Pros
- Get to know tonnes of experienced professionals - Feel part of the company - Learn masses about the post process Working at Films is an amazing experience, one that most runners will cherish forever. It is the start of careers for many, and occasionally results in moving up internally when it works for the company. All the people there from the post producers to the tech team to the graders and mixers are extremely friendly, enjoy their jobs and contribute to giving the company a warm family-like atmosphere. It's a great place to learn about the whole post process and get a feel for the industry, and most people are willing to help you get started in any way they can. The relationship between the runners is excellent and is a very fun working environment. For committed people who enjoy different hours every week, it's such a great job. I was sad to leave.
Cons
- Temporary contract + very casual/inconsistent progression - Glimpses of hierarchical bias The only negatives come when you delve deeper into the setup of the company and internal promotions. Runners are not expected to stay on, and the process of offering them further work appears to be fairly sporadic. This is based on the needs of the company, and originates from the idea to give more people the opportunity to be runners, and send them out into the industry. However it seems to double up as a way to vet runners that are promoted into the system. The ones that will put up with whatever is thrown at them, with minimal pay and the notion of being the lucky ones that have the privilege of working in such a company - the ones that don't strive to push their careers and are just happy to do the jobs assigned to them for however long, because that suits the structure. Runners that got caught up in the supportive atmosphere and asked for more opportunities to grow and learn were met with hostility, accusations of entitlement and ignorance put down to being young and rude, and quietly taken into a meeting to be threatened with 'advice' and put in their place. There is little to no movement within the company other than the entry level jobs coming and going, and it seems to have been that way for the last couple of decades. This is not Films' fault, but it's the reality that as a runner, if you are driven to progress quickly, this is a place to learn and move on to somewhere faster-paced. For those that just love work, whatever it is, you'll thrive here.