EDITOR’S NOTE: Alexis is the “Ms. In The Biz” College Correspondent and the youngest member of the Ms. In The Biz writing team.
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Once again, it’s 7:00am and you find yourself waking up in small town suburbia… monotony is lingering in the air. Another day is dawning, another day away from the big city scuffle and natural hustle that crowds the air; hustle that mixes melodically with the aroma of the coffee shop down the street filled with ambition and too many shots of espresso.
You wake up and you realize you are still in the same place, same position, and same season of your life. High school graduation just passed and you are ready to begin your future. You are ready to rise every morning to the sun of promise and stable thought of “You are off to work, off to live your dream.” You picture your life as it one day could be, walking on set preparing for the day of shooting that lies ahead. You picture someone walking up to you with your favorite coffee, hazelnut latte… with soy of course, while a list of people read off tasks that need to be completed. You see your life as it’s been promised in your dreams years and years down the road and think, “Wait, how exactly will I get to… there… from here.” Well, this is me telling you: Don’t let the daunting of a big city dream discourage you from small town progress.
There is a very important lesson to be learned in the wanting of big city success: progression happens within you, not within your surroundings. So I ask this, have you let this thought enter your mind: when I can one day move out to LA, that’s when my career will start? I have a brutal reality check for that one, not every high school graduate moves straight to LA after graduation, but that doesn’t mean that you are counted out of the game. In what ways can you find opportunities even in a small town? Have you researched any small time production companies that need interns or production assistants? Are you willing to work more hours than your payroll? Are you willing to work for free, period? Are you willing to teach yourself how to edit your own work because you know that it may take years before you have someone doing it for you? Have you searched locally for ways to develop and immerse in your craft? These questions are vital parts to growth in film for the young filmmaker (I know, sometimes 18 feels like it’ll take forever to arrive at where you wish to be.)
They say now a days it’s all about who you know, not what you know. In my young, ambitious, and inexperienced mind I can attest that although that may be true, there are steps right now that can be taken toward the career of entertainment that you long for. Networking is nonexistent in your small town? Take the initiative to email screenwriters, directors, film societies, producers, or even production companies. Show infinite interest in the industry by connecting, communicating, and networking with as many people that will listen to you via electronic communication. If there is one thing I have learned in the past year of my life that I have been out of high school, it is that opportunity isn’t going to ring your doorbell and invite itself in for tea. We as women wanting to thrive in film need to take that initiative to be successful. We must be searching up, down, and side-to-side for opportunity. We must never stop networking ourselves to those above us who are willing to listen and show us a way, any way, to get our foot in the door.
The difference between successful and unsuccessful people is their innate instinct to never take no for an answer. The entertainment industry is like a party that you keep ringing the doorbell to, hoping someone answers, until you realize you need to walk in on your own and make yourself apart of it. In the same way, if you find yourself locked out of the party in some small, get-me-out-of-here town, keep in mind that it is up to you to find your success, your success is not going to go looking for you. Small town, no connections, big dream living is a common lifestyle many young people share. Do not let that discourage you from attaining the career in film you see for yourself. Success starts and ends with you, decide what to be and go be it.