Digital Saint Music, Media and Broadcasting

29/11/2023

The Sheriff Film

29/11/2023

14/03/2023

Hi everyone,

I've been contacted by Ryan Stone, Creative Director from Lambda Films, a superb creative company based locally in Norwich. Ryan has put together an excellent guide regarding how creatives should approach first time contact when seeking opportunity and employment. We hope you find this useful regardless of your own personal disciplines. Ryan outlines how to increase your chances of securing work experience or a job, from a production company, creative agency or similar.

Student Guide for Work Experience/ Job Applications

Do Your Research

- Every company is unique and individual, and so a copy & paste approach just won’t work. However, take just a few minutes to identify a few key details, such as: The person responsible for hiring within the company. This allows you to personalise your email.
- The personality of the company. What kind of language do they use? Writing in a way that reflects their personality may create a stronger impression.
- What makes the company unique within their craft? Go specific - in video or film production it might be their clever use of audio, their cinematic approach to lighting, or the use of humour in their projects.

Once you know these details, then you can customise parts of your email so it feels personal to the company.

Email Subject Line

Personally, I would recommend writing something quirky, especially if you’re applying to a creative company. Be creative, and grab their attention!

Writing

Having done your research, your email should be personalised and addressed to the correct individual at the company.

It should be short & concise. The person reading is likely to be very busy, and may delete an email immediately if they see a wall of text.

Write with personality. While we may have been taught to write politely and formally, this approach doesn’t inspire someone working at a creative agency. Be more informal with your tone.

Personally, I recommend against trying to flatter the company and name-dropping some of their own projects. Instead, reference something specific within their craft that they take pride in. This is something you should identify during the research phase.

Finally, if you are copying and pasting parts of your email, double and triple check that you haven’t left in references to other companies you’ve emailed!

Passion

As a business owner I want the people I work with to be passionate about the craft, and this includes you. Passion doesn’t come from simply stating that you are passionate - as creative businesses, we want to see it.
We want to see that you create in your own time, outside of college. Include links to your own work, and briefly tell us what you enjoyed most about the experience.

Your CV

A lot of people include their CV, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, if you’re applying to a creative, visual company then words on a page won’t inspire. I recommend creating a visual portfolio instead, break out of the conventional CV format and produce a document with colour, embedded videos, images and links. I recommend the free version of Canva.

IF possible, use a free website builder and create an online portfolio too! Tools such as Wix or Squarespace are powerful online portfolio builders.

Closing

Unfortunately, it is just the nature of the video & film industry that many of your requests will go unanswered. However, do not be disheartened. A highly personalised email has a higher chance of a response, and even if a placement isn’t forthcoming, some kind souls may even give you some advice or feedback.

My closing advice is to personalise your enquiry as much as possible with genuine insight, demonstrate your passion and write with personality.

I wish you the best of luck

https://www.lambdafilms.co.uk/

03/02/2023

Howdy!

I hope you are all doing well?

We wanted to ask a small favour if we may. Currently we are deep in post-production on our latest industry and cross college production - The Sheriff. Written by Tom Critch this is a wonderful 'passing of the torch' story full of wacky characters with a meaningful undertone.

The intention is to complete by June and submit on the worldwide short film circuit. Please could you give us a like/follow/share. This will help towards developing our EPK and hopefully give many students across several years a springboard into their careers.

Many thanks in advance 😊

14/12/2022

Pyrotechnics rigged for tonight’s gig

20/10/2022

https://www.facebook.com/thesherifffilmuk

Comedy-drama about an obsessive security guard who is forced to take on a young apprentice.