Get the Job in the Entertainment Industry

A Practical Guide for Designers, Technicians, and Stage Managers

Kristina Tollefson, Jim Volz

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781350103801
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Performing Arts & Business

Looking for a job in the theatre and entertainment industry can be daunting, especially when you are newly entering the work market. How do you take the skills and experience acquired through study and present them to prospective employers in the arts industry? Where does your search begin and what should you consider as you plan your future career steps? What is expected in a portfolio and what should you expect in an interview? This book provides straightforward strategies and practical exercises to turn anxiety into excitement and help you develop the job search skills and materials that will empower you to go after the job you want, and get it. If you are about to graduate or just ready to make a change, this book will teach you how to plan for your career as a designer, technician, or stage manager, and put your best professional persona forward when applying for jobs. Topics include resumes, cover letters, business cards and portfolios that will get you moved to the top of the pile; what to expect at an interview and how to answer any interview question; the how and why of negotiating for your worth; long term career planning, financial implications and much more. Filled with practical advice, examples of letters, resumes, CVs and portfolios, and with guidance from industry professionals, it will equip you to plan and succeed in your job search and career development in the entertainment industry.

1

Where Are You Going and How Will You Get There?

Do I Need a College Degree?

The short answer is no. A college degree is not required to pursue a career in theatre design, technology, or stage management unless you are planning to teach. Employers want to hire people who can do the best job for them regardless of their degree status. You can get a basic entry-level job and work your way up through the hierarchy as you learn more. A college degree gives you the knowledge and skills to allow you to start in higher-level positions and work toward supervisory and “decision-making” positions more quickly. College theatre provides you with a laboratory to try lots of different aspects that you may not even know you are interested in or good at. I was an undergraduate on an acting scholarship, and very quickly learned I hated auditioning and there were a lot of people who were better actors than me. I avoided auditioning by always having a technical assignment, and all that time in the costume shop led me to a career as a costume designer—not something I even knew was possible before going to college. Additionally, your peers, faculty, and alumni from your program form a vast network that will help keep you employed and offer advice along the way.

Is Graduate School Right for Me?

Many undergraduate students dismiss the idea of graduate school before learning more about it. For some it can be the right next step; for others it may be necessary to get a few years of professional experience to have the maturity to benefit fully from grad school; and for the rest it just isn’t an important step in their career trajectory. Either way, it is a big decision that shouldn’t be made lightly, and warrants thought and research to be sure that misconceptions are not the basis of the decision. Graduate school in theatre differs from other disciplines, so when doing your research and getting advice be sure to talk with people who understand these differences.

The biggest misconception students have is that graduate school is the same as undergraduate study—but it is different in many ways. First, the course load is lower. Typically, nine credit hours are considered full time in graduate school. While graduate classes are more rigorous than undergraduate courses, there are fewer courses required in graduate school. Additionally, grad school coursework focuses on the area you are studying and does not include general education classes. A master of arts (MA) degree typically takes two years and a master of fine arts (MFA) degree typically takes three.

Expense is a factor that deters potential students. While it is possible for graduate school to be paid for through scholarships, fellowships, and student loans, assistantships are another and lesser-known funding option. An assistantship means that the department hires you to work part time and in exchange it waives your tuition and gives you a monthly paycheck. Tuition waivers can be full or partial, and some institutions may also waive fees. Ted Ozimek, who attended graduate school on assistantship at Purdue University and now works for ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls), maintains, “A graduate assistantship is the only reasonable way to attend graduate school in theatre. The industry is not lucrative enough to pay graduate school student loans after graduation.”¹

Assistantship packages are typically quarter time or half time, requiring ten or twenty hours of work per week. Assistantship jobs might be working in one of the shops, leadership positions on productions, or teaching classes for undergraduate students. The financial package could fall anywhere between $8,000 and $20,000 or more, so it is very important to get specifics from each school you are interested in as there is a lot of variation from university to university. Some packages come with health insurance. But while much of your tuition will be waived and your basic living expenses may be covered, graduate school can still be a financially challenging period of time without additional outside employment, so it is important to budget and plan carefully.

Once you have passed through the misconceptions about attending graduate school, look at the benefits to see if there are any of which you want to take advantage. You have probably heard many times what a small world the theatre and entertainment industries are, and that most people get jobs based on who they know. To increase your employability, you need to know more people. One of the biggest advantages to a graduate education is the growth of your professional network. You already have the faculty members from your undergrad years and all their contacts as part of your network to help you get a job; when you attend graduate school, you add all the faculty and students at your new university and all their contacts as part of your extended network as well.

One distinct benefit of graduate school is experience. As a graduate student you should have the opportunity to work on several fully produced shows under the mentorship of the faculty. Jodi Ozimek received her MFA in Costume Design and points out, “These fully produced shows typically have reasonable budgets and shop support unlike what you would find if just starting out in small community or professional theatres.”² Your portfolio of work when you leave graduate school will be significantly stronger than the one you started with.

If you decide that graduate school is right for you, your next step is figuring out when to apply. Some programs accept students right out of undergraduate study, while others only accept students who have been working for a few years. Going to graduate school immediately after undergraduate college will build your experience and network early, so you have a longer time to take advantage of the perks. You are already in student mode and will be more prepared to handle the academic load and student lifestyle. If you work professionally for a few years before going to graduate school, you will have a better understanding of what segment of the industry you want to specialize in. Your experience will qualify you for more prestigious graduate schools and financial packages, and you will be better able to take full advantage of what your professors are teaching.

If you plan to go back to grad school after working, be mindful that life may prevent you from doing so. In the time between undergrad studies and applying for graduate school you may take on personal and financial obligations that make working toward an advanced degree more challenging. A successful freelance sound designer, Anthony Narciso, says, “There are days that I would still like to go so teaching could be a future option for me, but I make very consistent income and am booked for the majority of each year. It would be financially difficult to stop what I am doing in order to take classes again.”³

If your decision is to wait, you must know yourself well enough to know if you will actually go back. Of course, it is always possible that once you get into the job market you decide you don’t need to go to graduate school. Pam Knourek headed the costume technology grad/undergrad program at University of North Carolina School of the Arts for twenty years, and says, “You don’t have to have a masters to work in this industry. What matters is if you have the skills.”⁴

Some people who wait for graduate school end up going for a different area of study. Jeramy Boik began his career as a technical director and eventually went to graduate school to study landscape architecture.⁵ And others who had no intention of going to grad school sometimes do after all. Aimee Johnson, c...