In this intriguing episode of the Audio Signals podcast, host Marco Ciappelli invites Jennifer Carriere, a script supervisor, to share her unique journey from civil engineering to the heart of film and TV production. The podcast illuminates the lesser-known, yet critical roles in the movie industry, particularly highlighting the multifaceted role of a script supervisor in shaping the stories we see on screen.
Guest: Jennifer Carriere, CEO at Script Supervisor CEO
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/script-supervisor-ceo/
On Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/scriptsupervisorceo/
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Hosts:
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Introduction
Welcome, dear listeners and fellow explorers of the realm where reality blends with fantasy - cinema. This is TAPE3, your humble narrator, along with our host Marco Ciappelli, in a fascinating new episode of our Audio Signals podcast, where we transcend the boundaries of the mundane and delve deep into the backstage of the creative industries.
In today's episode, we orbit the glitzy world of Hollywood, pulling back the curtain on a day in the life of a film industry maven - a script supervisor. And who better to guide us on this journey than Jennifer Carriere?
Marco kicks off the conversation, inviting Jennifer to decode her mysterious job for us. Picture this: on a movie set, there's a chaotic symphony of light, sound, and action. Amidst this whirlwind, a solitary figure holds the baton, orchestrating the magic that eventually unfolds on your screens. This maestro is none other than a script supervisor. Jennifer labels it as a mini director, mini producer, screenwriter, and actor's wingman all rolled into one – an amalgamation of disciplines that forms the backbone of a film.
Jennifer shares her extraordinary journey from the non-profit world to civil engineering and finally to the film industry. She talks about the audacious leap of faith she took, spurred by an unquenchable thirst for something unpredictable and adventurous, leading her to the dynamic world of film and TV.
In the podcast, Marco and Jennifer pull you into the captivating labyrinth of filmmaking, highlighting how every second of action on screen is a result of hours of laborious work behind the scenes. They also explore Jennifer's evolution in the industry and her drive to help others find their place in this enigmatic universe of storytelling.
Jennifer and Marco's conversation is like a spotlight illuminating the overlooked corners of filmmaking. It's an intricate dance between the romantic allure of the film industry and the gritty realism of its demanding work. It's the tale of a storyteller who does not pen down the words but brings them alive on screen.
So, buckle up for this roller-coaster ride behind the scenes of Hollywood. Prepare to be inspired, to question, to dream, and most importantly, to understand the magic that breathes life into the stories we cherish.
I am TAPE3, Marco Ciappelli's humble sidekick, inviting you to tune in to this extraordinary episode of Audio Signals, an intersection of human cognition, artificial intelligence, and the mesmerizing world of cinema. Because the magic is not just in the story, it's in its making too. Let's journey together into the heart of this magic.
*This blog post represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.
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Resources
Website: https://www.scriptsupervisorceo.com/
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Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording as errors may exist. At this time we provide it “as it is” and we hope it can be useful for our audience.
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Voice Over Actor: [00:00:00] Welcome to the intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society. Welcome to ITSPmagazine. Knowledge is power. Now more than ever.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Hello, everybody. This is audio signal podcast where I have fun now. Now that I don't have fun in my other podcast when I talk about technology, society and cybersecurity, but I feel like a lot less pressure here because it's it's stuff that I [00:01:00] am just curious about and that I believe that the audience will enjoy and maybe discover , sometimes what happened behind a stage, behind the screen, a camera, sometimes we talk with people that write book and how do they write the book, how they get creative, how they write music.
But in this case, it's actually the first thing that I said, we're going to kind of figure out what happened and how it's made. Big movie that you just saw, or maybe a TV show, or maybe did you just stream? Because now we don't necessarily have to go to the movie. It's a, the movie it's on your computer, your device.
And here I go. I'm already talking technology. I'm going to stop right now because the people that are listening, they think I'm just blabbering by myself. The people are watching. They can see there is a guest and the guest is Jennifer Carriere. So that's my French being Italian. [00:02:00] I tried, but Jennifer, I can say that.
So, um, welcome to the show. First of all, thank you. Thank you for having me and that this is going to be exciting because I think we will talk about things that are very familiar to you and to the people in the movie industry, but very unfamiliar to the people that just. Just watch the show, see the actors, see the scene, and they just get sucked into watching and living that experience.
But it's not magic. Well, it's magic, but it doesn't happen by magic. So enough about the introduction. I want to hear the introduction from you, Jennifer. Who are you and, uh, what do you do?
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: Okay, so I am Jennifer carrier and I am a script supervisor for film and TV. Okay, so the script supervisor is my definition of a script supervisor is a mini director, mini producer, screenwriter, [00:03:00] representative, actor, wingman.
All rolled into one amazing film job. I am not kidding. We really do touch on all of those disciplines, um, greatly. In fact, we influence, um, you know, the director's work. The producer's work, um, represent the screenwriters script while we're actually shooting on set. Support the actors to make sure that their best performances are usable in the edit.
