Case Studies

Carlton is the first among his family to work in the film industry! He works on all of the big feature films. He just finished Call of the Wild with Harrison Ford. He’s worked on Veep, American Horror Story, and Law and Order.

Shelby has worked for Spike TV, Warner Brothers, NBC, the Grammy Awards, the Oscars and countless others. In Shelby’s words, “Your program changed my life. I’ve actually moved on to writing and acting full time and out of the PA world.

“I just wanted you to know because you genuinely changed my life, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Back when I discovered your classes, I was so stuck, so depressed and now I’m living a literal dream.”

Omar explains how the Friends in Film methods got him into people’s phones for Netflix, MTV and Microsoft shoots.

Janet speaks with Kelsey as she tells of her experience early on in the film industry. From working in Colorado, to moving to Los Angeles and immediately working on set, Kelsey explains how she did this all without needing to complete school.

Vic was working PA jobs when he got the opportunity to pitch his show idea to big name wildlife networks. All of this paid off as we listen to him tell his story while on call in Italy!

Tara used to work in the hotel service industry, working nights. She joined the A-list Program only 9 months ago, and has already worked for TLC, Lifetime, and Magnolia Network (Discovery+). She recently finished working on an Indie feature film as a script supervisor and absolutely LOVED it! She is also an Associate Producer. Recently, Tara has crossed an important milestone of becoming a part of Friends In Film’s $40K Club, and is inspiring all within our Yammer Community, helping quick-launch other A-listers’ careers!

Just another day at the office, the FILM SET is the BEST office!

Production Supervisor Anton went from working at a small studio doing 9-5 to working for major networks and having the time off to spend with his family. YOU can also raise a family and work in film for all the major networks. Yes, you can have it all!

Richard has been casted in a couple of different movies and now almost has enough material to build a solid, professional film reel. He told us he recently saw two commercials he has worked on… on TV!

Richard has also been performing on a couple of stage productions with actual newspaper reviews. He told us in our Mastermind Group that it feels good to be busy and in-demand. He has many more projects lined up in March and April, and can’t wait to see his fellow A-listers on set!

We work together! A-lister Rooni works on TV shows with celebs every week and you will too.

Melanie is based in London and she’s on track to become a producer.

What happens when you put a bunch of A-listers together in one place? Listen to them share their stories and how Friends in Film has taken them to incredible places in their film careers.

Brian was a project manager but now he’s working for networks like Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime… Actors, pay attention to Brian scored his virtual realty acting gig. He was a PA, a Production Assistant, the lead actor DID NOT SHOW UP so they asked Brian if he’d take their place. No audition. Everyone already knew and trusted Brian because he was a Friends In Film PA!

Goran is off to France for the Cannes Film Festival! The film he was a DP on has won an award! He’s come a long way in just two years and we couldn’t be happier for him and everything he’s accomplishing! 😭

When Jake started the A-list Work Study program, he had been working in a call center. As I’m sure you can guess, this was not what he wanted to be doing with his life. He started implementing FIF methods in Maine, eventually building enough experience and connections to make the move to LA where he’s been working since then. He’s worked on thousands of shoots with people like Grimes, Taylor Swift, and Khalid. Now, he’s getting paid $1000/Day as a production designer and art director.

A-list mentor, model, and actor Ewa shares with us the advantages of working in a production office as a production runner. Watch as she tells us how she gets to work with professional producers all while getting paid to meet new people and discover new crafts in the film industry!

Pro-tip: Find like-minded people who are also in the program in your city is so important! Andy has a peer group in London who has been in the training for longer, and it has helped him tremendously.

I was on a rush call today to work on the movie Clifford the Big Red Dog! I had no idea what movie we were shooting until arriving on set! 🏃🏾‍♂️💨 It was a rush call and I arrived at 12:30pm.I assume that the producer from the Verizon commercial shoot I was on passed on my information! 😁 Today was my first time being on a Union set.

Brandon started A-list DURING COVID. Just a few months in and he’s on a shoot anyway! Here’s an update from him :)

Goran is continuously striving to be better: he is always learning, connecting, and appreciating the experiences, opportunities, and people around him.See him get experience on a 10-day Prada Shoot, followed by a Kenneth Cole job!

