Many, many, moons ago, I worked at Blockbuster Entertainment.
We were a small, local store, and so our regular customers almost felt like family.
When they’d visit the store, they’d not only leave with some excellent, personalised movie recommendations, but also having had a genuinely personable conversation.
They knew things about us, and us about them.
And that’s the crucial part of this story…
One day a regular customer came into the store with her boyfriend.
They sheepishly approached the counter…
“Um…err…you…you do music, right?”
(Being a composer working in a movie store sure had its perks!)
“Well…I don’t know if you’d be interested, but…I have this movie that I’ve been working on for a few years…”
That movie turned out to be one of the most visually stunning movies I’ve ever seen.
And I got to work on it! (And snagged a couple of awards in the process).
So, how did that happen?!
I’d spent time developing relationships with people. Without any agenda or hidden motive.
I just wanted to make friends.
And because I’d made myself likeable and approachable, when those friends needed anything music-related, I was the first person they thought of.
Why does this work so well?
By focusing on the relationship, and not the outcome, I’d made myself valuable.
So before they were anywhere near the stage where they were thinking about hiring a composer, they already had one lined up!
Relationships are your most important asset, as this study into the hiring practices in the London & LA film industry proves.
The question is:
How do you build those relationships with filmmakers?
Well, there’s a lot more to it than “finding them online and sending them your showreel”!
To find people to work with today, you have to go further than that.
Here are some tips to get you started.
And now I’d like to hear from you:
Have you spent any time this month reaching out to filmmakers?
Yes? No? Kinda?
Let me know in the comments.
Not too long ago, I found a long-lost friend on Facebook. I reached out to him, and we “friended” each other. I read about him, and learned that he is a screen writer and film producer. I thought, “what luck!”. And I proceeded to correspond with him, without mentioning that I am a film composer.
A while later, I did a (non-music) favor for him, and mentioned that I compose music for films. He responded with a small film score job. He sent me a couple of drafts of films that he is working on. Well, it turns out that his films are not very good.
Nevertheless, I composed a few minutes of music for his film, mostly as a favor.
What do you do in such a case? Do you simply go ahead, and hope that it might germinate into a better opportunity someday?
That can be a really awkward situation, and I’ve been there myself so feel your pain!
I usually say: if you have nothing else on, and nothing to lose, then why not? You could always repurpose whatever music you create for other projects too.
But, you need to be careful that it doesn’t become a routine – that you end up getting ditched with a load of terrible dead-end projects. Don’t forget the “Three M’s” approach too 😉
Oddly, sometimes the people who seem to have no clue what they’re doing also turn out to be the people who are really good at getting projects off the ground. So you never know!