Q&A Recap: How To Get Started in the Industry
Elliott Gilbert: It seems like all the tools are getting more accessible. Photo by Agustin Gonzalez.
The Lone Star Film Festival’s Q&A panel, How to Get Started in the Industry, brought together a talented lineup of industry professionals and UTA alumni. Held at the Filmmakers Lounge in Fort Worth’s Crescent Hotel, panelists Rijaa Nadeem, Adam Dietrich, Elliott Gilbert, and Emma Trevino-Steinhoff — all accomplished producers/directors — shared their insights on breaking into the world of film production. Here’s a recap of their advice for aspiring filmmakers.
Emma: I have a lot of family who are storytellers. Creativity was always something I was around. The biggest part for me is making an impact and connecting humans to humans through stories.
Elliott: I started out with sports. My parents loved television. I never thought I’d make movies. I met Adam when I was in seventh grade. I was in the theater. In 2009, I decided to go into film. We got a chance to do an acting news show in high school. That was my first dive into television stuff.
Adam: We grew up together. We moved to Texas in fourth grade. I was so shy as a kid. I couldn’t really talk to people. I loved connecting with people. I taught myself how to read from the TV guide because I was so desperate to know when my shows, which were my friends, were going to come on.
Adam Dietrich: I taught myself how to read from the TV guide.
Rijaa: What are your reasons for not joining a union?
Emma: Well, we’re in Texas. This is a right-to-work state. There are limitations they have on how many non-union projects you can do. The point of the union is to stick together. That was a big one for me. I didn’t need health insurance at the time.
Elliott: I’ve done other union things. The hours are long. It’s hard when you have a family unit. I want to be there. For me, I was more into, ‘How do we do our own thing?’ If I were younger, it would be fun.
Adam: The unions have a roll call they go down. What that does is job security. I believe it protects the workers. If you pass on a job, you’ve lost that place. In Texas, you’ll do a TV show. All the shows right now with 101, which are incredible, might have you work 16-hour days for two months straight. There are other people where that isn’t a problem.
Rijaa: How did you get started in the film industry?
Emma: I ended up going to a film festival. There was some stuff wrong with the screening. I asked the director what was wrong with the sound because it sounded awful. It was made for surround sound and the theater only had a left-right stereo. He was intrigued and stayed in touch. I got brought on his TV show. I was an unpaid intern until three days in when they promoted me. That was my first project. Working and networking are everything.
Elliott: We started in the theater. After college, I went and traveled. Came back. From there I started a family. I kept acting but in a community theater. I was juggling working and acting. Adam mentioned that UTA had a film program. I was in class. I didn’t know much about editing or film concepts. The film history classes were great. If you meet people, connect with them and stay connected. That’s how I got a lot of my jobs.
Adam: I started offering to cast student projects at UTA. Then I’d ask where they are shooting. After that, the financial crisis happened. That put all of the nonprofit arts into a tailspin. We were producing the first stage adaptation of Bob Marley’s life. We were already tight, financially. Bill Paxton and Tom Huckabee walked in representing the Lone Star Film Society. We were struggling. A woman who raised money for us told us to call that guy who came in to see if they could get us work. I called Tom and asked to take him to lunch. He asked if I wanted to art direct his next money. ‘You’ll put all the visuals together,’ he said. Within three months, we had tried to push as many of our team into the film world through Tom’s movie. It was meeting people and sharing that passion.
Rijaa: What I’m hearing is that you put yourselves out there. That’s the key.
Adam: I recommend knowing what you are passionate about. Do you like muppet movies? Do you like television shows? Do you like non-scripted? Get as specific as you can and then find people who make that. Otherwise, you will waste years making a buck and paying bills. It goes quickly. Today, know what you want to do and track down the people who do it.
Rijaa: It is so important to hear about the difficult moments. It can be a difficult industry. The film industry has changed so much. How has the industry evolved?
Elliott: It seems like all the tools are getting more accessible. The stuff you had back then you can do on a cell phone, and it looks pretty dang good. It’s an unknown area for me. We know AI is coming. I don’t know where it’s going to be. It’s like a cellphone. I didn’t have one in the 1990s. Now I have a cell phone.
Emma: I think it is going to speed things up. I’m using this AI breakdown software. It will do a stripboard for you. It will put your locations in. It’s amazing what it is doing. It’ll generate descriptions for the scene. It does a really good job. This has been my tester for it. Getting ahead of that is going to speed things up and change how long it takes to do a production. I think it is going to change animation.