Hello! So I completely screwed up a potential job opportunity through lack of communication (all of it happened during finals at school), and they in turn never got back to me (understandably). Do you think that means I accidentally burned that bridge entirely, for just that studio or all their other studios? Also since the art world is small, do you think other companies would find out and be more wary to hire me? I'm concerned I messed up big time. Thanks!
You’re young, and if the AD knew you were a student when they hired you, they shouldn’t be surprised that you weren’t reliable. We all fuck up jobs sometimes. So what you should do is wait until you have a sexy new finished piece in your portfolio, send that AD a email that says something like:
I wanted to reach out and apologize, I feel that I wasn’t as professional as I could have been last time we worked together. I feel like I have learned a lot since then, and if you gave me a second chance, I’d hit it out of the park. I’d love to work with you again.
Then send it, and keep them on your normal newsletter/promo list after that. Maybe they’ll hire you again, maybe they won’t, but they’ll think better of you than they do right now.