Five Lessons Learned - Jackson Todd's Reflections on the Summer in LA

Standing high above the city of Los Angeles, looking from the Tree of Life.

A fantastic view of the Hollywood sign from Bronson Caves, the
former location of Adam West's Batcave in the Batman TV show.

When I first signed up for the Summer program in Los Angeles, I knew that it would be beneficial for my career. There are just some things that you need to learn from a hands-on perspective, and I thought that learning the entertainment industry was one of those things.
 I couldn't have been more right about that, but the lessons I learned while here weren't the lessons I was expecting. The naive part of my brain expected to waltz into the office, charm everyone, and walk out with promises of a paying career when I graduate.
Now, I know how foolish that was, but I think that I've made huge strides towards success while being out here. More importantly though, I've learned a few things, such as...

All of these fabulous people are
new recruits to my network of friends from TCF!

1. It's not what you know, it's WHO you know!

Networking doesn't have to be hard! Sometimes, it's as easy as grabbing
a pizza and watching some baseball.

 The entertainment industry is already hard to break into when you have friends inside, but getting your foot in the door is next-to-impossible without a network of contacts who are willing to vouch for you. For example, we heard from a guest speaker named Jeffrey Weaver, who is the producer on the reality show Intervention. Jeff told us that when he is looking for new people to hire, he first contacts Dr. Raimist, who then recommends the people she thinks will best fit the job. This is how almost all hiring is done in Hollywood. You contact your friends, who then vouch for someone else. So, it remains to be seen that the more friends you have, the more likely it is for you to be contacted. I saw this firsthand in my last weeks at Bully Pictures, when my co-worker asked me to help post an advertisement for a new group of interns. I sent the link to my connections at the University first, because I know that the more quality Alabama alums work at this job, the better it reflects on me.

Campus Moviefest: A collection of student films from around the country
that all make it to Los Angeles. The University has a contest and a screening,
 then CMF hosts a film fest in Hollywood for the national winners.

2. But...it's also kinda what you know!
This news came to my attention after attending the Campus Moviefest screenings at Universal Studios. As I sat in the theater, applauding for the student works I'd just seen, I wondered to myself what I could do to tell a better story than the stories I'd just watched. I tried to convince myself that my work was already better in a lot of ways, but I had no way to prove it. Since then, I've brainstormed ideas for shorts to shoot throughout my senior year in college. My plan is to have enough work that I can put together three minutes of usable footage for a sizzle reel.

3. Filmmaking is a lifestyle in Los Angeles!

Living the film lifestyle means awesome perks, like
touching thousand dollar camera equipment with one hand, and
a free slushie with the other.

A little known fact about me is that when I'm not making movies, I love to snow ski. One lesson I've learned from skiing transferred over to the film world for me while I was out in Los Angeles. That lesson is simply this: if you want to be successful, you have to take the risk and go all in on it. I saw this lesson visually represented on big ski jumps, where those who committed to their jumps landed and looked awesome, but those who chickened out at the last moment ended up falling on their face. Likewise, in film, if you say you're a filmmaker, you better have a favorite director, a favorite cinematographer, three favorite movies, a favorite studio, and a reason why all of these favorite things are your favorite things. My role model James Rolfe said it best when he said, "to be a filmmaker, all you have to do is know movies and make movies." I've always put the emphasis of that quote on the second half of it, but after being in Los Angeles for the summer, I know now that the first part of the quote is equally as important.

I was confused by how this remote camera controller worked.
I wanted to walk away, but I asked somebody instead,
and got to operate it firsthand.

4. Don't be scared to put yourself out there!

Because I put myself out there, I got the opportunity to work
as a production assistant on this awesome commercial
shot next to the picturesque Pacific Coastal Highway

Coming out to Los Angeles for the summer was a dream come true for me, but I'm disappointed to admit that for the first few weeks, I felt a little underwhelmed with the amount I was learning. I tried to figure out why, only to realize it was my own doing. This internship program is the perfect chance to get hands-on information from people working in the business, and I was too scared to touch anything. It wasn't until I convinced myself that the professionals around me were people too that I was able to come out of my shell to reach out and pick their brains.

 I found that when I asked questions to the people around me, they actually saw me as more intelligent, because I was hungry for knowledge, rather than being stupid for not knowing everything in the first place. For such an exclusive industry, film people are quite inclusive, and if you make the effort to reach out to them, they usually reach back for you.

5. For the First Years of your Career, DON'T SAY NO!

When my boss asked for extra help setting up his
Fourth of July party, I couldn't say anything but yes.

Let's get real for a minute: not everybody gets to be Spielberg. Given that fact, some of the most important advice I heard from multiple different sources was "don't say no." The good part about starting in the film industry is that lots of the entry level jobs aren't super important, so you're not going to endanger someone's life or art by trying something new.

Because I helped set up for the Fourth of July party, I had the opportunity
to make $200 dollars by grilling with a fellow intern the next day. Easy money!

So, if there's no reason to be scared of messing up, then there's really no reason not to try new things and see what you're good at. Ultimately, it will turn out for the best, because even though you might not be the next Spielberg, you could be the next great set designer, or 2nd AD, or music supervisor. However, you will never get those jobs if you aren't willing to branch out and try them. Plus, by not saying no, people know just who to look to when they need somebody to say "yes!"