#bbgcoaching

AD Bootcamp kicked off on 3rd May with a live start meeting and first lecture by the program leader Iiris.

Excitement was in the air as the group met for the first time and got the first glimpse of what the coming months would be like. We were quite overwhelmed our selves too - we had planned the program for 10 participants but after interviewing dozens of applicants, decided to take in as many as 19 potential future AD’s. And we’re glad we did!

The reason why we created AD Bootcamp was the lack of professional Assistant Directors in Finland (and in Scandinavia). The Bootcamp wouldn’t magically make everyone professional, but would futher everyone’s knowledge and skills of the department and make it easier for them to go towards professional AD positions. And now the program being finished, we’ve already been able to offer some level of AD jobs for almost every Bootcamp participant. We think this alone tells enough of how desperately this kind of program was needed. Can’t wait to see what kind of results we’ll see in the long run!

Lue lisää ohjelmasta sivultamme tämän linkin takaa.

I’ve been in this industry for just over a year now and wouldn’t change a day. For first six months I was participating the first edition of BBG Junior Program and since then I’ve been working on different productions. I started in Catering because I already had a lot of knowledge from that since my family used to run a catering business. After a while doing it I felt like it was not suited for me that well and as I got more and more interested in working in the production team. In the summer of 2019 I started my first production internship in a TV series called “Room 301″. From that production I gathered a lot of new knowledge and got to use my skills from the Junior Program.

I have a Vocational qualification in Business and Administration and I’ve been working for several years in different retail stores. I wanted to change the industry because I felt that I didn’t belong there anymore. I  was in Community College for one year studying Theatre and Make Up. I got interested in the film and TV industry during that time. In the winter of 2018 I went to study to become a media-assistant. Soon after that I saw a post advertising the BBG Junior Program on Facebook and that’s how I really got in to the indusrty. BBG Junior Program has been very helpful for me because I wouldn’t have this much knowledge about the work on this field from my school.

I enjoy working in the production team, especially because working days are never the same. On the productions I’ve done so far I’ve got to help where I’ve been needed.  I’ve truly kept myself busy. It has brought a lot of new responsibilities but luckily there are always co-workers to turn for help.

Despite the situation this year I hope there will be lots of new challenges where I can improve myself and gather more understanding of working in production department. I can’t wait to meet even more new amazing people in this industry!

Charlotta “Lotta” Jalava Production Assistant at Blockbusters Gang Former BBG Junior Program Participant

This photo is taken from our shooting location while working on “Room 301″ TV series.  Tämä kuva on otettu kuvauslokaatiostamme työskennellessäni “Huone 301″- TV-sarjassa. 

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Olen ollut nyt hivenen yli vuoden alalla ja päivääkään en vaihtaisi. Ensimmäinen puoli vuotta meni Junior-ohjelman parissa ja siitä sitten työelämään. Aluksi aloitin Cateringin puolelta ja niitä töitä kertyi jonkun verran. Sieltä oli helppo aloittaa, koska perheessäni on pitopalvelutaustaa. Jonkun ajan kuluttua homma ei tuntunut enää omalta ja tahto tuotannon puolelle kasvoi. Kesällä 2019 aloitin Huone 301- tuotannossa tuotantoharjoittelijana. Siellä sain paljon uutta oppia ja pääsin hyödyntämään Junior-ohjelmasta saatua tietoa ja taitoa.

Olen entinen merkonomi ja kaupassa useamman vuoden työskennellyt. Päätin vaihtaa alaa, koska en tuntenut kuuluvani sinne. Olen käynyt vuoden kansanopistoa teatteri- ja maskeerauspuolella, jossa työskentely elokuva- ja tv-alalla alkoi kiinnostaa. Talvella 2018 pääsin jatkuvan haun kautta media-assistentin koulutukseen. Hetken kuluttua siitä törmäsin Facebookin puolella BBG Junior- ohjelman hakuun ja sitä kautta päädyin tänne. Junior-ohjelmasta on ollut minulle todella suuri apu ja hyöty koska koulutus oli yleisesti media-alalle, joten näin suurta tietoa ja taitoa en juuri tästä alasta olisi saanut.

