The first thing to do is figure out what it is you PRECISELY want to do in the film industry. Wanting to be a “filmmaker” or “work in the movie business” isn’t enough. Specifically, what job do you want to do? To help figure that out, I suggest reading What I Really Want to Do: On Set in Hollywood which describes all of the jobs on a professional movie set, what it takes to get there, and what life will be like if you make it to that level. Read about the jobs you THINK you want and then decide which direction to take your life.

Internships are very good, particularly to meet industry contacts, but the wrong internship could take you in the wrong direction. Take your time to figure out what it is you truly want to do with your life then find the opportunities that will help you get there.

Also realize that the film industry is struggling right now just like most other industries so opportunities are more limited. The key is to focus on what you want, understand the industry both creatively and in the business sense, then work passionately toward your goal. People in the business are just that… people. So once you figure out what you want to do, do some investigation into who you’d like to “shadow” then contact them. If they’re on a job and are willing, they’ll likely be happy to help you out. Not everyone will, so don’t let those who say “No” discourage you. They may not be working or they might be in a bad mood that day. Just move on to others until you find a “Yes!”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/business/media/10movie.html

By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: July 9, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Sony Pictures Entertainment has quietly moved to salvage its troubled movie project “Moneyball” by hiring the prominent screenwriter Aaron Sorkin for a quick rewrite, while looking to add Scott Rudin, known for his turns on the Oscar circuit, to the film’s roster of producers.

Last month, Sony executives canceled the baseball picture — which was set to star Brad Pitt, who remains involved — just days before production, citing dissatisfaction with a rewrite from its director, Steven Soderbergh.

Mr. Soderbergh and his associates were allowed to offer the film to other studios. But Paramount and Warner turned it down, and Mr. Soderbergh left the project.

The film’s sudden collapse raised questions about Hollywood’s ability to tackle complex fare in the face of weak industry economics. Based on a nonfiction book by Michael Lewis, “Moneyball” tells the story of the Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane and his statistical approach to baseball.

Representatives for Sony, Mr. Sorkin and Mr. Rudin all declined to comment on the new configuration. But several people who were briefed on the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relationships said Mr. Sorkin was revising a version of the script that had been written by Steven Zaillian, who had worked with Mr. Soderbergh.

Studio executives had suddenly declared Mr. Soderbergh’s draft too arty and documentary in style, though he had worked with them in developing his version, and had included changes requested by Major League Baseball, which examines scripts for authenticity before granting permission to use its trademarks.

It was unclear whether Mr. Rudin, who was a producer of “No Country for Old Men,” which won the best-picture Oscar in 2008, would be credited as a producer or executive producer of “Moneyball.” He joins Michael De Luca and Rachael Horovitz, who remain producers of the movie.

Mr. Sorkin, perhaps best known as a writer and producer of “The West Wing,” has been working with both Mr. Rudin and Mr. De Luca on “The Social Network” — a comic drama that has been loosely tagged “The Facebook Movie.” If Mr. Sorkin finishes his work on “Moneyball” quickly, Sony executives are hoping to recruit a new director and shoot the film, with Mr. Pitt still in the lead, in the fall of this year, people briefed on the project said.

The industry has some of the most talented personalities. But, due to so many barriers, these talents are not explored in the industry.

World known personalities like Priyadarshan, Santhosh Sivan, Rajeen Anjal, M. Night Shyamalan, Adoor Gopalakrishan etc are very few examples for the great film makes whose origin from the small state Kerala.

Oscard award winners Resoul Pookutty and A.R Rahman also the proud of Kerala.

I will keep on trying to get into the industry, coz.. its my passion, its my dream. I dedicate my life for films

OOPS! Media Get Punk’d By BWR & Ogilvy
I’ve discovered that some top entertainment journalists were fooled by a press release they ran almost verbatim from the usually reliable showbiz PR firms of B/W/R and Ogilvy. Not just Variety (twice) and The Hollywood Reporter but also The New York Times and Los Angeles Times and Business Week and Forbes and Reuters and Bloomberg and as far afield as the Malaysian Insider. (Not me.) Shame on B/W/R and Ogilvy for not checking out their facts. Here’s what happened:

The press release was timed to arrive in reporters’ emails (including mine) on Sunday, usually a slow day news-wise. The headline, “DF Indie Studios launches a producer-centric venture with guaranteed U.S. theatrical distribution for films budgeted up to $10 million” begged for journalists to ask themselves, What the heck does that mean? The resulting news articles reported how two women were launching a new indie company and repeated the release’s claims that “DFIS films will be produced by a team of established producers with successful box office track records including: This is that Productions - Ted Hope and Anne Carey (Adventureland, In the Bedroom, 21 Grams, The Ice Storm, The Savages); Scott Free - Ridley and Tony Scott’s shingle (Gladiator, The Taking of Pelham 123, Thelma & Louise, American Gangster); Jennifer Fox (Michael Clayton, Good Night and Good Luck, Duplicity, Syriana); and RedBone Films whose co-founder, Samara Koffler, ran Harrison Ford’s production company for eight years.” Oh really?

I’ve learned that the two women called up and scheduled a meeting with Ridley and Tony Scott and then came in and talked about financing deals. That was the extent of it. “These people take meetings all the time,” a source close to the Scotts tells me. “But there’s no deal. Absolutely no deal.” Same thing happened with Jennifer Fox, who was president of Steven Soderbergh’s and George Clooney’s production company Section Eight from 2001 to 2007. “Jennifer met with [them] a couple of times. But there is no deal in place,” an insider informed me. I haven’t been able to reach Koffler. On the other hand, producer Ted Hope made himself available to journalists and talked up the two women, whom he said he met 2 years ago and for whom he has “earmarked a handful of projects on a non-exclusive basis but has not yet received any funding for”, wrote blogger Anne Thompson.

Film financing circles expressed incredulity this story came out of nowhere to everywhere. I received from one bankroller an email that said in part: “What am I missing? Here’s a company that hasn’t raised its money, has no greenlit films, can’t explain its domestic distribution strategy, and gets a feature piece in The New York Times. I honestly don’t get it. It reads like a trade article, not a Times article. Who is the publicist? He/She did a great job selling bullshit.”

Now the showbiz PR industry might consider that a compliment. But credibility is hard to win and easy to lose. I bet the primary reason most of the reporters picked up the press release was because it came from the power showbiz flackeries of B/W/R (listed were publicists Chris Libby and Gina Lang) and Ogilvy (Siobhan Aalders).

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