It’s a common lament that sometimes the trailer for the movie is better than the movie itself. In some cases, we have today’s profile subject to blame. He edits together promos for some of the biggest blockbuster movies coming out of Hollywood, including this TV spot for SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN. Of course, it’s usually not that the movies are bad; in the hands of a skilled editor, though, a story boiled down to selected moments, artfully pieced together and set to music, can take us on a powerful emotional journey. But how does someone get to edit  promos for the top movies coming out today? Read on and find out…

Current position (or recently-completed project or projects):  I’m an editor at a motion picture advertising company cutting trailers and TV spots for upcoming releases. I’m currently juggling several films: SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN (Kristen Stewart), LAWLESS (Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman), and KILLING THEM SOFTLY (Brad Pitt). I’ve probably worked on over a hundred films in the last 10 years, including TRANSFORMERS, INDIANA JONES 4, HARRY POTTER, TRON, and STAR TREK.

Hometown:  Ayer, Massachusetts

College & degree:  I have a BFA in Film Production from Florida State University and two years of undergrad study at Berklee College of Music.

Internships: Several, the most outstanding of which was interning at a local news station and its affiliated advertising company. I started with the news station and when I found out they had an ad agency in the same building, I asked to intern for them, too. Both were very hands on. As a news intern, I was on a rotation, which included being studio camera operator or field camera operator, having control room duties, assisting reporters, and more. I pretty much did everything, as it was a local station, but they served a major city in the New England area. For the ad agency, I was mainly a PA on shoots, but I had the opportunity to score one of the commercials, so it was a marriage of two future passions, filmmaking and film scoring. As it happens, the ad agency was closer to my eventual profession and certainly working at a smaller agency allowed me the luxury to be more involved. No doubt that was instrumental in my career path.

What made you want to be in entertainment and what made you want to be an editor? It was gradual process, beginning with a passion for music; I explored various facets, from performance to recording engineering to composing. When I thought I might want to compose music for films, I decided to go to film school as a way to become a part of that community. Things evolved from there, although at the time the only thing I was certain of was that I did not want to be an editor. (Yes, ironically.)

First job in the entertainment industry: I was assistant editor at a non-profit company that produced a half-hour educational show. Frankly, I just made dubs (copied video tapes).

Career Path:   I couldn’t wait to get out of that first job. I had developed aspirations in other parts of the entertainment industry, so I eventually found a job as an assistant to a TV movie producer named Elizabeth Schechter. Though I can’t recall any of the titles, I know that she has gone on to produce reality TV shows such as “Paranormal State.” Unfortunately the company didn’t take off and I was again looking for work and direction. In the meantime, I met a producer who needed help launching an online script coverage/development service called ScreenConnect. This just before the internet started to boom; 1998 I believe.

While it was a nice idea, the entertainment industry hadn’t quite embraced the internet as a viable source for new material so it was not a terribly lucrative business and I was still searching. I found myself taking a job as an assistant to two agents at Paradigm Talent & Literary Agency, Matt Bedrosian and Sean Friedan. At first, I thought my path was to become an agent; it seemed a legitimate way to make a living in this business. But after two years and some attempts at writing, I found that I missed the joy of creative expression that I spent so many years pursuing in my high school and college years. I jumped into another new media company, IFILM, a site for filmmakers to post shorts. It was more money and presented some interesting business prospects but, as the internet bubble was starting to burst, large companies like IFILM began cutting staff and eventually shutting down.

I was fortunate enough to have a friend connect me with an editor named Bob Tripp at Aspect Ratio. I knew a little about editing and advertising from my college years and decided to meet with Bob. This was a format that would allow me to draw upon all of my creative experience and aspirations, and with some persistence, I eventually started as a runner (a.k.a. “at the bottom”) in 2001. It was a short path to becoming an assistant editor and then an editor, perhaps eighteen months, but plenty of long nights, paying my dues and working on my own projects, just learning the craft. One of the producers took an interest in my work and tenacity and I was promoted to a junior editor. That’s how it began.

Big break:  The friend referring me to Bob at Aspect Ratio when I was looking to start over after being laid off from IFILM.

Best (career) advice you ever got:  Think like an owner, even if you’re not.

Eureka moment (when you realized you did or did not want to do something or that you should do something differently, etc.):  Kind of gradual realization that I am actually pretty good at what I do. Being nominated for a few awards helped.

Describe a typical work day in your current position: The work itself is never typical, but the process which make up the days, weeks, and months generally begin with watching/breaking down a movie for editorial content, creating a concept for cutting, cutting and submitting materials, and revising materials until the spot(s) is either killed or goes to finish for air.  The process for each spot ranges from a few days to a few months (or even as much as two years).

Worst job (or day) in entertainment industry:  Assistant editor at the non-profit company. Worst day, having to pull an all-nighter because a client forgot to send materials that were needed to create a new trailer in less than two days (usually we get a week or two at least).

Best job (or day) in entertainment industry:  I consider it a highlight when we get to meet and work with talent who appreciate our work. Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde for TRON, and George Lopez for BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA were some.

Best thing about your current job:  Solving extremely challenging problems. Every project is completely different from the next and you have to exercise all your creative acumen since its my responsibility to tell a clear concise story, create a tone through selecting and cutting music, develop a visual style through editorial while collaborating with graphic artists and solving the challenges of the narrative in a way that satisfies the producer, the studio, and often the talent involved with the picture.

Worst thing about your current job:  It’s a very competitive business and clients are often indecisive or relentless in their desire to meet the demands of successfully opening a movie.  This often brings about dozens of versions and multiple trailers not to mention numerous television spots, many of which will never see the light of day. Fortunately, we’re contracted to do the work, but you can’t help but be invested in the outcome and the client’s perception of you as a reliable, creative vendor.

Brush with greatness (can be a celebrity encounter or just being exposed to someone being brilliant at what they do):  I’ve never met Michael Bay or Steven Spielberg, but having worked on their films, it is not uncommon that they (and others of similar stature) view my work and give feedback or revisions on spots for their films.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you started?  I wish someone shared with me to the secret of cutting a great trailer. It seems like there should be a formula or something as the process is completely different every time I do it and often not the same from one editor to the next.

What is it that you think makes you good at what you do?  For me, I think it’s a combination of being diverse creatively (music, graphics, creative writing background) and very critical of my work. This generally forces me to work a little harder, but I often find you get out what you put in. I was never great at attention to detail administratively, but much more so in the creative arts.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out (either in entertainment in general or on the same path as you)?  I held a number of jobs and different aspirations before this one and with each, I was certain that it was the path I was best suited for. Ultimately, you don’t know until you try different things. so it’s ok to bounce around a little, but maintaining a great work ethic is the key to every opportunity and success.

