Getting Jobs in Entertainment question 911: How do I become a film director?

This is a question of art/talent, as opposed to career coaching. I don't teach you how to direct, I teach you how to get work once you know how to direct. So, I'll give you some advice for getting started:

1. Get director mentors

2. Read Sidney Lumet's book MAKING MOVIES (that was the first assignment from my directing mentor)

3. Watch/listen to the director commentary on DVDs of movies you like

There's a lot of research that can be done before you even get creative as far as reading articles, visiting www.dga.org, reading books, and researching online director forums. In the mean time, if you do have a video camera and a computer to edit on, start discovering your voice.

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For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visitwww.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com

entertainment industry coach question 224: how long should my directing reel be?

There's no exact time frame, though the average time is between 2-5 minutes.

The purpose of a reel is to show you have talent in your classification. Search the internet for other people's reels in your classification to see what they are doing (preferably working people. you can usually find their reels on their agent's websites, or their own) and model the ones you like.

Another tip is to think long term. If in 5 years you want to be directing romantic comedies and you have 3 shorts that are all different genres, you may want to consider doing shorts that are romantic comedies, because:

1. The more you show in your genre, the more it proves you're an expert

2. You get better with each project so you want your best work to be in the genre you're targeting

3. You'll be creating relationships with people who enjoy the same type of work you do

The objection I get to this is, "But I can direct anything and I want people to see that so they'll hire me." My answer to that, is that early on you will be hired based on the relationships you create, so it really doesn't matter what genre is on your reel, what matters is how well you can sell yourself. LONG TERM, it will matter what genre is on your reel, so target the types of films you want to make.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.theGreenlightCoachBlog.com

question 194: I know you're a coach but your bio says you worked in development. How do you know if a script will be a good movie?

Whose definition of good matters to you? What you think is good will be different than other people's opinions. Even movies that win academy awards have naysayers. You can't please everyone.

I've heard Hollywood compared to Vegas many a time in my career. There is no science to what makes a successful movie or they'd all be blockbusters. Different people have different taste. Why was Private Benjamin a huge hit and no one's heard of Major Movie Star (basically same concept starring Jessica Simpson?

When I worked in development I only gave 2 scripts a Recommend. Both films were made (not by us). One was on screen exactly how I'd pictured it in my mind. The other, one of the scariest thrillers I'd read, turned out to be a joke on screen.

There are so many people involved in making a movie that the script is just the leaping off point. Unless it's your script and you direct it, there's no guarantee your vision will be what's on screen. If you're reading it as an actor or as a department head, what looks great on paper could turn out completely different by the time the director, movie stars, editor, and studio execs (after a few focus groups) get their hands on it.

My advice if you like the script: trust your gut, see who's involved, do your research on them, do the best work you're capable of, and see what happens.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.theGreenlightCoachBlog.com

Question 180: How do I become a film director?

This question was a comment on yesterday's post. Again, this is a question of art/talent, as opposed to career coaching. I don't teach you how to direct, I teach you how to get work once you know how to direct. So, I'll give you some advice for getting started:

1. Get director mentors

2. Read Sidney Lumet's book MAKING MOVIES (that was the first assignment from my directing mentor)

3. Watch/listen to the director commentary on DVDs of movies you like

There's a lot of research that can be done before you even get creative as far as reading articles, visiting www.dga.org, reading books, and researching online director forums. In the mean time, if you do have a video camera and a computer to edit on, start discovering your voice.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, the Greenlight Coach, visit www.thegreenlightcoachblog.com