How To Break Into Hollywood Editing With Zero Contacts
I still remember that day like it was yesterday. It was 10 am on a Tuesday morning, I was QC’ing (quality control) music videos in my college internship at Sony Music/Columbia Records - specifically Passion Pit’s Carried Away. That was all the rave that morning because we were releasing the music video for Valentine’s Day. One of my immediate supervisors actually had this song playing so loudly in his headphones I could hear the catchy beat so faintly as he walked into his office. He didn’t even notice or hear my speakers but it was playing the exact same song albeit not in sync. While this made a cacophony of tunes, I was alt + tabbing between my work and a Notes document of a rough email draft to…
One of the assistant editors of the hit blockbuster film, World War Z.
I was mumble singing “I get carried away…” as I brainstormed the best way to introduce myself yet also trying not to get caught by my supervisors. I figured if I was humming it, everyone would think I would be doing the work… or they probably didn’t even care and just thought that weird intern is singing again. How I didn’t get fired? I don’t know.
I wanted the email to be perfect. But I also reminded myself that he probably wouldn’t respond anyway so why not at least give it a shot. Here’s what I wrote:
Hi Carsten,
My name is Alfonso Carrion, I’m currently a film student from Emerson College doing a Post-Production internship for Sony Music/Columbia Records in Los Angeles. I found your email through your website via LinkedIn. I wanted to reach out to you because I would love to get your advice and hear your experiences working as a Professional Hollywood Assistant Editor.
I saw that you worked on World War Z and I truly would love to work on a big-budget action film like this one day. I can’t imagine the amount of dailies that you had to sift through, or the extensive sound work you must have temp’d for your editor. I honestly would love to know how many visual effects shots are in the movie - maybe I don’t want to know haha!
Anyway, if you’re free sometime, I would love to grab coffee (my treat) and ask you how you got started in your career. Thank you so much and hope to hear from you soon.
-Alfonso
I didn’t know this at the time but what I did eventually became a milestone for me in my career because not only did Carsten respond back, but I had figured out the most efficient method in breaking into the industry: Informational Interviews.
Before emailing Carsten, I had thought to myself, why not write down my top five favorite movies and look up the editors on IMDb/Google. Someone was bound to have a website or a Facebook/LinkedIn that had their email on it, right? It couldn’t be that hard. My top 5 favorite movies back then were Transformers, The Dark Knight, Back To The Future, Saving Private Ryan, and The Bourne Identity. If you read my first blog post, this shouldn’t surprise you. But if you didn’t, what can I say? I love and still get entertained by big budget action movies, I mean who doesn’t. (I can still feel your judgement, okay fine).
Anyway, I did my searches. All I remember was that I spent hours researching and looking for their contact info but couldn’t find it. However, I did find numerous assistant editors on other well-known films/tv shows and thought why not reach out to them? So I did. I actually LinkedIn messaged one of the Assistant Editors on The Dark Knight - no response. I reached out to one of the AE’s on Grey’s Anatomy - no response. I emailed one of the assistant editors on American Idol - no response. You get the trend here.
Something told me though that all I needed was one person to get back to me. And after making this a habit to send at least a couple cold messages a week. Carsten replied back to me within 15 minutes of sending my email. I couldn’t believe it. He thanked me for the email and told me that when work slowed down, we’ll grab coffee.
Fast forward to a couple weeks later, I was sitting in front of Carsten, notepad and pen in hand filling up at least seven pages full of notes. He told me everything from his experiences working on World War Z to taking actionable steps in breaking into the industry. And funnily enough, his answer to that was… This, having coffee. I was onto something. Having a personable 1-on-1 conversation led to a more unique professional relationship. It felt more genuine. A real possibility that Carsten would actually email me a couple weeks later and ask me if I was available for a job opportunity. Which he eventually did and it was through one of his contacts, that helped me get my first Post-PA credit on the Travel Channel show, Hotel Secrets & Legends. And because of that credit, I landed my first Assistant Editor gig with Oscar Winning Editor Richard Halsey, ACE & Colleen Halsey, ACE. I ended up working with them for two years! Guess how I got that job? It was through another informational interview I did with the Halsey’s previous assistant. And because of this credit, I landed my first union gig on Netflix’s House of Cards.
…and that’s why I believe in Informational Interviews. They are the most realistic way in getting your foot in the door to gaining contacts so that you can eventually land a job for the films/shows that YOU want. Not something random. The shows that YOU love watching on all the streaming services and theaters.
So looking back on it now, I’ve broken down the steps for you so that you too can follow what I did and hopefully get the same luck in getting an informational interview (also as seen on my YouTube video titled, “How To Break Into Hollywood Editing With Zero Contacts”).
Make a list of your top five shows and research those Assistant Editors/Post PAs
Don’t be afraid to go down the rabbit hole and collect contact information from editors or assistants that weren’t on your list.
This process will take you hours. Try researching/messaging one contact a week.
Remember, you only need that ONE to respond so don’t give up!
Write a genuine and personable email or social media message
Put a lot of thought into your email or else it will get ignored. Trust me, I ignore a lot of emails because of this reason.
I always write about a film they worked on that I enjoyed and a specific scene where the editing stood out.
Don’t overdo it though, the last thing you want is to come off fake and try-hard.
Be memorable in the Informational Interview
Three words, Social Jiu-Jitsu. Deflecting any questions that come your way and having them answer will be more beneficial to you in the long run.
They need to be doing 95% of the talking. Take notes and listen.
Ask referrals for more Informational Interviews
This is the most important question that you ask because you’re cutting out the first step of this process and helping you get to another contact quicker.
Trust me, this is a game changer of a question. It speeds up the process indefinitely. Ask this question!
Network with the people that you work with by gaining their trust
Your reputation follows you and will help you get you your next gig.
Doing well at a job automatically cuts this whole process out and can get you your next job because the contacts you made at work will want to work with you again.
So there you have it, my 5 steps in How To Break Into Hollywood Editing With Zero Contacts. Bookmark it, share it, and take action because that’s the only way you’re going to get your opportunities.
If you would like me to walk you through this process in even more detail, seriously consider reaching out to me for a 1-on-1 phone session so that I can guide you through this. I offer this call to those who are really passionate about getting into this industry and know they want to become Hollywood Editors. If you’re on the fence about all of this, save your money and just watch my videos/blogs until you figure out if you want to do this. I honestly hate being fake and trying my best to really prove to you that I just want to help you if you are extremely passionate about this. So check out my mentorship page and ask yourself what I can do to help you.
Schedule your phone session here.
Also, don’t forget to plug in our 85% discount, enter promo code: JUMPCUT to access the limited time offer on my phone sessions.
I’ll end this blog post on a poetic yet dad joke worthy note: Go get “Carried Away” in researching and setting up your informational interviews! See you on the next post.
-The Fonz