Next move:  I like where I am at the moment, still looking for perfection creatively. However, I wouldn’t mind doing more music production relative to the kind of music I work with as an editor now. I have my own company, but finding the time to create new material is a challenge. So my next moves are personal, really. Starting a family, paying off mortgage, etc. On an occupational level, it’s really to continue to improve at what I do. The better I am, the more rewarding my days are.

To see more of Eric’s work, visit the website for Aspect Ratio.

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The following is a guest post from Sarah Stockton, an Outreach Coordinator for Voices.com, a site connects businesses with professional voice talents. In the post, she provides background on the state of the industry, and then step-by-step information on breaking into a career in radio.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job market in broadcasting is expected to grow more slowly in the future than the overall job market. While this is certainly not the best news for those hoping to break into the industry, the silver lining is that some growth is expected. Those interested in a career in broadcasting can do several things to increase their opportunities in the field such as preparing for work with a solid education, building a portfolio, and working as an intern.

Get an Education

A degree in broadcasting can be very useful for those interested in a radio career. Broadcasting degrees can be tailored for any desired position including announcer, reporter, host, technician, manager, program director, or sales director. While it is certainly not necessary to have a degree to find a job in radio, it is quite helpful and can improve one’s ability to move up within the field. Individuals interested in positions within larger markets may find a degree more of a necessity.

Assemble a Portfolio

There are several ways to build a portfolio before beginning a career in radio. In fact, this can greatly help improve the odds of landing that first job. Small radio stations often have a limited budget for hiring radio talent for their advertisements. Approach various stations and offer to be the vocal talent for upcoming radio commercials in exchange for a copy of the finished product to put in your portfolio.

A few well done commercials with a variety of vocal styles can quickly increase the samples you are able to provide potential clients. Another option for building a portfolio is narrating books. This can be done with public domain books such as those found in Project Gutenberg. If the idea of narrating an entire book simply for a portfolio is unappealing, consider donating copies to nursing homes or rehabilitation centers. Not only will this make your sample more useful in general, but knowing it will be listened to repeatedly may motivate you to do your absolute best.

Become an Intern

Internships are probably the best known way to get noticed in the world of radio. There are a few drawbacks. Interns often work for free, may be assigned boring jobs, and long hours that may also be very early or very late at night. Is it worth it? Yes. As an intern you will receive invaluable training that would be impossible to get in a classroom. You will meet people in the industry and have work experience within the industry to include on your resume. While some colleges help facilitate internships, that may not always be an option.

Fortunately, many radio stations that offer internships do not require their interns to be college students. If you aren’t sure which nearby radio stations are offering internships, simply ask. Contact the General Manager or Program Director about existing or future possibilities. It only takes one ‘yes’ to make every ‘no’ worthwhile.

Network, Network, Network

One of the best ways to increase your career opportunities is to network. Attend lectures and conferences which will feature industry leaders you respect. Follow blogs, social networking pages, and the Tweets of your personal favorites. You will learn more about your chosen career field and may even have the opportunity to interact directly with experts in your field.

The enormity of deciding on a career can be overwhelming for many people. Once a career path has been chosen the battle is practically won. How do you plan on breaking into the world of radio?

Sarah Stockton is an Outreach Coordinator for Voices.com, a site connects businesses with professional voice talents. She enjoys helping potential voice talent find their start in the voice industry.

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As those of you pursuing an acting career can attest, one of the main problems in starting out is getting attention for your work. And as casting professionals can attest, finding genuinely talented new talent is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Today, we’re spotlighting a website/web service which aims to solve both of those problems. Starcast CEO Gary Beer, founding CEO of the Sundance Film Festival, answered our questions.

What was the inspiration for starting the site? Starcast Auditions is a collaboration by Chairman Jules Haimovitz (former president of MGM Networks and Viacom Networks), Co-CEO David Hope (former COO of Polygram TV), and me. It was created to fill several voids in the industry. It’s difficult for actors to have their acting objectively assessed, and there was no affordable platform to get feedback from a professional. But more importantly, there was no venue for actors to be guaranteed their auditions would be seen.

There are many listing services out there or sites where you can submit an audition, but those services are just a numbers game. When there are thousands of people submitting for the same part, most audition tapes aren’t even going to be reviewed. Likewise, there was no easy way for those outside Hollywood (and often, even those inside Hollywood) to get seen by industry professionals. There are, of course, platforms like YouTube—but the chances are slim that the right people will come across your video. And YouTube has been much less successful at launching actors than singers. So StarCast guarantees actors visibility. We get them seen by the right people, no matter where they live. If they’ve got talent, they’ll get the exposure they need. It’s very simple, but it’s unprecedented.

When did it launch?  Very recently. We held our first auditions in late December of 2011.

How many videos currently go up per cycle in each demographic?  Casting directors are allowed to chose four videos per demographic each cycle (up to 96 videos every two weeks), but they typically choose far less. There are many people who are on the border of best performance quality, but still need a little work before they can put their best foot forward to the industry. That’s why we give feedback.

How can an actor outside of Los Angeles benefit from the site?  One of the best things about StarCast is that it’s all online, so you can audition from anywhere. Our casting directors are in Los Angeles and New York, but we’ve selected actors from as far away as the UK, Canada, and Korea. They get exposure to key people in Hollywood without having to go anywhere.

What is the #1 rookie mistake you’ve noticed or your experts have pointed out? That’s a great question. We get a lot of videos from actors who likely have experience in school or professional plays who need to take it down a notch when doing an audition meant for film and TV casting directors. Everything is very big for the stage. Acting styles have to be adjusted.

What is the #1 thing actors can do to give themselves an advantage?  Memorize their lines, and bring their own personality to the performance.

Who are the industry members currently using the site? Our official reviewers are Yesi Ramirez, Gretchen Rennell Court and Amy Taksen Somers. Their credits are just phenomenal, including THE DESCENDENTS, the new 21 JUMP STREET, THE HORSE WHISPERER, and “The Office.” As far as the industry members who are registered with us to find talent, we respect their privacy and don’t disclose that information. But we have a great selection of managers, producers, casting directors, and talent agents who have used our site to find talent already, including a talent manager who reps a series regular on the show “New Girl,” and talent managers from Evolution Management, which reps Charlie Sheen.

What are some of the results that actors have had by being featured on your site?  Many have been contacted by producers, managers and talent agents for roles or representation. Three of StarCast’s best performers have signed with reps, two with managers and the other by an agent.

How do you see the site (or brand) growing in the future? Is there a life beyond this website that you foresee?  We have all kinds of great plans for the future. There will be a lot of services and functionalities that we’re adding in the next 6 months. We’ll be excited to be able to talk about it when the time comes.

