Movie jobs: Everything you need to know

The movie business is certainly one of the most profitable in the world of entertainment. Although their profits were recently exceeded by the computer games industry, movies continue to be a great source of employment, providing excellent wages for the people working in the business. That’s the main reason why movie jobs are not so easy to get.

What jobs are there in a movie?

Movie jobs are classified according to the three phases of filmmaking: preproduction, production and postproduction. In preproduction the movie is carefully planned, and all the details on the movie are put together: budgeting, casting, location, costume design, construction of the set, and scheduling. Production is the main phase, in which the actual film is being made. Based on the budget and the movie type, the number of people working in the production phase can vary from a few, when shooting a documentary, to several hundreds, for a feature film. Postproduction is usually consumed in the editing rooms and recording auditions, where all the scenes are put together and the music and sound effects are added to the movie.

So, if you’re thinking of working on a movie, you have to seek the job that suits you best. In preproduction, you can find jobs like screenwriters, art directors, illustrators, costume designers, makeup and hairstyling artists. A lot of people start off in such jobs in live theatre productions and move forward to film and television. Movie jobs in preproduction can provide an excellent entry in the motion picture industry.

The production phase requires actors, cinematographers, camera operators, sound engineering technicians, multimedia artists, etc. These people have to be really experienced, because the whole movie depends on them. You may think that there aren’t any entry-level positions in this phase, but you will be glad to know that there are lots of people hired as extras or assistants. So even if you have little or no experience, you can be a background performer - one of the people in a crowd/workers in an office/dancers at a ball. There are movie jobs also available for stunt performers, who are required in most of today’s movies. So if you’re good at driving cars in high-speed chases or falling from high places, they may have a small part for you. If you’ve just finished a film school, you could also find a position for an assistant. Also remember that many people get started in this industry by running errands, moving things on the set, and helping out with props.

Postproduction includes occupations like film and video editors, sound effects editors, and finally, the marketing personnel. Movie jobs in this phase are more difficult to get; there is no way of entering the occupation of editor. Nevertheless, experience as a film librarian, sound editor, or assistant editor, along with some talent and perseverance, can really help.