Film Jobs to Get Into Hollywood

What does an art director do? A location scout do? A location manger do?

Would any three of these jobs interest you as a career in film?

Read on and let me know your thoughts on being an art director, location scout or location manager. All three jobs place you right in the film industry – right on the set working with the producer and director.

So, let’s find out what they do and take it from there. Shall we?

Art directors design the physical environment of the film set in order to create the mood the script dictates to the director, who interprets the script to determine the environment. Art directors supervise many different people, such as illustrators, scenic designers, model makers, carpenters, painters, and electricians, laborers, set decorators, costume designers, animal makers, and makeup and hairstyling artists.

All these positions can provide an entry to the motion picture industry in major cities or at a film location shooting. From these positions, a person can move up to an art director or even a director.

Many start in these jobs in live theater productions and move to film and television where they then move back and forth between the stage, film, and television. For these people, happiness is working in the entertainment field and making a living at what they like to do best – create an environment that helps tell a story and make it real for the audience.

Location scouts or location managers work with the art director and director to find the ideal location for a particular shot in a scene. Location scouts are hired early in the preproduction phase of the movie.

Nathan, who is a location scout all over the world but calls the Bay area in Northern California his home, feels location scouting is a true art form, "You are trying to interpret the script while finding the right location that can make all the difference in the movie."

Not to mention he has to keep the director’s job easy in making the environment suitable for the story. I have heard a-many-a story of how a location scout found the house for the perfect location to shoot the scene – it really makes all the difference in the world to be a sharp location scout.

While it's true that the art director and director get all the credit, it all starts with the ingenuity of the location scout. The location scout will find the location for the director and then get his/her approval. Usually, the same person will switch hats and become the location manager.

The location manager handles all the logistics of using the location, such as permits and approval from local governments. Whenever problems arise on location, it's the location manager's responsibility to handle them. Such things that could arise are noise control or crowd control. Even electricity goes out; the location manager quickly remedies the problem, so filming can continue – because time is money in film production.

Being a location manager can be a bit tense at times, but Nathan says the job offers a lot of independence – “you're pretty much your own boss.”