Is there anything I haven’t asked that you feel is key in talking about this site?  One of the things that we hate seeing in this space is how many scammers there are out there. We encounter a lot of actors who have been burned before. And less harmful but not quite harmless, there are lots of sites and services out there that don’t really do for actors what they claim—or don’t do it well. We have a robust Twitter and Facebook following, and our users are always messaging us on those platforms how much they love our service, and how it has renewed hope for them. They’ve all butted against so many dead ends and false starts. We’re thrilled to be able to come into this space with the incredible team of industry vets that we have, throw our collective weight behind this, and deliver for these people. The value proposition to actors is huge, and it’s unseen in this space.

For more info or to get information on the next round of auditions, visit Starcast Auditions.

Photo of founders by Thomas Wasper/LABJ.

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Soon-to-be-graduating Boston University communications student (and “Conan!” intern), Liz Breen, a few weeks ago in her first guest post on YII. Below she provides her thoughts on networking. (Yes, she already has a job lined up and she hasn’t even gotten her diploma!)

Networking. Networkingnetworkingnetworking. Your network can get help you get ahead, help you get a job, help you get that fancy car you always wanted. Okay, maybe not that last one, but I’m sure anyone entering the entertainment industry has been inundated with speeches centered on the importance of building and utilizing your network. Well, it’s true. At 22-years-old, my network cannot compete with that of a seasoned veteran, but it is a strong network and one that has recently managed to help me get a job before I even graduate college.

I’m not going to pretend I am the ultimate schmoozer. I don’t know how to “work a room,” so to speak. The thought of attending networking events, pocket full of business cards, makes me shutter a little, and I’m sure I’m not the only one in this boat. What I’ve realized from my short time in LA thus far, however, is that networking doesn’t only come from events with the word “networking” in the name. My strategy for networking? Build friendships. Show an interest in people as colleagues and like-minded individuals rather than as people who are there to do something for you.

When I do go to networking events, my strategy isn’t to dole out as many business cards as I can, tossing them aimlessly like Rose throwing the diamond into the ocean. My goal is to connect with a handful of people, strike meaningful conversations, find similarities, then, when I go home, follow up with at least one of them, inviting them for coffee, perhaps. At work, I don’t act like a shark. I don’t search out the most powerful executives and slip my resume on their desk. I feel out the environment. I find out what people interest me, who I think I might get along with personally, who I admire, and I slowly strike up conversation, build trust and respect.

It’s definitely not a strategy for the impatient. Mostly because I don’t throw the word “job” or “resume” into the conversation for quite some time. However, being the tortoise and not the hare, I think, gives me a lot of advantages. Firstly, I don’t put my faith in someone who may not have my best interest at heart or simply someone that I don’t share similar views or interests with. You don’t want to be so eager to get a job or build your network that you allow someone access to your life and ideas that perhaps you shouldn’t. Secondly, I give people time to get to know me and trust me. It is only by trusting in you that people will feel comfortable with recommending you for a position, as it is their reputation on the line as well as yours. Thirdly, I am creating strong ties with a select few people, not a scattered series of weak ties, ties easily forgotten about and ultimately hard to make use of.

When it does come time to try to redeem some points, so to speak, I also try not to keep count. It’s not tit for tat. Help people when you can out of kindness and faith in their abilities, not because you ultimately want something from them. People don’t owe you anything, and who knows? All your favors to them may be returned to you in a way you can’t even imagine a year or two down the line.

I’m no expert on networking, and many accomplished people may tell you that I’m crazy. All I know is what has worked for me thus far in my young life, and what I can say with confidence is that showing genuine interest in people and looking for ways to extend kindness to those that you can goes a long way. While people generally expect that you want something from them, be it advice or something greater, there is no harm in pleasantly surprising them and coming about it in a new way.

They say this is an industry full of snakes, and perhaps it is my youthful idealism talking, but I don’t intend to be one of them.

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Today’s profile subject is relatively early in her career, but she was focused during college and took the opportunity to do several internships in different cities. One of those internships introduced her to the world of casting and she immediately fell in love. Following graduation, a four week on a Food Network pilot turned into 11 seasons (“Chopped”) and now she works for one of the top casting companies in New York. Not bad. Read on to get the inside story of her career path and find out some behind-the-scenes scoop on casting…

Current Position: Casting Director, Liz Lewis Casting Partners

Hometown:  Colts Neck, New Jersey

College & Degree:  I started out at the University of Florida, but I have a BS in Communications from Boston University. My concentration was Public Relations.

Did you have an internship while you were in school?  I had tons of internships. I interned at Telsey and Company, which is a casting company in New York. That started me on that track. I also interned in London at BBC Worldwide and in L.A. at E! Entertainment and ID PR.

What was your career goal when you left college?  By the time I graduated, I knew it was going to be in entertainment; whether that was casting or PR, something in the talent fields.

How did you end up in casting?  It started at Telsey and Company when I was an intern. The position involved tons of responsibilities so even though I wasn’t paid, I kind of consider that my first job. But when I got out of college, I was offered a four-week position helping out with a reality cooking show. And that became “Chopped” on The Food Network. I ended up working on that for 11 seasons.

Wow. How did you get that opportunity?  Actually it was one of those “meant to be” situations. I applied from an internet posting to this casting assistant position, and it just happened that the person I interviewed with was the best friend of someone I had met at E! I e-mailed that person from the E! internship the day before knowing nothing about the connection, so it’s one of those divine timing kind of situations.

So were you the casting assistant for your whole time on the show?  I started as a casting assistant, but I moved up and by, I think, by season four, I was casting producer.

And then where did you go from there?  In the beginning I was a casting assistant at the production company, but that company ended up going under and I started freelancing. And so, six months out of the year I would be doing “Chopped” and then the other six months I would be doing other TV shows or commercials; all kinds of different things.

The show’s still on, right? What took you away from it?  I had been with “Chopped” for a really long time. I had started out in scripted casting back when I at Telsey and it was always something I really wanted to be a part of. So when I got the opportunity to work at Liz Lewis Casting Partners, I decided to make the switch.

And how long have you been there?  Since last May. Almost a year.

Okay. Tell me a little bit about Liz Lewis Casting Partners.  They’ve been around for about 20 years now. Liz is very well known in the commercial world. And when I started, they branching out. I came in with more reality TV. They hired some other people who had theater. We’ve been doing a lot of film; so, it started out as a commercial casting house, or primarily commercial, and now we cast everything: voiceover, print, film, TV, theater, everything. We did a Super Bowl commercial for “America’s Got Talent,” and we had another commercial that aired during the Grammys. I just finished casting a feature film called “Wife’s Out” starring Eve, the rapper.

