Using Twitter To Find A Job
You’ve heard of Twitter, right? If not, you need to get on there right away!
In case you are unaware, FilmAndTVCareer.com is on Twitter and if you want to follow us, you can find us at: www.twitter.com/filmandtvcareer
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that Twitter can get you a job… and I’ll prove it!
To start, you should know that I have a number of Twitter accounts. One account is for my business at BicycleTouringPro.com and one for my business at SilverMountainMarketing.com. By having two separate accounts, I can keep information that is relevant to both businesses separate. In other words, I talk about bicycling and lifestyle design on my bike touring site and I talk about business and website design on my marketing site.
Anyway, I happened to mention on my bicycle touring Twitter account that I had designed BicycleTouringPro.com all by myself. I didn’t make a big deal out of it or anything. I was simply responding to someone who asked who had designed my site - because they liked the way it looked.
Well, that tweet went out to my 250+ followers on Twitter and was simultaneously posted to my Facebook account where I have another 350+ friends. On Facebook, one of my new friends in the bicycle touring world saw that I had designed my own site and contacted me.
As it turns out, he was looking for a website designer to create a new site for him. I wrote him back, told him I’d love to work with him and in less than 24 hours had a new job! And it was all because of a single tweet.
Best of all, I didn’t have to do any hard selling to get the job. I passively responded to a reader’s question, another one of my followers saw the message… and he contacted me about doing some work for him.
This, my friends, is the power of social media. And this is just one of the many reasons you need to sign up for a Twitter account today!
How do you get a job in the film and television industry? By actively marketing yourself - both online and offline. Get started now!
I Live In The Woods - Sundance Short Film
The Sundance Film Festival is currently underway in Park City, Utah and as usual, Sundance has released a select group of short films from this year’s festival and shared them online - for free!
To download this year’s Sundance shorts, go to: http://itunes.com/Sundance
One of the films you just gotta download and watch is called “I Live In The Woods“.
It’s a three minute stop-motion animated film shot largely outdoors (which is atypical for stop motion animation) and it’s the story of well… a strange little creature with a purple beard who lives in the woods.
Like many short films, this is one you just gotta watch for yourself. Prepare to laugh, cry, and be thoroughly disgusted!
And if, after watching the film you are interested in seeing how Max Winston, the film’s creator, made such an incredible piece of work, watch the short video below. Enjoy!
I live in the Woods TIME LAPSE! from Max Winston on Vimeo.
Why Americans Can’t Watch Dubbed Movies And TV Shows
I’m currently in Switzerland, traveling around on a bicycle in the snow and cold. But in between all the riding, I’m inside, in an apartment with a TV. But because I’m in a country that speaks four or five different languages, TV is a mix of German, French, Italian, and English programming.
While most of these shows are shot in their native languages, much of the programming comes from America and the English actors have been dubbed over with French, German, or Italian voices.
And this, of course, got me thinking.
Why is it that I never watch German TV shows dubbed over in English? Why don’t my friends watch Spanish sitcoms with English actors filling in the voices of the Spanish actors? Why have I never watched a French film with English over-scoring the original dialogue?
Why is it that Americans don’t watch movies or TV shows which have been dubbed over from another language? And why does the rest of the world not only do this on a regular basis, but seem to have no problem watching an English program which has been dubbed over in their native tongue?
Here is my theory:
1) First of all, I think Americans view dubbing to be slightly humorous. When the lips don’t exactly match up with the words, we laugh, giggle, and prod. In short, we don’t take the program seriously, because we can’t get over the fact that the sound is all wrong.
2) Or maybe Americans don’t like dubbed films because it isn’t sophisticated enough. After all, we seem to have little problem watching a film that was shot in French but now has English subtitles. The subtitles seem classy and sophisticated, but the dubbing makes us feel cheap.
3) Or maybe it’s none of this? Maybe we are just spoiled? Maybe because we live so close to Hollywood and because we seem so separated from the rest of the world, we’ve simply gotten used to having things our way and don’t want to conform to having outside ways pushed upon us?
To be honest, I don’t know what the answer is. But I’m sure there is a reason!
What do you think? Why don’t Americans watch films and TV shows that have dubbed over from other languages when the rest of the world seems to do it so regularly?
The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Is Here
Today is the first day of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and whether you are in attendance or not, there’s a ton of great information, videos, and content to be enjoyed online.
Start your Sundance drool fest with some online videos. Check out this year’s artists as well as the archives of previous year’s videos at:
http://festival.sundance.org/2009/videos/
After you’ve watched a few videos, head over to the festival store and pick up some Sundance SWAG:
http://www.sundance.org/festival/store/
And if you want the inside scoop, be sure to follow the Sundance crowd on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/sundancefest
Heck, you might as well follow FilmAndTVCareer.com on Twitter as well:
http://twitter.com/filmandtvcareer
And if you’re curious what Park City, Utah looks like this time of year, check out the Web Cam from Park City Mountain Resort. You might just see a celebrity or famous filmmaker fly past the lens on a snowboard:
http://www.parkcitymountain.com/winter/conditions/mountain_cams/
PS - I bet you didn’t know this, but FilmAndTVCareer.com is actually located in Park City, Utah! The Sundance Film Festival is right down the street. Jealous? You should be!
Now get your butt to Park City! Or at least check out the links above and draw in as much creative juice as you possibly can.
Have a great week! And enjoy this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
What are you favorite parts of the Sundance Film Festival? And how do you participate even if you aren’t actually in Utah?
Using A Blog To Land Your Dream Job
Last week I posted an article about how traditional resumes no longer cut it in the job hunting world. Resumes, as I explained, no longer tell an employer what you are capable of, they only tell the employer what your limitations are.
But don’t fret! There is hope!
If you are looking for a way to not only land your dream job, but increase your pay and show what you’re really made of, then I have one big suggestion for you today that just might change your life entirely.
Create a Blog!
Yes! If you want to succeed in the film and television industry, a blog just might be your means of climbing to the top of this incredible, life-altering industry.
Instead of a piece of paper that explains in words what you have done in the past for your previous employers, a blog shows future employers exactly what you’ve done. On a blog, you can post photos, write articles, and even share videos you’ve created on previous gigs.
Now just imagine a potential employer who is looking to hire a new recruit. One person applying for the job turns in a boring paper resume, while the other turns in a cover letter explaining why he wants to work with the company and in that letter, he points to his website where the employer can find samples of his work, testimonials from previous employers and a whole host of images, articles and interviews the young filmmaker has done in the past.
Out of those two people, which one do you think stands the greatest chance of getting the job? The guy with the boring old resume? Or the guy with the interactive website, the long list of testimonials, and the video that knocks his future employer’s socks off?
You guessed it! The guy with the blog!
If you need help creating a blog for yourself that not only displays the work you’ve done in the past, but also lands you gig after gig in the future, please send an email to the people at Silver Mountain Marketing. Tell them you heard about their services through FilmandTVCareer.com and receive a 10% discount on any services they render. This is exactly the sort of thing they specialize in and they can help you to easily and inexpensively set up a blog to suit your needs.
What are you waiting for? Start your blog now! (And send me a letter once it’s helped you land your dream job!)
