How To Network Better Than 99% of Film Crew

You showed up early, you worked hard, the shoot went really well. The producer shook your hand and said, "Great working with you." Then nothing. No call, no text, no next job. And you're sitting there thinking, "What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? Did somebody complain? Did they find someone cheaper? Someone better? Ah, someone with a fancier reel?" Maybe. Sometimes that's exactly what happened. I'm Rob Perkins, and after 25 years of hiring thousands of film crew from rock and roll documentaries to fast food commercials, I can tell you the real reason is usually a lot less dramatic than that. You didn't blow the job. You didn't get blacklisted. Nobody was talking about you in the parking lot. You just went cold. And that's why I tell crew, don't network, connect. Because the crew who stay booked are not always the ones chasing the most people. They are the ones who stay remembered. And when that next job came up and the producer needed to fill your role fast, someone else was easier to remember. That is the part most crew never see, and the fix is simple, but it requires you to stop doing the thing most crew do when work gets slow. More on that in a second. Truth number 1, the producer's truth. Before we get to the fix, you need to understand something about how producers actually make hiring decisions, because most crew have this completely wrong. The assumption is that producers are out there comparing reels and cross-referencing credits and choosing the most technically skilled person available. And sometimes that's true, but most of the time, especially when a job comes up fast and the producer's already juggling 12 other things, the decision looks a lot more like this. Who do I trust? Who made my life easier last time? And who's not gonna create drama on set? Who did someone I trust recommend? And honestly, who do I remember right now? Producers aren't always hiring the best person available. They're hiring peace of mind. And the crew who become first call are the ones who make that decision feel easy. I was producing a campaign for an international financial app a while back. I had a makeup artist on the job, super talented, very experienced too. And she came highly recommended and her work was fine. But what I remember about that shoot had nothing to do with her resume. At some point during a previous shoot, I must have mentioned that my wife, Belgica, was competing in a ballroom dancing competition. I didn't think anything of it. It was just one of those between-takes conversations. But weeks later, out of nowhere, she reached out and asked how Belgica's competition went. That was the whole message. I was so struck that she had remembered and actually cared enough to ask that the next time I had a job, she was one of the first calls I made. It wasn't her reel that got her rehired. It was that she made me feel like more than just a producer with a budget. That's what connection can do that skill alone never can. And here's where most crew make their first mistake, because the moment work slows down, they do something that poisons every relationship they've spent months building. Truth number 2: Why networking feels gross and what to do instead. Most crew wait until work is slow to reach out to producers, and when they finally do, it sounds like this: Hey, hope you're doing well. I know it's been a while, but I wanted to reach out because things have been kind of slow lately, and I am trying to get some work lined up. And if you have anything coming up or know anyone who does, I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much, it means a lot. That's a real message. I got it recently from a gaffer I'd worked with a few times. He's good at his job and super easy to work with, and certainly no complaints on set, but I felt bad reading it, not just because it was sad. There was nothing in that message for me. No connection, no value, just a pressure drop in my inbox that said, "Please solve my income problem." And here's the thing, even if you dress it up politely, the timing gives it away every time. When you only reach out when you need something, the producer feels it even before they finish reading. So here's the framework I give every crew member I mentor. I call it TVA. I'm going to explain it to you. It's very cool. But I also created an app that uses my framework to write the text or email for you. Yeah, I'll put a link in the description below. It asks you a few questions and then gives you an awesome text or email to send out for outreach. It's still good to know the framework though. You're looking for it now, aren't you? You've scrolled off the video. I know you can still hear me, but you're looking for the link. Fine. Download it, have a blast. Let me know if you have any questions. Now, for those of you still paying attention, here's what TVA stands for. T is for them. All right, something specific about that person, not generic, not hope you're well, something real. Like, I saw the campaign that you posted on Instagram last week. That location looked incredible. It requires a little research, but that's the point. V is for value. Okay? And this is where most people get it wrong. They think value means talking about themselves. It doesn't. Value means making the producer's life better. Here's an example. I just worked with an incredible AD who moved here from Los Angeles. Commercial, film, TV experience, the whole bit. And nobody knows her here yet. I wanted you to meet her before everyone starts fighting over her. Now that's value. Now A is for availability. That's last, always last. I have some availability starting next Monday if anything comes up. Them, value, availability, in that order, because a message that feels like helping will always land better than a message that feels like acting. If TVA makes sense to you, drop TVA in the comments. It helps me know that this is landing. And it helps me keep on the right track to help you. You'll also find a link to the app in the description below. But let's move on to truth number 3. Here's the shift I want you to make, and it starts with something I've been saying for years. Don't network, connect. I didn't always think this way. Early in my career, I assumed that doing great work was enough. Show up, do the job, go home. I figured if producers wanted me back, they'd call. Sometimes they did, but I also watched jobs go to people I knew weren't as experienced. And I could not figure out why. And it took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that the relationships between the jobs were just as important than the work itself. Most crew think of staying in touch with producers as networking. And networking has a reputation problem because most people only do it when they need something. It feels transactional because it is transactional. You're not building a relationship, you're making a withdrawal from an account that you never deposited into. Think about it this way. You know that friend who only calls when they need to borrow your truck to help