What do you consider your big break?  My big break was probably getting my first internship at Telsey, because I didn’t know what casting was before that. I just happened to look through my playbills and saw that this one company was listed in all of them. I called them; asked if they needed any help for the summer. Went in for an interview the next day and started working. And the experience I gained at Telsey was invaluable and really made me passionate about the industry.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever gotten?  It would be from a casting director that I work with a lot. She would say, “You choose. Whenever you’re dealing with a project, you can pretty much have two adversaries. There’s good, fast, and cheap. If I’m working on it, it’s always going to be good. But if it’s good and fast, it’s not to be cheap. And if it’s good and cheap, it’s not going to be fast, so you choose.”

Now I’m looking for a Eureka moment (when you realized you did or did not want to do something or that you should do something differently, etc.).  I realized that if I wanted to make a switch in the path that I was on, which at that point was more reality, I needed to go after it 100%. Which is what I did. And I got fortunate that I’m now in a situation where I can do everything.

Describe a typical workday in your current position.  Every day is different, depending on the projects we get. But usually it invvolves talking to clients, finding out what projects they’re working on, trying to get involved; or cropping the session, which means sending out what kind of actors or talent or real people we’re looking for; getting the submissions, combing through them and then making a schedule for our auditions. If it’s an audition day, we’re in a casting studio auditioning people all day and then uploading and sending the footage to the client.

Can you talk a little bit about casting sessions and how they work from the point of view of the casting director?  It depends on the project. I can kind give you an example of reality and an example of scripted. For “Chopped,” we would have half an hour appointments with the chefs, who we had sought out by researching restaurants and building connections within the chef community. We would sit down with them and ask about their experiences, why they love what they do, everything that really shows their passion and their skill. And then we sent those interviews to the network for consideration.

Scripted is very different. It’s — say it’s a commercial where the actors are given copy, commercial copy. They come in and perform it. We give them adjustments to make and they do it again. At the end of the day, we present the best options for the client.

What was your worst job (or worst day) in entertainment industry?  When I was a casting assistant at my first production company, we were doing a lot of low-level dating shows. This involved me scrambling a lot to find people who would be on camera for almost no money. There was one particular day where someone came to set, signed the release form, and then left. It was at a heavy metal concert so I had to walk around the heavy metal concert talking to these big burly guys asking if they would be on a dating show. (Laughs) That was a bad day.

That sounds awful. So, best job or best day in the entertainment industry?  I think one of my best jobs so far was working on “Chopped,” because traveling and meeting chefs and eating… there was nothing bad about that. (Laughs) So, I would say that was my best job so far, though I love where I am now. I think everything is going to get better and better.

What’s the best thing about your current job?  The best thing is every day is different. One day I could be doing a reality project, the nextday I could be working on a film and auditioning actors. So, it’s always a variety and always interesting; keeping me on my toes.

What’s the worst thing about your current job?  I think the worst thing about my current job is that, while we can have a lot of say in the project we’re working on, it’s never completely our call. So, we can fall in love with someone and that might not be the decision that’s ultimately made. We are advisers and filters, and we’re invested in every project we work on, but ultimately we can’t make every call.

Okay. I’m looking for a brush with greatness. It can be a celebrity encounter or just being exposed to someone being brilliant at what they do.  I definitely have one of those. It was my second summer interning at Telsey and I was working on a movie which happened to be Helen Hunt’s directorial debut. So that particular day, Helen was there and I believe it was callbacks for the movie and it was me, the casting director, Bette Midler, and Helen Hunt in the room. It was great.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you started your entertainment career?  To keep in touch with every single person that you encounter as much as you can. Everything in entertainment is networking or can be helped by networking. Even if it’s just a quick encounter with someone, get their information and try to keep tabs on them and always stay in contact with as many people as you can.

What advice you would give to somebody coming into entertainment behind you?  Do as many internships as you can. It builds your resume before you’re working professionally and puts you 10 steps ahead of people who don’t have that when they get out of college. Interning is really professional experience. Whether you’re getting coffee or whether you actually have some serious responsibilities, you’re in a professional environment, meeting people who are high level, and it just puts you ahead of a lot of people.

What’s your next move? Or the next five moves?  Just doing more and more projects and picking what those are. I would love to continue doing great commercials. I would like to do more film and just build up my IMDb page, I guess.

For more information about Liz Lewis Casting, visit their website.

One of the things regular readers of Your Industry Insider hear a lot is: “Make it real!” This means if you want to be a music manager, find an up-and-coming band and represent them for free in order to get your feet wet and find out if you really like managing a band. If you want to be a screenwriter – duh! – write a script. (Note: Some people find the butt-in chair requirements of actual screenwriting – as opposed to talking about being a screenwriter – a deal breaker.) And if you want to direct or produce or act, create something great and put in on the web!

Today we’re highlighting the International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV), an organization that supports web content creators, on the eve of a landmark occasion in the history of new media content creation. The first annual Digital Content NewFronts (as opposed to the Upfronts, the TV networks’ annual programming unveiling) are taking place in New York City from April 19th through May 2nd. This will include 15 events by leading distributors, producers, creators and thought leaders in online video content, including IAWTV.

IAWTV was founded in 2009 to promote artistic and technological achievement in original entertainment content distributed on the internet. Its membership is comprised of actors, composers, developers, directors, editors, producers, and others in web television, web video, and digital entertainment. According to Susyn Duris, the PR/Marketing Director, IAWTV is “the first organization for any creative who’s interested in or already involved in doing original web television programming, whether hosted, fiction, non-fiction… any type of program that you would see online. IAWTV provides the tools, education, and networking opportunities to be better at their craft.”

The inaugural IAWTV awards presentation was held this past January. Awards were given out for Best Web Series in the Comedy, Drama, Animated, News, Documentary and Variety categories, Best Hosted Taped and Best Hosted Live Web Series, Best Writing for Comedy, Drama & Non-Fiction, Best Directing for Comedy, Drama & Non-Fiction, Best Female and Best Male Performance for Comedy & Drama, and many more categories. Though the organization want to draw attention to as many worthy projects and contributions as they can, they stress that the mission is to go beyond to awards and provide a true organization.

Susyn Duris came to IAWTV herself as a creative, having had a hybrid career involving finance, marketing, acting, and producing. The first web series she was in, in 2010, was the “Proposition 8 Trial Reenactment,” which took the transcripts from the actual courtroom proceedings and reenacted them out. “It was really exciting,” she says now. “I got very interested in creating web series and started networking with people who were involved.” From there, she got a regular role on the popular “The Unemployment of Danny London.”

Around that time, she also joined IAWTV and immediately saw a need for promotion. “We now have over 600 members,” she explains, “but I think we’ve only touched the surface. I meet people at other events who don’t know about us. But the good news is Variety covered our awards, both the nominations and then the winners.” She points out the success had by some Bay Area web content producers who raised over a million dollars to fund their project as an example of the popularity and appeal of the medium. “If you have a good concept, and it fills a need or a niche, you’re going to get the audience. Or in this case, the funding. But you have to make it for the audience.”