• Doctor Strange
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Feed The Beast (Clyde Phillips)
• Madam Secretary (Morgan Freeman, Barbara Hall)
• Street Justice: The Bronx
• The Blacklist (NBC)
• The Last O.G. (TBS)
• Project Runway

Below is a post from Adriana,who works in the Toronto market:

Tamara uses our relationship-building and resume-writing techniques to become indispensable inside the entertainment industry.

Jacob already has already quite a bit of experience in production, but still joined A-list Program to finesse his career strategy as a film professional. He’s excited to see what he can accomplish with the entire Friends In Film community having his back, and we’re excited to see what he’ll achieve soon.

Before FIF, A-list mentor Melissa was having a common experience with acting and screenwriting. She was working on her skills outside the industry, and didn’t know how to break into film in a meaningful way. FIF got get on set, and now she’s having a ton of success working on really high level projects like Minari.

The pandemic shutdown threw the wrench of a lifetime into Erika’s career plans, but ended up giving her time to reflect on what kind of career she really wanted to have. She joined A-list and has been getting some really crazy opportunities on set as an AD!

A photo of our A-list Mentor Alex working together with one of our newer A-listers Berthile. Always makes me so happy whenever I get pictures of our people get to work together as PEERS on set! I’ts just so heartwarming!

Matt is currently on-set in the Hollywood Hills working as a production design assistant, shooting a short that has plans to be adapted into an episodic. He says the project has “amazing views and an even better crew”. Matt has also landed an internal gig with a film festival working as a marketing assistant.

• Americas Got Talent, Season 12
• So You Think You Can Dance
• Bug Juice (Disney)
• Nailed It! (Nicole Byer)
• Popular Opinion (Facebook)
• Various Events for Despicable Me 3 (Willis Tower)
• Watson (AFI)
• Environmental Media Awards 2017
• Joker’s Wild, Season 2
• Masters of Illusion, Season 5
• According to Chrisley, Season 1
• Finding Fido, Season 2
• Elton John’s Oscar Viewing Party

Jocelyn reiterates that it’s all work ethic. It’s all relationships. That’s where the work is coming from. And to get the work, you must do the work— on set!

Uriel used A-list to get on shoots, started production designing, and won a professional award at a film festival.

Anna was a high school graduate who really didn’t want to go to college. She felt lost and depressed before finding Friends In Film. She is 18 years old and getting on paid on professional shoots! She can’t believe this is her life now!

The main difference is FriendsInFilm teaches you actually HOW to get on set! Where to go. How to make others want to hire you again and again. When Crystal first started PA-ing on set, people had thought she had already been doing this for months.

AJ credits his success in the industry to the A-List program and talks of the impact Friends In Film has had for him. Just ask AJ if all of this is legit. AJ recently wrapped Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus Tour!

So it’s a good thing I haven’t read the books yet to watch the show (my preference) or I would’ve had to hold back from being a star-googling fan! Pretty cool working on a large set with big stars attached, much higher level in quality work!

Jocelyn had gone to school for film and acting, and like what happens to so many of us, she got sucked into a regular job she had no interest in. Now she also has two kids to take care of. Yet, she always kept that 🔥 burning for what the film industry.

Curtis sending a Want-to-Work Email, getting an reply email, booking the interview, and then getting the job… all in the same day!

Allyson’s from Detroit and is an actor, choreographer, dance teacher, and mom of 3-year-old twins. She joined us two months ago.This is what she said!

With this program, I’m most excited about the relationships I’m forging with industry professionals that I NEVER would have made just by being an actor alone. I was expecting to PA for a local production company doing a local corporate shoot and wind up with the DP OF EMPIRE hiring me to PA. The producer of the shoot was also from Chicago, and I built a good relationship with her as well. She works on the marketing side of things for corporations, but she gave me her card and said that if there was ever anything she could do for me, she’d do it in a heartbeat.

