Breaking into Film:
Lesson Plan

1 

Learning Objectives

This lesson will focus on the Who, What, Where, When and How of forging relationships in the film community with a focus on networking to create opportunities to get your foot in the door.   

2

Lesson Outline

• Welcome and introductions

• How to find opportunities through:

• Networking

• Cold Calls

• Reaching out

• Following up

• Landing an opportunity

• Expectations

• Paid gigs vs unpaid gigs

• Interns vs Production Assistants

• Union vs Non-union

• Types of  film projects

• How to get noticed as a PA

• Intro to set etiquette

• Useful vocabulary

3

Lesson Activities

• Introductions (practical lesson in networking)

  • Breaking the ice

  • Who are you and what brought you here?

  • Tell us about yourself, some background and interests?

  • Any special skills?

• Lecture with power point

  • Q&A

• Review vocabulary

  • Familiarize yourself for next lesson

4

Lesson Goals

This first lesson will be an introduction to breaking into the film business. This  can be applied to accessing various departments within the entertainment industry. By the end of this lesson students will know how to find networking events, who to reach out to for opportunities and how to land an interview. They will also know what kind of opportunities are out there from internships to crew positions and how to optimize each experience for future work. There will be in introduction to set etiquette and a review of common vocabulary used on the job.