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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What was the process like to land your first industry job?<\/strong> Share your career path with us \u2013 how did you get where you are now? What is the best advice you have received and\/or what advice would you give to current students? What is your favorite memory from your time at Chapman and how did that impact you?<\/strong> What classes or programs were found most useful for your career path?<\/strong> Any parting thoughts\/insights\/words?<\/strong> Alumni Spotlight: Taylor Killefer \u201819<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3793,"featured_media":19923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"","chapman_pin_hero_slider":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[385],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nI’m an Assistant to a Motion Picture Literary Agent at CAA, so I work with her clients who are directors, writers, and producers. After applying online, it involved a few interviews and providing references that had a connection to the company.\u00a0 The whole process took a few months, but then I started in the mailroom!\u00a0 After a few months, I applied and landed the desk I have currently.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>It involved a lot of chance, timing, and preparation but it all started with Professor Joe <\/span>Rosenberg’s class, Agents and Managers.\u00a0 Taking his class, I learned agencies are the heart of the <\/span>industry and can open up so many doors to career paths I’m interested in. Plus if you don’t <\/span>exactly know what you want to do, agencies expose you to so many niches in the industry and <\/span>can help you figure out where you fit into it. I was lucky because I already had a short-term job <\/span>lined up at a commercial\/documentary production company once I graduated. So I had a few <\/span>months to figure out where I wanted to be next and start the application process. An agency was <\/span>the perfect place for me for many reasons but a bonus was that so many of the jobs I was <\/span>interested in for the future required 1+ year at an agency and I would get that out of the way at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Make bold moves.\u00a0 No one in my family is in the industry in any way, so I knew I had to take <\/span>some chances to get access to the jobs I wanted.\u00a0 A lot of jobs have an unspoken rule of needing <\/span>to have someone from the industry who recommends you in order to be considered.\u00a0 Since I <\/span>didn’t have a lot of connections, I cold-emailed some producers and made sure to get to know as <\/span>many people as I could wherever I was working.\u00a0 Both of those tactics helped me get to CAA <\/span>and also landed me some production gigs for CBS and HBO shows along the way.\u00a0 I’ve learned <\/span>that so many opportunities opened up from a previous one – whether it was meeting someone on <\/span>set, to getting an introduction to a co-worker’s friend – it’s all connected and turns into <\/span>opportunities if you’re ready to take them.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>So many to choose from!\u00a0 One of my favorite memories was traveling to Australia to shoot a <\/span>documentary with my friends!\u00a0 I was fortunate enough to be chosen to participate in the Sikhlens <\/span>program, which sponsored a group of students to travel there with a professor.\u00a0 Besides getting to <\/span>see the sights and experiencing all that Australia has to offer, it was so much fun to be welcomed <\/span>into our documentary subjects’ lives.\u00a0 At one point, they threw the crew a barbecue and took us <\/span>on a wildlife tour where we got to hang out with Kangaroos and penguins!<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>All of Joe Rosenberg’s classes.\u00a0 Take them if you can! He is a wealth of knowledge in the <\/span>industry and more importantly, a gem of a person who cares for the life and career path of every <\/span>one of his students.\u00a0 Besides that, get on set as much as you can!\u00a0 Being on set and learning as <\/span>many positions as possible will make you better at whatever you end up pursuing and give you a <\/span>more full understanding of the film industry.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Take advantage of the great resources and professors Dodge has to offer.\u00a0 My relationships <\/span>with professors helped me land my first two industry jobs out of school and I’m so grateful for <\/span>them.\u00a0 Take some time to find a mentor, whether it’s a professor, someone you worked with at an <\/span>internship or on set, make time to cultivate a relationship with them and learn all you can.\u00a0 Even <\/span>if you think it’s a long shot, I’ve found that people in the industry like to give back and are more <\/span>willing to help out than I ever expected.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"