More Students Are Now Considering A College Gap Year Because Of COVID-19
According to ABC News, “More Students Are Now Considering A College Gap Year Because Of COVID-19 (April 24, 2020).
What Is A Gap Year?
So, before telling you why being a film production assistant is a great job for your Gap year, let’s first make sure we are all on the same playing field in terms of how we define a Gap Year. Wikipedia has a great explanation of what a gap year is:
A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Students who take gap years typically achieve a growth in maturity and are better prepared to benefit from higher education or decide the form of education they wish to pursue.[1] Gap years usually occur between high school and university; or after graduating from university and before entry into graduate school. They can also be during your senior year in high school.These students might take advanced courses in math or language studies, learn a trade, study art, volunteer, travel, take internships, play sports, or get involved in cultural exchanges. Studies indicate that students who take a gap year perform better academically than those who do not.”
Now that we all have the same definition of a gap year, are you considering a gap year? If you are, you might also be thinking about how to make money. Yes, it’s that money thing again. We all need money during our gap year to support ourselves and you probably don’t want to work at a fast-food restaurant, or a box store every day. Challenge is, there just aren’t many choices for career-building jobs that are also entry-level.
A Film Set Production Assistant is a great entry-level job for many students rethinking their Fall 2020 college plans.
But… What if you were able to start a part-time job or business working at something that helps you meet interesting people, visit new places, explore all kinds of careers, develop new skills, and lets you work on a video, television, or even movie set? A job where no previous experience is required. What is this job? —A Production Assistant. Anyone with the right mindset can be a PA helping to film commercials, company videos, working at an arena for live sporting events or concerts, or helping on a set for video and film production without any previous experience or degree required. Hard to believe, right?
What is a PA?
Now you want to know, “What exactly is a PA and what do they do?” A production assistant is the person who helps everyone else on a film set. PAs make sure all the little things get done; coffee and water gets served, help to unload equipment, help to hold cables and reflectors, act as stand-ins for the lighting and camera crew, check out walkie-talkies, and check them back in again, etc. PA’s do a different million little jobs on a set while actors, directors, producers, and the entire film crew make a movie.
Click on the video and hear what some film industry professionals have to say about their careers:
Let me say this again, as a PA, you can become part of a crew working on films, commercials, reality television or major league sporting events. And don’t forget concerts, movie premiers, and award shows. When you work as a PA, you are exposed to just about every entertainment profession there is. Film production assistants get to work with actors, directors, producers, camera professionals, lighting professionals, costume designers, screenwriters, or even location scouts. You will discover first-hand and in-person all of the amazing careers that are part of the entertainment industry.
When you work as a PA, you are exposed to just about every entertainment profession there is
Talking about High School Graduates and the “Gap Year,” Forbes Magazine Senior Contributor, Michael Horn Writes, “…It’s An Opportunity To Take A “Discovery Year” To Learn About Themselves—What Are Their Passions, What Do They Dislike, And How Can They Best Contribute To The World?” (April 26, 2020)
There it is. Your “gap year” can be your year of discovery and working—as a film production assistant! You will also learn more about yourself and the world around you.
How To Become A PA
By now you want to know what you have to do to become a PA and, until very recently, there have been two ways to break into film and video.
Family and Friends: This has been the number one way to break into the film and video business. A family member or a friend in the entertainment industry recommends you to get hired as a production assistant. That means a lot of people, including you, never get a chance to break in.
Colleges and Universities: If you don’t know someone and want to get into the movie biz, then your other option is to go to college. Some take courses at their community college and might discover that set design, movie production, or acting are what they really want to do. From there they might look into a four-year degree in order to break into the business.
There are a ton of schools offering degrees in cinematography, directing, costume design, and screenwriting just to name a few. Private and public universities like UCLA School of Film Theatre and Television, offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in just about every area of film making. The trick is knowing exactly what you want to do before you invest thousands of dollar and years of your time trying to figure out your real career passion.
Check out this blog featuring Hilton Jamal Day, who started out thinking he wanted to be an editor in post-production. “For me I definitely started in the industry wanting to go into post-production. I never wanted to be on the set. I started working on set and I don't know where, but I started realizing, ‘oh man this is really, really great’ and it's a lot better for my personality. I work a lot better on set!” How did Hilton find this out? He started his career as a Production Assistant.
However, colleges and universities are facing a big challenge. Starting or trying to complete a degree right now means that most if not all of your classes will be online. And, since very few of your future instructors have ever taught online classes; you may become their guinea pig! Add to this scenario a syllabus and study materials that were developed for in-person presentations, and you may just have a difficult year on your hands. Frankly you may not be able to learn what you need to advance to the next course let alone be successful in your career. This is one of the reasons students are considering that “Gap Year.”
The Third Option: Glady, a third option became available. This new option is not only availabe to everyone, it is also very thorough, easy to use, and affordable. What is this option?
Kincade Production’s How To Be A Successful Film Production Assistant is a five course video training program with 70 short videos and in-depth interviews with over 20 professionals including directors, producers, set designers, production assistants location scouts, and more. There are even downloadable PDF’s that give you, the student, everything you need to know about becoming a production assistant. This program is not only the first Production Assistant training program developed to be offered 100% online, it is also the most comprehensive program on how to become a film production assistant nation-wide.
This is a complete program specifically designed to help anyone break into the entertainment business. This program was created with high quality, in-studio and on-location video production with post-production editing to give you an incredible all-encompassing learning experience. And the best part is that it can take you as little as a few days to complete it. You work at your own pace, not someone else’s, for understanding and putting into practice the information on how to become a successful film production assistant.
Listen to the experts tapped by Kincade Productions:
Greg Freeman, Director, Director of Photography, Owner of Freeman Productions.
Greg has worked on reality shows like “Fear Factor,” “The Real World,” “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette,” as well as commercials for Ford, Toyota, Meryl Lynch, and Bank of America.
Greg Freeman has worked for all of the major networks and here is what he has to say, “This course will help you learn what it is going to take for you to be in the industry and who you need to contact and the skills you’ll need to be successful!” (Interview with Kincade Productions, June 2019)
Debbie Bruebaker, Producer, Line Producer, Production Manager
Debbie Brubaker has over 30 years experience in motion pictures and television, Deb’s recent work includes “Tales of the City”, “The Man in the High Castle”, “Cosmos: Possible Worlds”, and a pilot for CBS that recently wrapped called “Alive”.
