Is Your Dream Career in Film? How Film Festivals Can Help You Network Like a Pro

🌟Career Coaching: Insider Tips and Strategies for Getting Your Foot in the Industry Door.

Attending a film festival or film market can totally change your life. 

It certainly changed mine. I purchased a day pass to the American Film Market in 2017 and happily met Merja Ritola–an independent producer from Finland–at a party on the Santa Monica Pier. 

Merja and I became friends and often talked about working on something together. I traveled to visit her in Vihti, Finland, where her company, Greenlit Productions, produces a variety of film and TV projects.

After spending years applying for funds, we finally received a development grant from the Creative Europe State Funding program in support of the first five episodes of Remarkable Women: Out of the Shadows, a documentary anthology series about remarkable women behind the success of famous men.

If I hadn’t attended one day of the American Film Market in 2017, I wouldn’t be co-producing the series with Merja now. 

If you follow our work, you know that a strong theme of Showbizing is the critical importance of building and sustaining a strong professional network. We encourage even our shyest clients to push themselves to get out of the house and meet people in the entertainment industry.

Today, with the chaotic post-strike state of the industry, having a strong network of support is more important than ever. And attending industry events is perhaps one of the easiest ways to start expanding your own network.

Here are six tips on how to get yourself out of your sweatpants and into the game: