Big questions 2011: Behind the screen

There are many pathways into a career in the screen industries. Perhaps it’s something you’ve always dreamed of, or you’ve been inspired by your favourite film or series to give it a go. We spoke to behind-the-scenes creatives from the worlds of film, games and TV to find out what inspired them to get into the screen industry and their advice for making a start in your career…

For director Martin Scorsese, getting into the film industry was “all about the inspiration.” He made his first film “by the third year of Washington State College”, but it was inspiration rather than technique that he gained through studying. “[Professors] can’t tell you how to make the movie, you have to have it in you, you have to have inspiration and passion. The thing that is important is the inspiration from the professor.”

He was also inspired by films he watched as a child, “the Italian neorealist films… they cast a shadow over me.” He also cities “musicals, westerns, noirs – though at the time they weren’t called noirs, they were just movies – and all of British cinema” as key sources of inspiration. “The overriding British cinema was a major influence,” he says.

So, how does Scorsese suggest budding directors get started? He says be true to yourself instead of following trends: “don’t pay attention to the industry, do your own thing.” He also encourages the next generation of filmmakers to embrace new technology and try new approaches to film: “you younger ones, make a new art. Take what’s available and push it… You can do anything.”

Video game designer and BAFTA fellow Peter Molyneux shares he entered the games industry “purely by mistake.” While programming business software, he had “this crazy idea which was called Populous”. It was a game that was rejected by many companies before being picked up by Electronic Arts and selling millions of copies.

Molyneux describes three pathways he recommends for entering the industry: “go down the academic route, get great qualifications”, “apply for work experience” or “do a game yourself.” Whichever pathway you choose, he says it’s important to “show people that you’re enthusiastic and that you’re passionate.” He also encourages budding game designers to “come up with an original idea. Don’t try and do someone else’s idea… come up with something that would entertain you.”

Influenced to get into the television industry by drama series Days of Hope, the writer, director and producer Peter Kominsky made his way into broadcasting through the BBC “on a thing called the general trainee scheme.” It offered an opportunity to spend two years trialling “different attachments in different parts of the BBC. Different parts of the country, radio and television.”

Kominsky recommends thinking about how you want to contribute to the film and television industries before getting started. He says: “there’s no point of getting into this industry just to hold down the place or pay the rent or have a job. The point is, what do you want to do with it? What do you want to say, what are you trying to say through this incredible medium that is film and television?”

Director George Miller’s career in film began during his time at university, though for him it was unexpected. “When I was at university I never dreamed I’d be making films, then I won a short film competition just as I was finishing my medical studies… I ended up going to a film workshop and then I kind of got hooked.”

His top piece of advice to young directors is to practice as much as possible. “Make films, simply get your iPhone…the more you make them, the more you’re going to learn. It takes a long time to get some sense of mastery of the process so write little films and make them bigger, bigger, bigger. Eventually if you really enjoy it you’ll get there.”

For editor Matthew Newman, it was the experience of watching the film Goodfellas that led to his career path. “The reason I wanted to get into the film business was Goodfellas. I saw that when I was 15 and watched it three times on video straight after another,” he says.

Making his way into the film industry through perseverance, Newman says: “I worked on Gangs of New York for Michael Ballhaus who was the cameraman, which has nothing to do with editing. But, that was my first experience being on a film set and seeing how people make a movie. The way I got that job was pestering one man who worked on the movie for about seven months.”

Sharing his advice for getting started a as a film editor, Newman encourages getting out of your comfort zone: “You need to be fearless because you’ll only learn how to do good work by doing it. And you don’t know how to do it until you do it. Meet smart people and stick with them because if you surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, you will raise your game.”