Film Career Guide

This career guide is designed to help University of Portsmouth students and recent graduates explore job options, key employers, and entry routes into the film sector.

Breaking into the film industry can be an extremely competitive process and requires perseverance and determination. This is a wide-ranging field that covers both creative and technical job roles, from writing and acting to work within production and post-production.

Deciding on which area you want to work within is your starting point, after which time you can target your search to find valuable experience. Experience is essential within this sector, so you may have to be prepared to start from the bottom and work your way up. Increasing your portfolio of work and effective networking will all play key roles in helping you to break into this industry.

In this guide

Potential Job Roles

Gaining Experience

Finding a Graduate Job

Potential Job Roles

Prospects has a useful list of job profiles each containing relevant information about key responsibilities, skill requirements, starting salaries, entry requirements and career prospects with links to major employers and current graduate vacancies. Some role in the industry include:

Visit the Prospects website

Gaining Experience

Competition for jobs in this sector is high and work experience could be the deciding factor in getting your foot in the door. Undertaking work experience is an invaluable way to develop expertise and gain practical skills, all of which will help you demonstrate, in your applications, your motivation and commitment to your chosen area of work. Securing experience will also help you gain a broad understanding of the industry as a whole and build your contact network, which is crucial in this industry. Remember to use social media when searching for opportunities, as last-minute runner jobs are often posted on social media pages. Ensure that you’re following employers of interest to you on social media in order to see when these vacancies are advertised.

Initially, your options for work experience may be voluntary, but as you build your skills and knowledge you will have more opportunity to take on paid positions. While taking unpaid work is fine when starting out in film, be wary of working for free for an extended period of time.

Creating a showreel/portfolio

Throughout your degree, it is a good idea to build on your showreel, which can act as a portfolio of your work to showcase to employers when you come to apply for jobs and work experience. Creating an effective showreel can help you stand out from other applicants and highlight your skills and technical expertise in the field.

Find out more about showreels

Types of work experience opportunities

Internships (usually a fixed period or a limited amount of time), will give you a more hands-on experience. Many employers will treat internships in the same way as full-time employment, so when a job role asks for 'at least one year’s experience’ you can include this type of experience.

Look at the below list of companies that may advertise internships in this sector:

Find out more about internships

It is worth considering the voluntary sector for work experience - this could be a valuable way to build up your skills and knowledge in this field. Our Volunteering Bank provides local opportunities to undertake alongside your studies, listing roles such as:

Cinema Front of House Volunteer with Southsea Cinema and Arts Centre (Portsmouth Film Society)
Volunteer Event Videographer/Photographer with YMCA Fairthorne Group

Learn more about our Volunteering Team

You might also like to check out the Students' Union and discover what volunteering opportunities they have within their various media channels; see if they need presenters for the union radio or television stations. Victory Media provides high quality shows online and across the campus, find out if they are recruiting staff for forthcoming projects. Explore ccitv, is there a chance to get involved in any of their films? There could be a multitude of opportunities here for you to gain excellent experience.

Work experience weeks are a good way to get a short but intense feel for how a particular role works and are a helpful way to find out more about a job you think you’d like.

Work shadowing is an introduction to many areas of the media. Here you would be spending time with an experienced professional, learning about what they do and observing elements of their work.

Where to find opportunities

Some key platforms for finding work experience in all sectors include MyCareer, HigherIn, Bright Network and Targetjobs.

Advertised work experience opportunities in this sector can be quite limited, so building your network and making speculative approaches - such as contacting production companies and organisations directly - can be an effective way to gain experience. Key directories to help you find organisations to contact include Screen Global Production (formerly KFTV), Mandy Network, The Knowledge and 4RFV.

Learn about speculative applications

Tips for finding work experience in the film industry

Attend events such as screenings and launches where you can network and make contacts.
Be proactive and make direct contact with organisations or individuals who interest you and apply speculatively; send a targeted CV and a covering letter focused on why you are interested in them (find out more about this below).
Try to build up a blog or portfolio of work that you can present to potential employers; this will show that you are proactive and evidence practically what you can do.

Finding a Graduate Job

There are many varied roles within the film industry, including writing, production and post-production. Work is often freelance and offered at short notice, so flexibility is essential and new entrants may need part time work initially. Many people start in entry level roles like runners, which provide valuable experience and networking opportunities.

We recommend starting your search using our online jobs board, MyCareer. You can also find general online job boards and advice through our Graduate Jobs page.

Job Boards for Film

Grapevine Jobs

ScreenSkills

Talent Bases

My First Job in Film

British Film Institute

The Unit Agency

Create Britain

Production Base

Freelancing

Many professionals in the film industry work as self-employed freelancers, working on projects as opposed to full-time employment. Continuous learning and networking are important to finding and securing roles, as is a proactive attitude. You can gain initial experience through work placements, competitions, undertaking work experience and developing your own portfolio relevant to the area of work you wish to enter.

Look at the following resources to get started:

Production Base – the UK's leading digital publication and network for freelancers working in TV, film, theatre, radio and commercial production.
Southpoint Films – In addition to roles they may be actively recruiting for, company also offer freelance opportunities.
Student StartUp - Our Student Startup team can offer further support with freelancing if you need

Speculative applications

Speculative applications involve sending a CV and cover letter to an employer to ask if they have any vacancies, even if the company is not currently advertising for a role. They're a great way to access "hidden jobs" that go unadvertised.

Submitting a speculative application shows your interest in a specific company and your willingness to go above and beyond to develop your skills and understanding of the industry.

Learn how to send a speculative application

Are you looking for a role in Hampshire? Our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy can help!

If you're in the final year of your degree, you can register for support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy. They work with over 3,000 employers in the local area to place our students into fantastic graduate careers.

Learn more about the Graduate Recruitment Consultancy

Keeping up to date

Below are some key resources to help you research the film industry further and keep up to date with news in the sector, and potential opportunities available. The knowledge gained through your research may help you to target your applications and will help when preparing for interviews.

Screen Daily - film industry news, articles, festival coverage, production news, careers advice and jobs
ScreenSkills - careers advice and information for those working in or hoping to make it in the UK creative industries. Includes news, blogs, events and sector-specific careers information
My First Job in Film - website includes a useful industry news section as well as comprehensive career guides in the resources section for all areas of the industry, from Major Production/Post Production through to Distribution
Production Base - industry network for people working in film, television and commercial production. General careers advice about jobs in this sector
BAFTA Guru - aims to inspire those looking to work in the film or TV industries. Offers careers advice, talks and lectures from industry professionals
British Film Institute - the BFI exists to promote greater understanding and appreciation of film and moving image culture in the UK
Screen South - information about the film industry including jobs bursaries and events for the southern region
Creative Network South - working to develop the creative industries in Hampshire and IOW. Their prime focus is the attraction and retention of creative talent.