Nautin tuotannon puolella työskentelystä erityisesti, koska päivät eivät ole koskaan samanlaisia. Tuotannon tiimissä olen päässyt auttamaan siellä missä tarvitsee ja pitämään itseni kiireisenä. Työt ovat myös tuoneet paljon vastuuta, mutta onneksi aina on työkavereita joiden puoleen kääntyä.

Vaikka alkuvuosi on ollut koko alalle vaikeaa, odotan silti tulevaisuudelta uusia haasteita joissa pääsen kehittämään itseäni. Toivon kerryttäväni lisää tietoa tuotannon puolelta ja tapaavani lisää mahtavia alalla työskenteleviä ihmisiä!

Looking couple weeks back to our Junior Program’s 2nd edition graduation - with a post by our lovely Office Intern Venla! ___________________________________________________________ I’m Venla Heiniö and I am an Office Intern in Blockbusters Gang. I graduated on 29th February from Junior Program 2019 Fall edition. In this post you can find some pictures of the graduation celebration held at Blockbusters Gang’s office on Saturday!

My journey at the Junior Program was a little different compared to other juniors. Everything started from my friend introducing me to Blockbusters Gang. I contacted Emma Ilves and Iiris Juutilainen, informing that I would be interested to work with them. They invited me to their office and after we had gotten to know each other, I was offered a place from the Junior Program. So I started on the Program, a couple months later than the other juniors. I was warmly welcomed and since then I have been a part of this network.

The program consisted of visits to different companies of film and TV industry, such as Yellow Film & TV and Angel Films, and lectures that were held by the Gang Members and people other filmmakers outside of the company. In my opinion nothing else is more interesting way to learn than listening to people passionate towards their career, telling about their experiences and most important life lessons. For example the lecture of Pessi Levanto, one of the top Finnish film score Composers didn’t feel like a lecture. That’s what I like about Blockbusters Gang: we learn by listening, discussing and experiencing. This is something you can not learn from books. For the past four months I have felt almost like exploding from the amount of knowledge I have gained. But that is only a sign for that there has been a lot to learn. All this has led to the point where I have now become a member of the Blockbusters’ Office Gang. The learning still continues and I am more than excited about the future here.

Ps. All photos are by lovely Neea Havu, our Production Assistant (also a Photographer)!

Hi! It’s Sanni here, again! 

My office internship is about to end today, on Friday 25th. It has been three weeks when I greeted you last time and told about my shooting internship (scroll our profile forward and find more about my thoughts just three posts away!).

Both internships were interesting, and very different kind of compared to each other. 

Where I already knew what it is being in shooting, I had no idea what it would be in the office. Seriously, I had basic prejudices: sending invoices, calling phones, checking receipts etc. Obviously it was that but also so much more. 

During the office internship period I’ve learn quite many things about e.g casting and ordering merch and things that included in those tasks. First day I started write a journal about my internship and somehow ended up decorating it with pink unicorns. I think it’s kind of cool, tho...

So everyone knows what casting basically is: When a production needs a performer, someone needs to seek this person to the production. 

BBG had casting going on and my job was to answer applicants’ questions via email. So lots of emails. I also updated BBG Casting’s performer register and sorted their email.

About ordering merch (merch aka products with Blockbusters Gang’s logo for members).

We created a poll. Then we raced many printing companies and made our choice where to order merch and then sent an offer request. This is really simplified description. There are many excels for different kind of things: who wants to order what, how much merch costs in a specific company, who makes merch from organic materials... And all this information is as important as everything else. 

I noticed during office internship, I like to be in contact with people: I’m the one who wants to send emails and call phone calls. That was something I got to do a lot of, which was really nice.

Beside that I drank a lot of tea. A sip from every quality.