As some of you know, sometime in July I wrote a post that declared I had finally snagged a job and it was at a film sales company in Toronto. I had had the job referred to me by K, a Toronto movie veteran and the man who I've been reading scripts for for over 2 years. It seemed like a dream opportunity. I got the call to interview some weeks after sending my resume. The man in charge (X hereon in) wanted to meet me the next day at a Starbucks on his side of town (Etobicko for the Toronto readers). The location seemed strange but I didn't think of it. After having spent almost 4 months of interspersed first interviews and rejection letters I was just happy that anyone wanted to talk to me. And it was a movie job!
I arrived at the Starbucks about 40 minutes early, 20 of which I spent collecting myself in my car in the parking lot, trying not to die with the air conditioning off. I'm like that. I'm paranoid about arriving to anything late and having to travel on the Don Valley Parkway doesn't serve that paranoia well. I know I can get downtown from my house in the afternoon in 20 minutes, I've done it many times. However this has never stopped me from departing 1/5 to 2 hours before the designated interview time. X obviously wasn't there yet so after leaving my car I took a seat inside by the door, making awkward eye contact with everyone who came through as if to silently ask if they were the one here to see me. At exactly 1:02 pm, 2 minutes after out scheduled meeting time, X pulled up in a beat up old standard BMW, well passed it's prime, bathed in a camouflage of rust. To me this guy was an insider. He could have come in rags and been pushing a shopping cart for all I cared. I was the dumbstruck kid staring into the window of the toy store, waiting for the invitation to come in and play. This guy had the golden ticket.
X started the interview by introducing himself and immediately put me on the spot. Why should you get the job was one of his first questions. Coming fresh off a year of studying HR I can tell you now that this is not good interviewing technique and will, 9 times out of 10, yield skewed results. I'm not making excuses for myself, just saying. So I answered the question, not well as I was nervous and thrown but an answer regardless. I tried to keep my composure.
The interview lasted almost an hour and a half and was comprised of very little actual interviewing. I answered questions about myself and my history and progression to the current moment but X mostly explained the company, which was 2 years old and came after he had decided to give up producing. I'd give you a list of credits but I don't know which highlights would impress more: working with Lorenzo Lamas or Kelly Brook's bare boobs.
X also droned on about his own personal philosophy, his history in the film business, his move to Toronto from Montreal, his own personal life lessons, etc. He would later constantly tell me that he was an obsessive reader who always tried to have at least one self-help book going at a time and. Coincidentally, he spoke exactly like a man who always had at least one self-help book going at a time.
We parted company. I was ecstatic to be one step closer to the movie business. The pay was garbage ($400 a week, no commission), unpredictable hours (9 till whenever the work is done), and absolutely no job security. Ever really. That's entertainment. I ate it up.
He told me that he would create a short list of candidates by Friday (this was Tuesday or Wednesday) and would call them back for a second round. I got a call Friday to set up another Starbucks meeting the next day. Once again I put on my shirt and tie and headed, way too early, for Starbucks where there wasn't really any interview, just him talking, explaining the business, going through the whole song and dance again and relying anecdotes from projects passed in which he saved the movie at the last minute. This is one characteristic of everyone who has ever worked on a film set, especially producers. No matter who they were or what they did, they were always the one who came up with the idea that saved the movie at the last minute and if A tells you that once upon a time he worked with B, B will probably turn around and tell that that once upon a time A worked for him. Just smile and nod.
It seemed like a waste of time but one of the first things movie people will tell you is not to waste anyone's time and then will turn around and waste the time of just about anyone within earshot. He was on a schedule this time though, having a speaking engagement at the Mississauga International Film Festival. It didn't prevent the meeting from going on for a whole hour but I didn't care; I wanted it even more now and I was all the closer to getting it.
I was told that X would have a decision made by either Sunday or Monday. I waited all Sunday with baited breath, telling myself I would get it, but no call. I waited all Monday with baited breath, telling myself I would get it, and at 5:00 pm the phone rang. I didn't get it. I was crushed. My dream job had just slipped away and I had another rejection notch on my belt. It had come down to me and another girl and he went with the girl because he had this notion that most film companies have a female presence. Maybe it's a fair assessment. Essentially he saw too much of himself in me and needed someone to be more personable and social on the phone with potential buyers. He assured me that he saw the potential in me and that I would have a career in film if I wanted one and would help me anyway he could and even suggested that maybe I should consider getting into acquisitions. The conversation lasted a minimum of half an hour. He bid me adieu and told me that he would call me if anything happened. I prayed it wouldn't work out with the evil harpy woman.
He had been extra picky with his selection because he had essentially run the entire company by himself for a year and now he was looking for someone who would come in, learn the trade and stick it out for the long run. The idea being that after a year, you would have learned the ropes and would be well on your way to, if not growing within the company, then moving on to a better one. If nothing else I wanted the job because I imagined it as the first step in my new career away from HR and into the picture business. Just like they taught us in school, I imaged myself going in, gung-ho, affecting change, selling every film to anyone I talked to, going to festivals, crashing parties, building an internal network; you know, making a name for myself and becoming a big deal in the movie business. I think we all have those dreams when starting a new job until slowly realizing, not in all, but most cases, that that is just what they are: dreams. And now mine were taken away as fast as they had been dangled in front of my face like a carrot. I still had scripts and was still doing some volunteer Production Assistant work for K from home, but as it goes: one step forward two steps back.
That was Monday. Thursday morning, the phone rang...
To Be Continued....
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