Connections

How do you feel about having connections, business-wise?

Personally, I feel they're kind of cheap. It sucks that I feel this way considering the industry I want to work in is practically RUN by "having connections," but I honestly feel that it can be a completely unfair advantage at times. The only time I think connections are "right" is if the connection wants to help you, and not the other way around.

Example, a douchebag film student I know who has little to no talent, and doesn't make any of his own films, claims to have all these outlandish connections out in Hollywood. If he's telling the truth, that means that he, a complete pecker, will be getting work faster than me, a guy who is actually working his nuts off for it.

Even I have SOME connections, but more often than not, I choose to not abuse them for personal gain. I was able to show Losers to Christopher Nolan and a majority of the cast/crew of The Dark Knight, which was sweet, but I'd never try and weasel my way into the industry unless they were the ones that wanted to help me. I'd rather be known as the guy they chose to help rather than the guy who kept bugging them for an interview.

What are your thoughts? I think I may need to re-think my stance on connections...

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If you want to work in Hollywood, and if the way it tends to be depicted in most media is true, I think you would need to rethink your stance on the matter and just quite possibly make an exception to the particular field.

Otherwise I kinda agree with you, I personaly don't like to use my connections if the benefit is purely mine. The feel of using people purely as a means to an end is not one I enjoy too much. Of course I would be inclined to look otherwise if I'm jobless and looking for something to pay rent with.

So yeh, back to Hollywood, it does always sound that in the industry there, it really is about who you know, and what you may possibly know about them

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Originally Posted by Chiribo

So yeh, back to Hollywood, it does always sound that in the industry there, it really is about who you know, and what you may possibly know about them

Exactly... It just feels like an empty victory if I achieve success that way, ya know? How did I earn it if all I had to do was know the right person? It's like entering the Konami code before playing Contra and saying "look I beat the game without dying lolol."

I'd see it differently if, say, one of my movies fell into the right person's hands, and they offered to help me out. But that, if you ask me, is totally different. THAT connection I earned. Simply knowing people is a cheap "in" to the industry, but unfortunately one of the easier ways in.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I understand you as I am like that myself, but my impression is that the field you chose may require a lot of ass kissing and fake friendships to advance. That goes for every artistic domains on a level that varies depending on centralization and money involved. =/

Well, there is the independent film circles, but it looks kinda closed itself if you're not willing to do artsy abstract films with lots of fucked up teenagers doing drugs and having sex.

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Thing is sprouticus, the way I would look at it in your situation is even though you get something because of your connections, if the end result of the work that you did is shit, it woun't really matter so much about your connections afterwards because people aren't great fans of taking risks all the time.

However if your end work is of good quality it should build reputation for you by itself (obviously if it gets decent exposure) and I would argue that it isn't such a hollow victory.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by niki

I understand you as I am like that myself, but my impression is that the field you chose may require a lot of ass kissing and fake friendships to advance. That goes for every artistic domains on a level that varies depending on centralization and money involved. =/

Well, there is the independent film circles, but it looks kinda closed itself if you're not willing to do artsy abstract films with lots of fucked up teenagers doing drugs and having sex.

Yeah, you're right on the money. I highly doubt Michael Bay got into the industry with "talent."

I definitely consider myself to be very independent with filmmaking... However, I don't object to a little brown nosing here and there as long as the person is worth the brown nosing.

I followed that personal guideline my junior year when I refused to kiss the ass of the director I was forced to work under. She was the most inept, unskilled retard I've ever worked with in my life, and if I wanted to get any further in that department, it meant kissing her ass. I chose not to. I just did my job and did it well, but it wasn't enough. I went on to make Losers independently, easily the biggest hit of the year, and probably one of the biggest hits that any student has brought to that school (at least in the 4 years I was there).

Had I kissed ass like my friend did, and gotten the director's seat for the following year's advanced project, I would have made something less impactful, less personal, and in the long run, less good. I think I was pretty much bred to do things independently. It's much more rewarding for me when I can have my work propel me further in life rather than my ability to suck the right cocks.

But I see what you guys are saying. It's an unfortunate truth I need to conquer.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Maybe it's just because I'm already corrupted by politics, but I think that using connections to get somewhere isn't necessarily a bad thing. You can get ahead without relying on contacts, or without brown nosing, but you will never get as far as you would have gotten if you just worked within the system every now and then. This is not to say that you totally have to give up your integrity or independency, but the fact is that the system works this way, and that it would be stupid to just reject it alltogether. You know some guys in your industry, so what's the harm in asking them to help you out every now and then?

FELIPE NO

I don't see "connections" as below the belt. It's a competitive world with you vs everyone else, so every below-the-belt trick you can muster would be called for.