Allyson is currently in the Detroit market and is creating a rapidly expanding network of high level connections through working in production. This has lead to acting opportunities including principle roles and representation, two of the most critical pieces to an acting career. Without auditioning she’s been given principle roles on TV shows and feature films, even working with Sean Whalen, an accomplished actor who’s been in major films such as Men In Black and Twister. All this acting work has given her a wealth of footage for her reel and shows her agency that she is an asset.

Kay started her journey in the industry on the other side of the world. Using FriendsInFilm methods, she got connected in the LA industry and has been getting production work on shows like America’s Got Talent and Battle Bots. At the same time, she’s been getting acting roles, building up her resume and reel.

The best way to improve any kind of skill is to work towards the same goal with other people, bouncing ideas off each other and tackling challenges with a group. In A-list, you’ll have other actors to practice with and help push each other forward to the next level. A-list Mentor Ewa has been working with our members to do just that!

Jesse was working in psychology when he tried to get into film for years, working on student films. He even worked as an assistant to a celebrity. But it just wasn’t working out the way he wanted it to. He was tired and not getting any closer inside. Now, he’s a PRODUCTION MANAGER. He HIRES A-list Program people! He’s just worked with Ben Affleck on Torrance. He also worked on the 2016 Ghostbusters.

Tandace has done all of the things right and is an extraordinary, high-performance worker with an incredible resume of experiences. She still chooses to join Friends In Film to learn how to pave a career path that will get her consistent work in the film industry, doing what she loves most— being on set, directing and producing.

Imagine having tons of professionals as your friends… How would life change? Bridget explains the “backdoor” into the film industry and how she became a Producer in only 2 years. We shot her update at one of our A-list parties!

Below is a BatCave entry from Kelsey:

Back in October, I worked on a show called The World’s Best and it’s premiering tonight immediately after the Super Bowl! I worked as a PA and this was probably one of the most physically demanding sets I’ve ever worked on, but it was also really rewarding. 🔥 I love the people I got the opportunity to work with, and I think it’s going to be a really good show!

It’s so cool to be able to watch what we helped create— I love the collaboration in this business, and what we get to do everyday!

Directing, DP, DIT, Writing, Production Design, Director’s Assistant, and Acting

• Jurassic World
• Fear the Walking Dead, Season 4
• Battle Angel Alita (James Cameron)
• The Long Road Home
• Aloha (Emma Stone)
• America’s Got Talent
• American Ninja Warrior Seasons 9 & 10
• Ultimate Beastmasters 3
• Ninja vs Ninja
• NFL Honors 2017
• Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (with Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick)
• Adventures in Appletown (with Dylan and Cole Sprouse)
• Blackout
• Deadliest Decade

An ex-cocktail waitress, Sparkman now works with all of the big players, like Rebel Wilson and Liam Hemsworth, and has been taken under the wing of one of the executive producers of It.

She’s also got a full-time gig on Blacklist!

Patrick and Erin had the chance to PA together on the Universal Pictures feature, First Man, with Ryan Gosling.

In this group, we always have each other’s back! Erin had passed a gig on to Patrick for the gymnastics tournaments with FloSports a while back, so he helped her out too with this one! We truly are Friends in Film!

The paychecks are coming in! 😊 I’ve been on shoots on my days off from work and today is the first day I’ve had off in more than a month!

Jessica really went full force at the industry. After moving to LA from Ohio, she quickly started learning from one of the biggest stunt trainers in the world.

Production, Camera, Art, and Writing.

• Equalizer 2
• Food Quest
• American Ninja Warrior
• Expedition Unknown
• Married at First Sight

I just came back from my very first paid PA gig and it was awesome!

It was a 3 day job. Wow I can’t describe the way that I feel! It was absolutely amazing, I was on a professional shoot and I believe the budget was $200,000.

We were shooting for a history channel commercial with a hi tech robot.

Crystal just wrapped her first feature film, Old Man and a Gun with Robert Redford and Casey Affleck!! (Crystal told me she was completely starstruck when she saw Casey’s girlfriend (who’s an actress on Supergirl).

