant not that you are actually above that job and taking a step back or floundering.
I have similar resumes with all various titles:
Marketing Director
Creative Director
Social Media Manager
Social Media Consultant
360 Marketing Campaign Lead
Paid Ads Specialist
I use these various titles when I am applying or reaching out to referrals and I know they have a specific need in mind!
Below are the sites I use to sift through and find the jobs I think are worthwhile—either in terms of quality or promising companies.
7 Resume Best Practices
1. Match Their Needs to Your Skills
Yes this is a HUGE PAIN but after a while if you’re going after similar positions then you can have a resume for each “assistant” “marketing manager” “digital coordinator” and across all places you might want to work - it will feel like it matches up and the company will easily know you can blend into their culture and ethics.
2. Detail Your Coverage Experience
If you don’t know what coverage is then you need to work on creating 5-10 pieces of quality coverage this month! Often jobs will ask you to do one as a practice to ensure you’ve done them before. There are loads of different templates, none better than one or the other but just being able to read and breakdown a script is a crucial skill!
3. Embrace the Phones
The film industry still VERY much phone attached. Your boss will be asking you to get “xyz agent at WME” or “abc producer at p production company”. Highlighting your go-getter attitude and notating that you’re un-afraid to pick up the phone will stand out.
4. Hype up your “Soft Skills”
Being a problem solver, proactive, dependable, a great listener and resourceful are NOT traits that every person has and when someone can bring this to the table it can be just as useful as someone who can do pivot tables.
But if you’re someone who asks “can I apply to this if i’m out of college?!” in a tiktok comment section about an internship that you could easily google and discover this information… I’m sorry to say but you are not any of those things and you should do some thinking on how you can become
5. Give Stats When Possible.
If you can read 3-4 feature scripts per day, if you helped grow a social account by 20% in one year, If your CTR (click-through-rate) on an email campaigns was 6%, your WPM is 180+ - those are all pieces of information that PROVE you will deliver results. If you designed a pitch deck that sold a movie! Really look back on what you’ve done and give it an analytical focus.
6. Learn a Skill to Help You Stand Out
Whether it’s photoshop, keynote, canva, becoming an excel expert or video editing. Any “hard-skill” that is out of the norm of what is expected on a “film industry” resume will help you stand out because all companies need these skills but hardly have a designated social media manager or pitch deck designer!
7. Do the Cover Letter!
You can add bullet points, you can pull one sentence that attracted you to the job or the company from the listing but this is an extra five minute task that is VERY ANNOYING but if someone can quickly read through your cover letter and know you not only put in the extra effort but also know how you can stand out then its a huge win!
&& not a resume note but remember making friends and helping others out is the best form of networking. You’ll meet people with similar goals, aspirations and plans. You’ll find cool unique Discords to join, Facebook groups, running clubs and more as you help the people around you and truly nurture the humans you find you resonate with most. You will open up more doors through those REAL connections than with a cold submission. And people can smell a person networking for their own personal ladder climbing from a mile away - they are a dime a dozen!
where to look for jobs
Business Focused:
LinkedIn (Best to go company by company)
UTA Job List (Monthly)
Stage 32 (Free to sign up but it often seems to have more people offering their services or “programs”)
Tracking Board (7 day free trial and $78 after that)
Entertainment Jobs on Jooble (all over the country!)
Entertainment Careers (semi-free but then paid for some “bigger jobs”)
More Prod Focused:
Facebook groups are also an amazing option just make sure to vet people!
“Salaries” are always included here because I don’t want you to click any further if that amount won’t work for you and for full transparency when I can because i KNOW that these are WHACK wages/salaries. I also have a post coming out about my favorite *survival or thrival*** jobs. But as I find better ones, I’ll make sure to highlight those at the TOP of the lists! Currently they are going to be MOSTLY LA and categorized by:
Internships
Assistants
Marketing & PR
Entry, Production, Post, Dev/Exec Level & Other
If there’s more specific niches you’re looking for, let me know and I’ll do some digging and ask around to my contacts! To me, the following jobs are from quality (as quality as they can be), vetted companies and opps that can give you a good birds eye-view of that sector of the industry and/or allow you to meet people who can guide you.