However, I've had some wonderful connections dangled in front of my face. One of my better friends is the son of a higher up at Chevron, and I also know a gal (who chased after me for a while) whose father is the head of Interpretation for Shell. If I wanted to, I could've asked my buddy for a hand, or dated said girl for a while and used her (given that would've been particularly cruel).

Those were the biggies, but I had at least half a dozen buddies with family ties in the industry who would've stepped out of their way to give me a job. But in my case, pride kind of took over.

I remember remarking on here that I had connections, but I didn't want to know that I got my foot in to the industry using someone else. In the future? Fine. But not in the beginning. So I bit my tongue and didn't make use of the help. Given, it led to a pretty frantic year of constantly waiting on interviews, but I ended up with my #1 choice without using any tricks, whether they be legit or under-handed.

But in the future? I will use connections. Pride got its shot at things and now it can take the back seat.

Sprout, I can see your logic and can identify with it pretty well. Getting in to the industry on your own merit gives you a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling. It also gives you a bit of a pat on the back, letting you know that you can pan out in said line of work.

If someone utilizes a connection to get IN to the industry, it can be seen as being privileged. "Oh well my brother dated the cousin of the roommate that knows the janitor for the last Star Wars movie." But if you work the connections once you're "in"? You're an equal. You probably made the ties by working with people and all that jazz. No tricks, no privileged instances -- you did it all on your own talent.

For example, utilizing anything that comes from you showing your film to the Dark Knight crew is fair game to utilize. You didn't "get a handout" from the folks. You showed them a finished project and they decided to step out and help out. You came halfway and they did the same.

How ya doing, buddy?

Perhaps its the field that I'm looking into, but I see connections as more of a 'help me learn this' way of going about it.

Since telling folks that I plan to work in publishing, a bunch of people have said "I know this person" or "Try this person"... and while I'm grateful, I feel I can interview at a publishing company and intern there, without necessarily knowing someone. I feel I'll be able to make an impression without it.

However, It'll be much different when I want to publish my own work. My top 'connections' would be the local authors I know, and it wouldnt be asking for their help in breaking into the field, but more like "Hey, can you show me how you did this, so that I can do it for myself?" or asking for suggestions and a guiding hand. Anything beyond that could be up to them (IE: takling to their publisher/agent about helping me out), but I wouldnt ask for it, because I wouldnt necessarily always have it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

"Networking", "connections", and "insider jobs" are all so stupid. It's a stupid way to run a business and it's a stupid way to manage human resources. It's a scary trend though that this is happening because it gives the impression that it's now how hard people work, how much they know, or what qualifications they have, but simply just "who" they know. This has especially been the case for competitive fields like in business.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I was speaking with our recruiter last week on the topic of quality employees and where you find them. I had thought they came from recruiting agencies nowadays. She disagreed. Said a vast majority of employees came via referrals, through networking. Not only did that provide a larger pool of employees but the employees tended to be of higher quality than either agencies or walk-ins.

That said, it seems to me "connections" is just the way things are done. I don't understand this desire to make life harder for oneself. You can take pride in your work regardless of whether you got a job because someone knew you and could recommend you, or whether you just happened to be the lucky winner in the resume screening and interview process. I mean, you have to have a chance to do the work you want to be proud of, right?

Regarding quality, it makes sense when you think about it. If you have an employee who's got a buddy they want to recommend, if that guy sucks, it blows back on the employee who referred him. There's a social pressure to recommend quality people in most circumstances. I would point out this is distinct from nepotism which has an unfortunate tendency to fall on its face.

Also, ion, networking by itself is hardly stupid, and in no way near a stupid way to run a business. You have so many career services out there teaching you exactly what to say in a resume and how to phrase things that the entire screening process for new hires is completely full of bullshit. This is not the employer's fault. The employer just wants to get someone who can do the job, do it well and integrate with the rest of the company. If, as the employer, you know someone you trust, and they recommend someone, that cuts through all the bullshit. That person is suddenly a much less risky proposition.

Since you'll never be able to stop washed up HR managers from writing books on how best to schmooze your way into a job, the best thing you could possibly do is to stop bitching about how stupid it is and start making good impressions on people who matter.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I have a hobby. It involves choreographed dance routines coupled with show tunes. At times, I have been known to wear tights. The United States largest export is entertainment, and in "The Business," it really isn't what you know, but who you know.

Sprout and I share two sides of the same coin, he being behind the camera and myself being in front of it. Converse from his position though, I'd use any connection I had to get myself in front of that camera.

Why? Well, take latest Tony winner and Delaware native John Gallagher. Well, he's a friend of mine, which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows anything about Delaware. He's amazing, absolutely amazing, but it took a pulled string and a lucky break to get him in front of someone who had the power to show the world how amazing he is.

Is it shitty when no-talent jerkoffs cut in line due to their name? Yeah. But is it awesome when a shining example of exellence hits it big because of theirs? Yeah.

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