Duris recommends that anyone in the Los Angeles area interested in the organization visit the website to check out the upcoming events, which are usually free. Pick one or two and go to them to meet some of the members and see what they are doing and what they have to say about the organization. “We do events in conjunction with YouTube and we’re partnering with Vidcon, which has conferences in June at the Anaheim Convention Center,” she says. “Anybody interested in WebTV needs to network with people who are in WebTV and IAWTV is the outlet to do it.”

And if you’re in the New York area, consider attending the Digital Content Newfronts. About the IAWTV’s involvement, Duris says, “This is really good news for the IAWTV. We couldn’t be more excited. We are the organization for original web TV, web video and digital entertainment programming. This is our core competency, and we have an amazing corps of members who are leaders in this industry. To be included in this event only solidifies that fact.”

At a relatively young age, today’s profile subject has founded (or co-founded) three companies. She credits her second job out of college (which got her into the gaming world) with sending her career in the right direction, but you get the feeling she would’ve gone in the right direction no matter what opportunities presented themselves. Regardless, she clearly relishes being the captain of her own career ship. Read on for her story…

Current position:  Entrepreneur. I’m currently CEO of Shop Talk Los Angeles, a strategic partnership, entertainment marketing, and business development consultancy catering to progressive consumer brands whose client list includes Hasbro, Tweak Footwear, and Game Truck. Co-founder of Starfish Creative Events and Cayetano Legacy Collection.

Hometown:  Born and raised in East Hanover, NJ. Currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.

College & degree:  Boston University, Bachelor of Science in Communications

Internship:  NBC (New York), Boston Casting.

When you graduated from school, what were you interested in doing and how did you get the below job?  My intended path after BU was to work my way up on the business side of television; hopefully working at a major network.

First job in the entertainment industry:  My first job out of college, working as a production coordinator at commercial production company Oink Ink Creative. It was great because I was given a lot of responsibility for my young age.

Where did you go from there?  After I got tired of the Oink Ink position, I applied to an interesting-sounding events position at Infinity Ward (a division of Activision, a major video game company, makers of “Call of Duty,” “Guitar Hero,” etc.), which I got. That was the beginning of my video game career, and I never looked back.

I eventually moved on to Konami Digital Entertainment, also a major video game publisher (makers of “Dance Dance Revolution,” “American Idol Karaoke Revolution,” and “Metal Gear Solid”) where I ran marketing promotions and events for the North American games. After that job I decided it was time to launch my own event marketing agency that specialized in the video game industry, with friend and fellow BU-alum, Stephanie Hansen.

Starting my first company, Starfish Creative Events, was a great learning experience and I quickly realized I loved building the business quickly, effectively and legitimately. This started me on my entrepreneurship path, and from there, have started a second and third company, Shop Talk Los Angeles and Cayetano Legacy Collection. And I’m sure that’s not the end of me starting, and helping grow, new businesses.

Big break:  Getting that job at Infinity Ward. If it wasn’t for that first job in the gaming industry, I would have never gone down the path of specializing in marketing video games. The gaming industry used to be the stepchild of film and television. Now it’s its own billion dollar industry that stands on its own two feet. I was lucky enough to enter the industry before everyone started fighting to be in it.

Best (career) advice you ever got:  ”It doesn’t matter what the circumstances were, what excuses you have, or what happened leading up to it – what matters is the outcome.” I was being lectured by my then-boss, and he was right. No matter what, even if circumstances are out of your control, you have to own up to the final result, because that’s what everyone sees.

Eureka moment (when you realized you did or did not want to do something or that you should do something differently, etc.):  It was when I realized I needed to be an entrepreneur, working for myself. I love to work. (Some may call me a workaholic.) But when I was working for others, I realized I hated driving to work every day, getting out of the car, and going into the office. As my own boss, I don’t feel like I work at all. I take on projects that truly interest me, there’s no one looking over my shoulder to make sure I’m doing my work, and I don’t go to meetings just for the sake of going to meetings. I’m only included in meetings that I absolutely need to be a part of.

Describe a typical work day in your current position:  Every day is different, which I love. I’ll be up and working by 8am – whether I’m working from home (Seal Beach) or from the office (Hermosa Beach). I take a lot of conference calls or in-person meetings with clients, partners, and vendors. I truly believe in building relationships with people you work with, so I like to check in with everyone, no matter what capacity they are in, now and then. A lot of my time is spent brainstorming, developing proposals for potential future clients, or executing campaigns for current clients. I try and finish ‘work’ by 7pm so I can spend time at home, though I don’t think ‘work’ ever ends. I answer emails on my BlackBerry at all hours, and take breakfast, lunch, and dinner meetings. Though it may sound crazy, my work life and my personal life blend together, which I appreciate. Many clients, vendors, partners are also my friends, so yes we’ll talk about work, but most of the time we’ll chat about life in general. Work never feels like work to me anymore.

Worst job (or day) in entertainment industry:  I’ll go with the day that my boss lectured me (from the anecdote above). It was the Monday after a major outdoor event that totally bombed because not only did it rain, but the area was locked because the property manager forgot to open the gate, so everyone was standing outside for at least an hour. My boss pulled me into his office to talk to me about it, and all I could say were those reasons that led up to the bad outcome. And he told me that it didn’t matter the circumstances, what matters was the final outcome, which is what everyone saw. And he was 100% correct. It was his way of telling me to stop making excuses. I needed to own up to that horrible event.

Best job (or day) in entertainment industry:  Signing our first $200k client as an entrepreneur. It reassured me that I could make this ‘working for myself’ business work.

Best thing about your current job:  I was able to take a 4-month vacation to Southeast Asia, while working remotely. I didn’t have to ask any boss for that time off, or fill out a vacation request form.

Worst thing about your current job:  I miss having a giant office full of people that can fix any problem. Now, when I have a computer issue, I can’t just call the IT department – I have to figure it out myself. I guess that’s the tradeoff for working for yourself!

Brush with greatness (can be a celebrity encounter or just being exposed to someone being brilliant at what they do):  I think when we ran an event for David Hasselhoff at Starfish Creative Events, I realized wow – I definitely live in LA!

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you started?  I wish I knew that I would take such an interest in business, and start-ups in general. If I were to do it all over again, I would have studied in the Business School rather than the School of Communications.

Secret of your success/advice to the newbie:  Relationships matter. Stay in touch with important people in your life, those who inspire you, and those who make you better. I guarantee that your favorite jobs will most likely not come from responding to an ad posted on Craigslist or Monster.com; rather, it will be from a friend or colleague who forwarded you a job opening that they think you’ll be the perfect fit for.

