{"id":23954,"date":"2023-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmconnection.com\/reference-library\/how-to-get-a-mentor-in-the-film-industry\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T12:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T20:26:09","slug":"how-to-get-a-mentor-in-the-film-industry","status":"publish","type":"reference-library","link":"http:\/\/filmconnection.com\/reference-library\/how-to-get-a-mentor-in-the-film-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO GET A MENTOR IN THE FILM INDUSTRY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With patience, talent and some pluck you may be able to get a mentor in the film industry without a film degree. Even with the established contacts film students often have, breaking into film making can be extremely difficult. Living in Los Angeles, the center of American movie-making or New York City would be helpful for networking with possible mentors.<\/p>\n<p>Apply for menial jobs in places like production studios that will give you access to film insiders. Bill\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Coplin\" data-scaytid=\"1\">Coplin<\/span>\u00a0of Syracuse University&#8217;s Public Affairs department recounts how one young filmmaker got a job to walk a famous director&#8217;s dogs. Though you will need to keep a professional relationship with the person you work for, it may lead to relationships with other film industry connections.<\/p>\n<p>Create a sample of your work to show prospective mentors. Whether it&#8217;s a screenplay or a short film, having a well-produced sample may secure you a job as an intern or as a production assistant. Keep a copy of your sample on hand, in case you find the right situation to pass it on to a possible mentor.<\/p>\n<p>Find filmmakers outside the mainstream who produce television-movies or independent films. Roger\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Corman\" data-scaytid=\"2\">Corman<\/span>, a B-movie film producer, mentored Martin\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Scorsese\" data-scaytid=\"4\">Scorsese<\/span>, John\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Sayles\" data-scaytid=\"5\">Sayles<\/span>\u00a0and Jonathan\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Demme\" data-scaytid=\"6\">Demme<\/span>. Working with\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Corman\" data-scaytid=\"3\">Corman<\/span>\u00a0helped each of them to develop their own unique vision, while also learning how to manage a film budget.<\/p>\n<p>Apply to study at the American Film Institute or at one of the studio&#8217;s talent development programs. The\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"AFI\" data-scaytid=\"7\">AFI<\/span>\u00a0Conservatory is a prestigious organization that has given Terrence\u00a0<span data-scayt_word=\"Malick\" data-scaytid=\"8\">Malick<\/span>, a former philosophy graduate student, the opportunity to develop mentor relationships with established film producers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":38751,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"featured-post":[],"resource-category":[],"reference-category":[343],"class_list":["post-23954","reference-library","type-reference-library","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","reference-category-film-education"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reference-library\/23954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reference-library"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reference-library"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"featured-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-post?post=23954"},{"taxonomy":"resource-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-category?post=23954"},{"taxonomy":"reference-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reference-category?post=23954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}