How To Get a Job In The Event Cinema Industry
New year, new you – with a new job perhaps? The event cinema industry is thriving, with 2019 box office figures hitting record numbers – and although as a whole we’re still quite small, you may just get lucky and see some opportunities pop up throughout the year. But how do you get a foot in the door when they do?
We thought we’d give you a few tips on how to land a job in this fabulous, growing industry of ours.
1. Understand what makes us different
We get a lot of applicants who ‘absolutely love film’ and list that as their main reason for wanting to work for us. That’s great, we love film too – but what we do is slightly different. If you’re into music, theatre, opera, ballet, or even stand up comedy, it’s much closer to what we specialise in – and it’s always great to hear when a candidate has actually attended one of our events, so if you’re a big Take That fan for example, let it shine!
2. Gain some relevant experience
This will always give you bonus points – and seeing as the content we deal with is so diverse, it’s easy to find something that will be relevant. Perhaps like me, you used to work in a cinema. Or you volunteered at a film or music festival. Or worked with theatres, comedy clubs, museums, music venues, or had some experience dealing with international partners. Anything relevant, whether paid or voluntary, is important – so don’t forget to highlight it in your application.
3. Do include a cover letter – and make it personal
Generally speaking, event cinema companies are not massive – we don’t use expensive recruitment companies and fancy software that sorts through the applications for us, looking for specific keywords. We go through them ourselves, and oftentimes it’s not exactly clear from a person’s CV why they would want to work for us. I’m sure your skills are transferrable, and you have a great passion for what we do – but without a cover letter, how can we know?
4. Know our competition – and our partners – and don’t mix the two!
The good news is, there aren’t too many event cinema companies - so scoping out the competition should be easy, whether you’re applying for CinemaLive or anyone else. But it’s also important you know who our partners are on the exhibition side – we work with major multiplexes and independent venues around the world, and it’s most likely that you’ll be dealing with them on a daily basis.
5. Attend an event cinema screening, if you haven’t already
It’ll be so much easier for you to understand what we do, if you see it in action. And while events are not screening every day like films, there’s always something on the calendar just around the corner. Check out your local cinema’s website – they most likely have a separate page for event cinema – and see for yourself what it’s all about!
Hope these tips help you land that job – keep an eye out for opportunities, and good luck!
By Kat