Next move (or next five moves):  I’d like to be a financial investor in mid-sized businesses; businesses that I really believe in. I get such a thrill in watching deserving companies take off. I’d love to be a part of that growth.

To find out more about Gayle and her companies, visit ShoptalkLA, Starfish Events, and Cayetano Legacy.

The following is a guest post by Boston University student and aspiring television writer, Liz Breen, currently interning in Los Angeles.

I am an East Coast girl. I grew up in Northern Connecticut, and I study at Boston University. However, I forcibly uprooted myself from the frozen Northeastern ground in early January to thaw out in Los Angeles and kick start what I hope will be a rewarding career in television.

I’m halfway through my semester here, and I can probably just begin to say that I have adjusted to life in Hollywood. Things are different on so many levels:

1) The weather. No need to elaborate.

2) Driving 5 miles takes 45 minutes, if you’re lucky.

3) I’m a small fish in a big pond. Back home, friends and family say with ease that I’ll be famous one day, that I’m someone “special”. They say it with such confidence, too, like they really believe it and aren’t just saying it because they are obligated to. Whether or not people in Los Angeles have thought that about me, they certainly haven’t voiced it.

This semester, I am currently working as a script intern with “Conan,” my dream internship, to be sure. I was chosen for one of two spots out of over 2,000 applications. I screamed when I got the email telling me that I had gotten the internship. It was seriously like a scene from Gilmore Girls. Except I was in my office back in Boston, where my coworkers did not find my jubilation amusing. (They were probably just jealous, right?)

For the next month, it was all I could think about. I had Team Coco on the brain 24/7. Before I knew it, I arrived at LAX and 48 hours later, I was there, at Building 34 on the Warner Bros lot. I quickly realized I was in for an entirely new experience. Let me first say, I love my internship. As an aspiring comedy writer, the opportunity afforded to me by working at the script department at “Conan” is one that cannot be paralleled or taken for granted. I laugh more than anyone else I know while at work, and I feel like I have a real grasp on the production process of a late-night show.

However, in all my other jobs and internships back East, if I did something right, I was rewarded with a “good job” or “thank you” from my boss. Here in LA, I don’t get that. I do something right, silence. Maybe the person doesn’t even look up from their desk. I do something wrong, I get spoken to by my boss. At first, I was confused, maybe a little annoyed, but then I realized my bosses just expect excellence. They chose me out of 2,000 applicants, so they assume that they chose the best. It’s a huge compliment to me, but also a lot to live up to. It certainly adds pressure to my workday, but it also forces me to think of creative ways to stand out to my bosses without screaming, “Hey, look! I’m going above and beyond!” I think I’m having some successes. I’m hoping so, at least.

My goals have become a lot smaller since coming to LA. The ultimate goal, becoming a staff writer on a half-hour comedy, remains the same, but I now know how small the steps to that goal are going to be. When I came out here, I had a whimsical idea that I would excel in my internship and be offered a job right after graduation. Now I realize they may not have a place for me. Or hell, they might not think I’m the perfect match for a specific opening.

Right now, all I can hope is that I leave with at least one good connection, maybe even a mentor of sorts. No matter what comes of this semester, I have learned self-reliance on a whole new level. Not self-reliance in the sense that I can manage my own money and can look presentable to the general public. Don’t worry. I can already do that. I mean self-reliance in the sense that I know I’m doing my best, that when I don’t get any acknowledgement, I’m meeting my bosses’ expectations and that’s a good thing. It is also reliance on my own talent, knowing that no matter how many aspiring screenwriters I see pondering over scripts in coffee shops, I can still make my way through the crowd and be seen by one person who will give me a chance to do more.

My first piece of advice for those looking to make their way into the television industry, Los Angeles doesn’t give pats on the back, only a slight nod of the head every now and again.

To find out more about Liz, read her blog here or visit her website.

Today’s profile subject has adopted an entrepreneurial attitude in his career, a strategy which has been recommended frequently by YII profile subjects, and turned it literally into his own business. As you read his recounting of each step on his career path, you’ll see that he was very deliberate in each opportunity he took, considering what he would learn from it and what the next move would be. And when the opportunity came, quite suddenly, to start his own studio, he found a way to make it happen almost literally overnight. You could learn a lot from someone like that. Read below to find out more…

Current position (or recently-completed project or projects):  President/Creative Director of OddBot, Inc. Recently, we’ve worked with Amazon Studios on a feature length animatic, TOUCHING BLUE. We’re producing shorts for Disney “Club Penguin,” aka Disney Online Studios. Recently, we’ve worked with Warner Bros. Studios, and did a couple of shorts for a Cartoon Network show, “Mad.” Before that, we’ve produced a large number of shorts for Playhouse Disney and worked with Disney Channel on some “Phineas and Ferb” special projects.

Hometown:  San Diego, CA

College and degree:  I went to junior college for two and a half years but didn’t get a degree. Other than an Art 101 class in high school, I am all self-taught. A lot of what I know I learned on the job, just literally being thrown into it, but I knew enough of the techniques of animating from just being a huge animation nerd growing up.

First job in the entertainment industry:  My first fulltime job was as a production assistant at New Regency Productions, a film production company on the Fox lot. I was hired a couple of times before that to do storyboards for music video. I don’t even know who the artists were, but I got to work onset. They just set me up in a corner.

So how did you get hired as an animator? I realized at a certain point that I really wanted to just get paid to draw, to be creative. So I started temping to make money and then at night, I worked on my portfolio. But I didn’t really know what it took to get into an animation studio. I wasn’t getting any art jobs and no one was really helping me. I kept building my portfolio, though. I had answered an ad for a company called Unbound. I sent them my portfolio and they called me in. The producer said, “I really like your work but we can’t hire you because you don’t know Flash. If you really want to get into animation and start working at studios, you have to learn Flash.”

I went to Barnes and Noble and spent like 30 bucks on a “How to Animate in Flash” book. It came with a 30-day trial program disk and I spent those 30 days delving in and creating my own little animations and learning about all of the tools. And because of that, I was able to get my first paid art job at a company called Neopets.

So that was your first “paid-to-draw” job? Yes. Neopets is a site where you have these virtual pets that kids have to feed and keep entertained. I designed a lot of characters that they still use in their site. At the time, they had a merchandizing deal at Target. They produced Plushies and toys and stuff. They even had a magazine. That was a lot of fun to be able to do that, and it was very intense. Every day, we had new challenges, such as “create 20 new foods for this pet” or “we need 50 new Halloween-themed foods.” That’s all you got. I’d have to think really quickly. “Spider soup, beetles on crackers…” So because of that pace and volume of artwork I had to create, I ended up perfecting my ability to draw in Flash on the computer.

