1) Get production company representation or an agent. Most importantly: make really great work–find your voice, your look, the stories you are passionate about telling. Push yourself to create work you are proud of and admire–constantly be raising the bar. Build your community of collaborators; support those building around you and they will support you too–this is vital to your early years and even more so as you grow.
- Once you have work that you are proud of, start your research. Make a list of production companies whose work you admire, follow their work, and check out the directors on the roster.
- You are your own hype-person: stack your social media with your work, follow people you admire, always update your website and make sure people can clearly contact you
- Craft a friendly, casual and non-templated email to say hello to production company EPs to let them know you admire their work and would love to meet soon. Don’t be afraid to follow up a few times. EPs get outreach emails all day, why does yours warrant a response? Great work and a friendly demeanor.
- Once you start taking meetings, make sure you and your production company are a right fit – don’t be afraid to ask questions! If you feel you are a right fit for the EP and the company culture, go for it!
2) Find the right work/life balance. Realize that this is a myth, and don’t be too hard on yourself when one takes precedence over the other. Life is short, but it’s also long. 6 months of keeping your head down to grind and missing social engagements can most definitely pay off. On the reverse, skipping out on a work opportunity to catch an important life event is also something you’ll need to be prepared to do. Ask some of your closest friends to keep you accountable, but do realize that your lifestyle may not be pleasing to everyone in your life–and that’s okay. Make friends in the community, as well, and blend your groups together. Go easy on yourself.
3) Derby has been working on so much that I am proud of lately, but what I am most proud of is making the firm decision of what I want our culture, vibe and talent to be, and to not stray from that–it can be scary to draw a line in the sand about who you are and who you are not, and tough decisions have to follow, but I firmly stand behind the fact that once you are fully true to yourself, the opportunities pour in.
