Welcome to The Friends In Film Blog

Before Friends in Film, I was working an 8a-7p job in Psychology. Long hours. Rewarding work, but I always knew that I was not being fulfilled and that Psychology wasn’t the route for me. Film/TV is always where I wanted to be.

I had volunteered on a few student films, but never was able to get beyond that. I let my dream go, believing it was impossible to get into the industry. I believed that I wouldn’t be liked in the industry, and that I wouldn’t have a hard enough heart for it. All that to say, I did not have any confidence in myself or my abilities to follow my life-long dream of working in film (and when I say life-long, I mean since I was a kid I wanted to be a director/actor… I even made my own short films starting in 6th grade)!

Several!!! Here’s a list of agencies you can sign up with through popbookings. PopBookings is kind of new but tons of agencies have joined them to make bookings easier and all in one place.

* PopBookings Alert!! BEEP BEEP!

The new story of my life since Friends in Film is a clearer understanding of what I am working toward, and using specific strategies to get there, instead of having vague dreams and no idea of how to get to them.

I considered a lot of different careers as a kid, from psychiatrist to lawyer, pilot to doctor, and even a physicist. I was watching a movie one day and realized I could be ALL of those things and more if I was an actor! So I started pursuing an acting career, going to college for a degree in theatre (and training in a lot of tech as well as digging into the craft of acting).

You land an audition! The casting director asks you to send in a self-tape audition. How do you do that?

FIF mentor Ashley has some incredible tips and tricks for killing any self-tape audition!

FIF mentor Kelsey started out going to film school and working at the Apple store. Going to film school didn’t help her get any jobs in the industry. Since doing the program, she’s been kicking butt in Denver and is about to move to Los Angeles. Read about her successes below! : – )

It’s been a while since my last post — I’ve been busy wrapping out on a show and moving out of my apartment of three years. I’m definitely heading towards some exciting things in the near future!

Before I joined Friends in Film, I was a recent college grad with a writing degree and a vague idea of wanting to do film. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, I just figured I’d give it my best. After all, I was in Atlanta, and everyone was telling me “Oh Atlanta is the place to BE if you want to do film!” I told myself I’d give it a year and if I still couldn’t break in I would do grad school for film and try to make connections through that. I had worked on several indie projects for my friends during college, so I figured I knew my way around a set.

One day I was volunteering on one of those indie sets and my friend on set was staying with me. The day after set she said “Oh I’ll come to lunch in a minute, I just have a conference call to be on.” When I asked, she explained she was doing this program called “Friends in Film” and all the things it was teaching her and doing for her career. I decided to take the free week trial course and at the end of that week I was hooked. I had to know all the secrets Janet could teach me. Even my mother got on board with Janet’s teachings.

Hello, my name is Stephen H. I am a rising actor in Utah. I started following Janet about a year or so ago. I have seen so many E-mails depicting pictures of Janet on so many different awesome movie sets all around the globe. I’m thinking to myself. Now this is a woman who knows how to network.

Janet is always advocating that it’s all about who you know. I couldn’t agree more. Problem is… I’m a Family man. Not that this is a problem, it’s the most important thing in my life. However, the responsibilities of being a husband and father living in the country far away from any major set make it difficult for face to face networking. Because of this I have found that social media is the perfect avenue for me to build a community in the industry I love.

Speaking roles come easily when you’re on set, because of your mental state.

See how Dani got a speaking role in a feature film, and now has a relationship with a busy Director!

Read this awesome post by FIF member Lizzy about the importance of body language and eye contact.

Hey FIFers! [Anyone use that term? It just came to me :} ]

Emily started her day with no work. Nothing on the horizon. AHHH, the freelance life! :-)

But by the end of the day, she is booked through the entire month on 3 different shoots!