How long were you at Neopets?  I think I was there for eight months. From there, I went to an independent studio called Cornerstone to work on 2D direct-to-DVD “Veggie Tales” animated episodes. I became a digital cleanup artist, somebody who cleaned the traditional animator’s drawings in Flash and colored them, and helped build a library of animation to re-use for production in order to keep costs low.

I was so excited to be working in animation. One of the old school traditional animators was the voice of “Space Ace,” an animated video game from the ‘80s. He worked for Don Bluth for years. I was a huge fan and grew up watching all those cartoons. I was the last guy hired and the company had been in production for a couple of months. So there were months of traditional animation on the server. I spent my nights after everyone left going through them all, playing back all of the rough animation, studying them, just kind of getting an idea. “How did they treat timing? How did they animate hair?” I spent a lot of time learning from them without actually talking to them. And when I built up enough confidence, I was able actually ask the animators specific questions about their work.

Production started getting behind so they gave me a couple scenes to animate. When the director and manager came over to see what I produced, they loved it. They started giving more animation work after that, and then they started to secretly give me other animator’s scenes to retake or fix in Flash. They started bringing in piles and piles of work. They preferred the other Flash animators didn’t know that I was now fixing scenes so they closed my door and I was stuck alone in this room. That’s when I learned how to quickly navigate Flash, because everybody animates and sets up their files differently. I became good at solving problems within the program.

A few weeks after doing that, the studio owners pulled me aside and promoted me to Flash supervisor. I’d been there a little over a month and went from cleanup artist to a manager. That was a shock for me because I was still getting to know people. But that was the job where I learned most of my technical animation Flash production skills.

So where did you go from Cornerstone?  I worked for Unbound, the studio that had interviewed me before Neopets. I was hired as a lead animator on an MTV pilot. The director quit in mid-production and I was promoted to director. I talked to the crew my first day, said something like, “Okay, I’m director now. We’re going to finish this show.”  When I left that night, we found out that MTV had pulled the plug. (Laughs.) That’s my director-for-a-day story.

Oh, man. That stinks. Yeah, but I stayed with Unbound. They kept me on as a staff art / animation director. It was just me and a couple of people and we eventually started working on a short series called “The Shanna Show” for Disney. After that, Unbound shut down production and I ended up going to a studio called One Red Room. They continued the work that Unbound had been doing on these shorts for Disney. I eventually ended up directing “The Shanna Show” and then I directed a spinoff short series called “Shane’s Kindergarten Countdown.”

One Red Room was approached by MTV2 to produce a series called, “The Adventures of Chico and Guapo,” which was an eight episode, 22-minute series order. I was supervising director. I had worked in every aspect of animation by that time, directed individual shows and was the production manager for the company, overseeing everything. I put together the teams and then worked to find more efficient ways of producing animation. And then after “Chico and Guapo,” we were approached to do “Safety Patrol” with Disney. After ten episodes, the owner of One Red Room decided that he was going to close his doors and move to Seattle.

Disney was already talking about a whole new series called “Can You Teach My Alligator Manners?” that they wanted to produce. We went in and told them that One Red Room was shutting its doors and the question from them was, “Who’s going to continue producing our shorts series?” I said, “Well, I am. I’m just going to incorporate a company and will continue doing the same quality of work, just under a different name and under new management. It took them a little while to give us the job, but that was the beginning of my company, OddBot.

So give me an idea of the path of OddBot, what types of projects you have done, etc.  From there we produced a series of shorts for PBS Sprout called “The Many Adventures of Mr. Mailman.” And we were approached by American Greetings to direct a Care Bears music video. It was my first time being asked to direct live-action. I pitched them an idea. They loved it and I directed it. We had to move offices in 2007 because the space we started in was just too small. We’ve been in our current location ever since. We’ve worked on a lot of series production. We produced a preschool series currently on The Hub and continue to work with Disney. We also produced a series called “Tasty Time with Ze Fronk,” which was nominated for an Emmy last year. It was my first Emmy nomination, which was nice. So it’s just been production work and trying to run a business.

What were your favorite TV shows growing up? “Transformers,” “G.I. Joe,” “He-man,” and “Mask.” Those were like, my top four favorite TV shows growing up. And “Thunder Cats.” That’s another big one.

What do you consider your big break or big breaks?  I don’t know what would be considered my big break because everything has happened so incrementally, almost like baby steps. It’s been a lot of small, steady accomplishments that helped pave my way to where I am now.

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever got?  It was from the producer I had interviewed with at Unbound, before I got hired at Neopets, the who told me that even though he liked my artwork, he couldn’t hire me because I didn’t know Flash and that I should go learn it. I’m still using Flash today to make cartoons.

I’m looking for a eureka moment when you realized you did or did not want to do something or that you should do something differently.  When I decided to start my own company. That was a pretty defining moment in my career.

Describe a typical workday in your current position.  My typical workday is pretty scattered. It’s different every day, especially when we have multiple projects running through our studio. I always check my e-mail first upon waking; answer e-mails from early bird clients or employees. In the office, I’m approving everything, as well as working with my producer to build budgets and production schedules for upcoming contracts. I have a heavy hand in hiring the talent. And of course, I’m working very closely with our clients. If there are any issues that are production related, I also tackle those with my production manager or my production  coordinator. You know, it’s like playing “Whack a Mole.” That’s my  typical workday. (Laughs.)

What’s the best thing about your current job?  As the head of the company, I feel like I’m in more control of my destiny. I get to build. I get to decide what the culture of my studio is and I get to choose how the place is run. I’ve worked for other studios where I didn’t always agree with how they were run. I used those experiences to help shape what I do. I get to build a place that’s creative, that is artist friendly. Artists who have worked for me have felt safe because they know that they’re heard, and that I try to give everybody a chance to put their thumbprint on everything we do.

What’s the worst thing about your current job?  The stress that at the end of the day, if we fail to deliver something of quality, it’s always my fault.

Next I’m looking for a brush with greatness. It can be a celebrity encounter or just being exposed to someone being brilliant at what they do.  This may sound cheesy, but I really appreciate, and I’m so inspired and so in awe of, the talented people I get to work with everyday. The artists that I work with have so many different styles and different interests. I feel that I stay more contemporary and connected to the industry than I would if I didn’t have people at the studio who have shared their creativity.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known when you started your career?  I wish I had had a better grasp of business and management. I feel I would be further along now had I known earlier what I’ve learned in the past couple of years.  But sometimes throwing yourself into a job is the best way to learn.

What do you consider the secret of success – what do you think has sort of been the secret that has gotten you where you are today?  And what advice would you give to someone following your footsteps? The secret is to surround yourself with good people who share your vision, who take pride in what they do, who encourage you to be better, and who will be with you when times are hard or when you feel like giving up.

