Being back in Canada is a little weird. It's great to be home, but never have I been more cringingly aware of certain vowel sounds in the Canadian tongue.
Never, too, have I felt more irritated at the socialist structure of things in Canada, in which it seems impossible to do anything unless you have spent three years "paying your dues" in order to qualify for the great priviledge of doing any job slightly more elevated than working in a call center.
So, still unemployed. Not counting tutoring gigs and freelance work. Spent yesterday flooding downtown's many ESL schools with resumes. I did a lot of sneaking into office buildings by sticking my foot in the door after someone left and then looking at the building directory for any listing that included the words "college" "international" "pacific" "english" "language" or "institute" and then trying to look as professional as possible (a challenge, as it's been hot and all the pavement-pounding and stair-climbing made me sweaty) while smiling big and handing them my resume, which includes a grand total of zero lies. The best ESL school name is "Eurocentres". Can you learn Euro-Trash-Talking there?
At one place, they made write a test. I pulled out all the stops with words like "transitive verb". Maybe they'll give me a job.
In the meantime, enjoy this tidbit I found in The Georgia Straight:
[Andrew Van Slee on the way young people are prepared for a career in film]:
"You're told to take a flag course... [seven years later] you a production assistant or a line producer, and then the production manager, and then you're making movies. The process stifiles creativity. Great, talented filmmakers end up standing out in the rain directing traffic because that's how they're told they have to do it."
Kinda makes you a self-hating Canadian.
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1 comment:
Maybe I'm naive about this but, while the long path up through the ranks may be maddening at times, I doubt that it stifles creativity unless you're willing to have it stomped out of you.
I grew up in an editing world where you watched and helped out for at least eight years before you cut anything worth talking about. A lot of others came up through those ranks and, frankly, I don't think we're all uninspired editors. I think there's something to be said for learning the craft, and I also think that there's something to be said for building a group of people who want to work with you. None of this means you have to check you identity or talent at the door.
It sometimes seems like a long time before the first really long and satisfying drink, but it's not really that long when you think of how long your career is going to be.
Of course, if you've spent three or four years in film school doing nothing but directing and having the top jobs, it may seem longer than necessary. But, trust me on this, no matter how long it is, it seems a hell of lot less time than some notes meetings I've been to.
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