them move? And you always say yes, but you know exactly why they're calling before you even pick up the phone. That's what desperate outreach feels like to a producer. They can feel it before you finish the sentence. Connection is different. Connection is being the friend who checks in for no reason, who remembers the small stuff, who sends a funny article because it made them think of you. So that when you do need the truck, it doesn't feel weird to ask. First Call Crew don't start the relationship when the job appears. They keep it warm long before the job exists. And there's a big difference between networking and connecting. Networking is trying to get something. Connection is building trust before you need anything. So the question is, who are you actually supposed to be connecting with? Because most crew think they need to go out and find new contacts. But the truth is a lot closer than you think, and I'll show you exactly where to look right after this. Truth number 4, your warm list is already there. The question most crew ask at this point is, who do I actually reach out to? And the answer surprises them every time. You don't need more contacts. You need to wake up the ones you already have. Here's something I want you to try right now. Pick up your phone and scroll through the last 2 years of texts. Not your emails, not your Instagram followers, just your texts. Start counting how many of those people have actually seen your work. Producers, production managers, coordinators, department heads, directors, fellow crew members, people who complimented your work, people who moved up since the last time you talked. And here's the best one: the people who called you for a job and you weren't available at the time. That's not a cold list. That's a warm list that went quiet. Most crew look at that list and think, "I haven't talked to these people in months. It would be weird to reach out now." But that's the networking mindset talking. From a connection standpoint, those are people who already know what you can do. Maybe they've seen you under pressure or received a recommendation about you. More about that recommendation in a minute. Because this is the one thing producers will never tell you. They know how you communicate. That's not a stranger you need to convince. That's a relationship you need to reactivate. And all it takes to wake it up is one good TVA message. Something about them, something of value, and your availability at the end. That's it. One message to someone who already knows your work is worth 10 cold calls to someone who doesn't. Your list isn't cold. It's just sleeping. But knowing who to reach out to is only half the equation, because what you do when a producer reaches out to you is where most crew throw away one of the best opportunities they'll ever get. Truth number 5: the referral rule. Now that you know how to reach out, but what happens when a producer reaches out to you and you can't take the job? Most crew do this. First of all, they wait too long to reply, and then they send two words, "Not available." And they think that's fine because they were honest and they seemed busy. But here's what they missed. That moment, the moment a producer reaches out to you, is one of the best connection opportunities you'll ever get. And most crew throw it away with two words and a period. I called an AC in Las Vegas a while back looking to crew up a job. He wasn't available and he told me straight away, which I appreciated. But then he did something I was not expecting. Without me even asking, he sent me 3 names, 3 email addresses, and 3 phone numbers. People he trusted. People he was willing to put his name behind. I was so impressed. I made a note of it. The person he recommended did a perfect job. And when my next project came up and I needed an AC, I called the original AC first. Not the person that did the job. Him. Because he'd shown me something that day that most crew never show a producer. He cared about solving my problem, even when there was nothing in it for him. That is what I call first call behavior. I call this the referral rule. When you can't take the job, send 3 names every time. Not sorry, not available. 3 names, contact details, and a short line about why you trust them. And only send names you would genuinely stand behind because a strong referral builds your reputation. And a weak one just damages it fast. That one habit will do more for your reputation than almost anything else you can do off set. But none of it matters if what you're doing on set is giving producers a reason to move you down the list without ever telling you why. Truth number 6: Set behavior still matters. I want to make sure we don't just turn this into another follow-up trick. TVA can get you remembered. The referral rule can make you useful. Staying connected can keep you warm. But none of that matters when you get back on set and you remind the producer why they hesitated to call you in the first place. Because first call crew are not just remembered, they're trusted. And trust is built into small moments. Most people think nobody notices. I had a wardrobe stylist on a pharmaceutical commercial a few years back. She came to the fitting loaded with options. She'd done her homework and she had a strong point of view on the talent's look. But when the agency art director made a call on a particular piece, she pushed back. She wanted the yellow blouse. It was the better looking choice on camera, no doubt, but yellow was the primary color of the client's biggest competitor, and putting it front and center in this pharmaceutical spot would have created a problem. Nobody wanted to explain that to the brand. The art director knew that, and the client knew that. The stylist did too. But in the heat of the moment, she didn't stop to consider it. She kept advocating for her choice in front of the room. Now, she was talented and her instincts were good, but in that moment, she forgot that her job wasn't to win the room. It was to serve the client's vision. She didn't get called back. And that's why connection and set behavior have to work together. Connection keeps you from going cold, and set behavior gives producers a reason to feel good when your name comes back up. Calm, present, and useful beats talented but unaware every single time. So before you send your next TVA message, make sure that when you show up, you give them something worth remembering. Don't network, connect. That's the difference between waiting for the phone to ring and becoming the first call, not the fallback. Grab access to the AI tool below to help you write those texts and emails. It's fresh, and like any new AI tool, it could have bugs. So use it, try to break it, and let me know in the comments what you find, and then I'll fix it. And once you understand how to stay remembered, the next part is understanding how producers are finding crew in the first place. That part is changing fast, and if you miss it, you could be doing everything right and still getting passed over. That video is already up. I'll put it right here.