Kira saw the Career on Fire advertisement in her newsfeed on Facebook and decided to jump in. She always wanted to work in film but didn’t know where to start once she got out of film school. They didn’t teach her how to get a job so the school training wasn’t of any help.

Since day 1 of starting with this program, she did exactly what I told her to do.

Kira recently got 2 checks today from different projects and she’s overwhelmed because she never thought she would be working in the film industry, making money within less than a year!

Acting, Art, and Production

• Grey’s Anatomy, Season 14
• The Librarians (TNT)
• Adidas “James Harden” Campaign
• Call to Cosplay
• PBS Kids Summer Camp
• The Artifact
• Credit Sesame
• Microsoft Surface

Clara recently wrapped up a feature she was PA-ing that got her £2000 for a month (she also got to act in it!). Then she got a small acting gig in her hometown Barcelona (that was €200/day).So she flew all the way to Spain and stayed there for a week with her family. She’s doing other castings for commercials (she used to have an agency there and they kept sending her cool casting commercials).

Rolan just finished a 30 day Miramax feature, on location in New York. He is working as a 2nd AD.Rolan used to be a pharmacist! No more florescent lights for him!

His most recent work:

• Dietland (AMC network)
• Villains
• The Hill

Jocelyn knows how I like to see the checks so she has attached a pic of most of them that she received in Feb & March!

It really starts to accumulate very soon. She made nearly $5K in 2 months. Not bad!

This pic was sent to us from Kennedy L, one of our Friends In Film A-listers who’s part of the our growing community in Australia! 🙌

Acting, Production Designer, Editing, and Writing

• NCIS New Orleans
• Bad Moms (Mila Kunis)
• Sleepy Hollow
• Moon and Me (Andrew Davenport)
• First Man (Ryan Gosling)
• Multiple shows for HGTV
• Music videos with Young Thug and Future
• Commercials for Under Armour, Delta, Home Depot, and Lowes

This is naturally what happens next when you start becoming high in-demand.

Last week, I just saw a post about needing a PA. I immediately jumped on that opportunity and I said that I just finished a shoot for a McDonalds commercial a couple of weeks ago.

He quickly replied “Hey Ashley, you did that shoot with Fon?” (Fon was the line producer for the shoot) and I said “Yes!” and he said “Oh cool! So you are available Monday then?” and I said “Yes I am.”

The next day he sent the call sheet and I am on the shoot for 5 days!!!

Its so cool to see how everyone is interconnected! Because I worked with someone he knew, I got the job! This program has transformed my life. When you work with great people, you become great!

Mike just finished the last module of the Program!He never has been on a real set in his life before A-list, and is now working his way into the art department side of things and is making more money than he ever has made in his life! 🙌

Before signing up to the A-list Program, Patrick did everything he felt he can do to get people to notice his work: he applied to postings, emailed his resume, and called people. But it was going too slow and he wasn’t landing enough jobs. When he moved to Atlanta to pursue film work, he had no contacts. After A-list, he immediately was able to land a gig at Paramount studios.

Lauren had some film experience: studied screenwriting in Vancouver, wrote and directed some short films, did some work on other short films. But she had NO experience in paid film work, and had virtually no professional film connections.

Amy works in Camera and Production!

• Blade Runner 2049
• The Exorcist (Fox)
• Alex Inc (ABC)

Here are the job offers Crystal received in the last 15 days. Not shown here are 2 job offers that just came in! Most of them, she had to turn down because she’s already booked. 😭Crystal was afraid to jump into the A-List Program at first because she never thought about working project to project. Not being guaranteed of future paychecks was scary!

Trent was stuck working in TV news. He wanted to get on bigger projects but wasn’t sure how to do it.After joining A-list, he’s able to move out to LA and is working as a camera operator on all kinds of projects. He’s come a long way!

Lera makes $4-5,000 in the film industry (pays for the program) and gets professional acting roles WITHOUT auditioning!

Below is a BatCave entry from Patrick:I worked on two back-to-back feature films for two straight months. 😃

Two HUGE dreams came true – I appeared on an episode of Stranger Things and The Walking Dead.