Also, always improve yourself.  If I don’t know how to do something, I ask someone, or I research, and I usually find the answers. With how connected we’ve all become, you can always find someone who can help you move forward in your career. It just takes persistence. I often tell artists (and I think this goes for most trades) to continue to use Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In to build groups of like-minded individuals and connect you closer to your dream job. I really think most people want to help others succeed. You want to work at a studio and you have trouble getting in? Friend or at least message someone you know that works there, tell them your story and ask them what it will take to break through the doors.

What’s your next move – or next five moves? My next move is to sell an original show to a network and produce it at OddBot. I think I’m close!

To find out more about Christopher’s company, Oddbot, and see some of their work, click here to pop over to the Oddbot website.

The second in a series of interviews of recent arrivals to the entertainment industry, Debi Carroll’s story of how she landed her first paid post-graduate entertainment job highlights the use of school resources, networking, strategic internships, and traditional job hunt resources, as well as how to target and position yourself on the path to your ideal job. Congratulations to Debi on her entry into showbiz and making that all-important first step in what we’re sure will be a long and successful career.

Hometown:  My parents are in Texas, but I only lived there a year. I went boarding school in Connecticut, college in Minnesota, and grad school in Boston. I also lived in five more places, but the longest was Malaysia, where I was born and lived for ten years.

Current Position:  I’m a vault operator/component manager at Sony DADC.

College and degree:  I have a B.A. in Theater from Macalester College and an M.S. in Film Production from Boston University. As far as when I graduated, January 2012 is what’s on my diploma. At least, I assume so. It’s still floating around in the mail somewhere. I completed my capstone and paperwork requirements long-distance so I could stay in L.A.

Internships:  I interned with the post department of “Yo Gabba Gabba” Season 4 and with 740 Sound Design & Mix. The two work environments are almost polar opposites: YGG is very creative, fun, borderline chaotic; 740 is ultra-efficient and very polished. I can’t imagine how much duller my life would be if I hadn’t met the YGG post team and the 740 crew. I’m so privileged to have gotten to work with them for three whole months.

What made you want to be in entertainment?  My choice to go into theater was organic, a natural extension of the acting and directing I’d been doing all my life. I never really questioned it until I graduated in 2009, right into the cold reality of the recession. My future through the lens of theater was pretty bleak. In comparison, right next door there was this thriving, growing film/TV industry with production assistant jobs popping up every day. So my initial decision to enter entertainment was entirely mercenary. But once I started the film program at BU, I realized that the science of it–apertures, long GOP codecs, acoustics, and frequency responses–made it a far better fit for me than theater ever was. One of my secrets is my advanced math classes–I took multivariable calculus and differential equations my freshman year at Macalester. Now I’m using that same part of my brain to cross-check data and build an encyclopedic knowledge of video formats.

When you moved to Los Angeles:  I arrived in Los Angeles at the end of August 2011 to start the “Boston University in Los Angeles” internship program. How you’ve networked since you arrived: The BU in LA program gives you a lot of networking opportunities, with all the speakers and field trips. Many of them invited follow-ups, so I sent them thank-you emails and/or notes, and got varying degrees of positive response. I was surprised to find out how few students actually bothered to follow up. I also made some LinkedIn connections with BU young alumni whom I met formally on panels or informally through friends. All of my internship coworkers are a huge resource–I keep in touch and we pass items of interest back and forth. I joined a few Meet-Up groups that sponsor screenings or networking events. I also reached out to alumni from my prep school, Choate Rosemary Hall, asking for informational interviews–I didn’t get any, but one director/CEO did accept my LinkedIn connection request.

How did you land your job?  Through one of my Indeed.com alerts, I found a Vault Operator/Component Manager position posted by PEAK Technical Staffing. PEAK normally places engineers and programmers, but this was a data entry/FCP position for Sony DADC. I sent in my resume and a week later, the account manager called me to discuss the position and set up the interview. I got really nervous when he told me that I was the perfect candidate–internship experience so I wasn’t green from academia, but not enough experience to egotistically tell Sony that they’re doing it wrong. They were looking for energy and enthusiasm, so I didn’t have to fake anything for the interview. Afterwards, when I turned on my phone, I realized that the entire interview had been six minutes long. I thought I was doomed. And then I called PEAK back and they said, “Congratulations!”

What do you do in your current position?  Vault operations are essentially an archival process. Sony DADC’s clients submit digital files or tapes, and we register them into the database and assign them ID numbers. Then they either move to different client folders on the server or we archive them in the tape library, a process that’s mostly automated. We use proprietary software to interface with the library, and can also de-archive files on request. So generally speaking, it’s media management, with very sophisticated in-house software.

What do you want to do ultimately?  Sound design. I plan to save up for some good mics and start building an effects library. 740 had an amazing proprietary library, so different from the FX you get from stock collections. My MFA classmates will be shooting their thesis films this semester, so I’m hoping to sound design for some of them. Fortunately, student films and low-budget productions always need audio people.

Favorite movie(s) &/or TV show(s):  HOT FUZZ comes to mind because the timing and rhythms of that movie are perfect, in my opinion. “Kill the Messenger” is my favorite scene because the sound design blends so perfectly between literal and interpretative sound–diegetic and nondiegetic, in audio lingo. The high-frequency whine of microphone feedback, the raucous laughter of the crowd, the whir of the lottery wheel, and the monster-rattles of the hooded figure layer and overlap and build to the wet squish of impact. (I hope I didn’t give away the ending for anyone.)

Career role models / idols: Walter Murch is every sound designer and editor’s idol, I think. He practically invented interpretive sound like the helicopter-fan in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now, and he edited feature films on at least three different systems: Final Cut, Avid, and steamback. He also designed sound for Coppola’s THE CONVERSATION and the Godfather movies. Gary Rydstrom is another brilliant sound designer whom I idolize. TERMINATOR 2 is one of the earliest examples of his work; since then, he’s designed and/or mixed JURASSIC PARK, TOY STORY, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, TITANIC, MINORITY REPORT, FINDING NEMO, and many more.

Best career advice you’ve gotten so far:  I’ve gotten a lot of fantastic career advice, but the one I still struggle with came from Scott Ganary, the founder and executive producer at 740. He told me not to stray too far away from sound, to keep my eyes on my long-term goal. I know what he means–right after you graduate, especially, you feel the urge to take whatever you can get. I applied and interviewed for administrative jobs, even though my ability to absorb technical information is far more exceptional than my phone manner. Working as a vault operator is a step in the right direction, and the challenge now is to keep myself motivated when I’m off the clock. I’d like to keep volunteering for projects and expanding my reel.

If you liked this interview, check out our first Entry Point interview, of CAA Floater, Rohit Kumar.

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