My list of three hard and soft skills I possess are as follows –
Hard Skills include –
- Production Assisting – a job I will argue falls under the umbrella industry ‘hospitality.’
- Script Supervision
- Direction / Storytelling
Soft Skills include –
- Adaptability
- Accountability
- Conflict Resolution
Before I ever landed my first gig as a production assistant for a feature film, I’d been working in restaurants since I was 16. I’m now 26, and have accumulated 10 years of working in the service industry in the kitchen, on the floor, and as an executive assistant. Constantly, I’m reminded how similar PA work is to work in the food service industry. Balancing multiple tasks under pressure in a busy environment is only half the gig, and the other half, is what I believe the defining difference between service and hospitality to be. Service is what is defined in your job description whether its getting coffee or holding a boom pole, but hospitality, is the extra spark of humanity that makes a dining, or work experience with another person memorable. Being a positive light and smiling face that does their job with enthusiasm and joy is contagious, and something invaluable in both a film set or restaurant environment. Especially when working long hours is often necessary. I thrive in teamwork environments where I can enforce a positive, willing-to-take-on-the-world attitude, and what I love the most about this skill, is just how contagious it can be.
Script supervision is where my attention to detail and OCD tendencies have their field day. I know how to stick to a method and stay consistent, and its lead to me gaining script supervision experience on feature film sets. Direction and storytelling are my main passion, and something I’ve dreamed of pursuing since I was in middle school. My first writing mentor was my middle school social studies and drama teacher, who taught his classes through teaching his students to write stories in a screenplay format. This was a defining moment in my childhood that led me to where I am now, and a big reason to why I’ve continues developing these skills ever since. Out of these three hard skills, Direction and Storytelling are the two I’d like to develop the most because it’s where my passion lies, and what I hope to make a career out of .
In my experience producing short films, adaptability and accountability are two critical assets that have served me well. Especially when it comes to having little to no budget and balancing the schedules of others who are doing this work for free, it’s been important to plan enough that you can abandon the plan when needed and still land on your feet. For example, if actors run late, there should be something the team is prepared to shoot or do in the meantime, so people are standing around as little as possible. I’ve also had to adapt to equipment / money limitations by building my own dolly out of plywood, cvc pipe and roller skate wheels. This is one of my favorite aspects about independent film.
Conflict resolution has been something I haven’t had very much difficulty with though my experience has been limited thus far. More often than not, I feel like casting for both the talent and crew is one of the first steps in conflict resolution. Working long hours in a team environment requires a certain temperament, and knowing how to vet for it is a skill I’m looking forward to continue growing in this program. Other than preemptive measures, I believe I can strongly empathize and listen to those that need it, and know how to kindly remind team members to re-focus on the larger tasks at hand.
All of these traits I’ve chosen to highlight are skills that I believe will take me far in my career, and are a continuous focus for self growth and improvement as I continue this program at SCCA.