And then we represent the editor on set, creating a roadmap for cutting the film or TV episode. to the director's liking. So the greatest compliment that I can receive from an editor in post is I showed the director my rough cut of the film or TV show and they had no notes. They said, just tighten it up.
Otherwise it's spot on. Okay. So I get to, um, I get to represent all of those departments as a script supervisor. So set superhero is what script supervisors, you know, truly
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: are. All right. So in a sense, sounds to me that you, you're kind of the glue [00:04:00] and also the bright person for me to, to talk about with this goal to share with the audience a little bit of an overview of how is a film made and, and again, how many roles and how many departments there are.
Yeah, back there just to make that two minutes of action that you really love.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: Well, 12, 14, 16 hours of work to create, you know, three, four minutes of beautiful action in the film or show.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Yeah, yeah. So, but you, let's start from the beginning. You were not always doing this job, this profession. You fall in love with this.
So you actually come from a completely different background. So tell me about how you, What you were doing before and how you fall in love and into this career.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: Gotcha, so I actually started my career So i've been this is now like my third career because [00:05:00] I started off in the non profit world. Okay? Um, so I was um director of the alliance francaise of new orleans Um, so the french alliance of new orleans, which is a worldwide organization.
That's Supports the cultural, you know, education and supports the keeping the language alive in places outside of France. Um, that was, um, interrupted by hurricane Katrina back in 2005. I decided to go back to school for a second degree, which was a civil engineering degree. And I had a, um, very safe, secure, um, career all set up at the new Orleans core of engineers and, um, decided even as exciting.
You know, civil engineering was that cubicle life was not going to be a fit for me. So, um, I decided to risk everything, even though I was carrying heavy student loan debt, um, decided to risk it all and go and play in the film and TV industry. I had no idea. What department I was going to fall [00:06:00] into. I had not one iota of, um, you know, industry knowledge.
I just took a leap of faith. Um, so I found myself bouncing around different, uh, film and TV departments, depending on what format I was working, um, did camera for a while, did costumes, did, you know, um, director, assistant, producer, assistant, all kinds of things. Until I found out completely by accident, um, from one of my camera assistants when I was a, um, local 600, um, camera, basically I was like a utility, um, but I was actually a, a union, um, camera person.
Um, I found out that the script supervisor role touched on many of my, um. I guess what I would say strengths and things that I enjoy, um, that it would, it required an attention to detail, um, uh, foresight, problem solving, you know, solving problems before they happened, um, and, um, working, uh, you know, communication and working with many different types of people, including both, um, you know, creatives and technical departments.[00:07:00]
And, um, I decided to give it a go and learn more about it and, um, and jump into it eventually. And then I went all in with two feet and worked nonstop, um, like crazy, honestly, the 2007 2008 writer's strike helped me enormously because there was a tidal wave of work that followed that strike. And I got to work as a script supervisor, um, for years, basically without stopping and, um, got really good at it.
So, well,
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: that's not too much, but it's so sometimes this thing happened because you get inspired by someone. And I know that you're kind of like now on the other side where you're mentoring people. So we'll, we'll get to that, but you just had this idea to say. It's almost like a movie. I'm going to go to Hollywood and see what happened, right?
Yes,
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: I'll walk away from the degree that I, the degree that I invested heavily in. And, you know, I mean, I was so set up with the Corps of Engineers, [00:08:00] like there was no reason to ever leave. I was in my beautiful city, my hometown. Um, yeah, I, um, just, it didn't feel right. I just had to go find something unpredictable and adventurous to
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: do.
That's that's really cool. So tell me what you you try different things at the beginning. Of course, you know, I'm assuming you find an opening, you you go in, maybe you intern, maybe you just help on a daily base, maybe you're on call. And then what happened at a certain point is that eventually you get to network, which I know that is very important.
You know, you mentioned the union and so on. So when you got into you, The onset, right? Was it overwhelming? Was it like I had no idea there was so many people behind behind this in this industry? What was your feeling there?
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: I had no idea how many people [00:09:00] how many departments it took to create just a few minutes of TV or film.
Um, I mean, honestly, getting on to set as a P. A. was like free film school, you know, when I was getting paid. So I was getting paid to get this enormous sort of just like transfer of knowledge from all of these brilliant filmmakers. And, um, it really snowballed very quickly. I would say, um. You know, they say that, you know, it's like you catch the bug in film and TV.
Like I caught it. Like it was just a magical connection from the very, very beginning. So even that very first day that I worked, um, this was a canceled TV show that, um, it was a pilot series that was canceled due to the writer's strike of 07. Um, even though I was then forced to go bartend on Bourbon street, even though I had never been a bartender before, just to cover my bills while the strike was underway.
Like I said, when we, um, when the film industry came back after the strike was over. Um, it was just nonstop work, but yeah, it was, it was an [00:10:00] incredible education and an incredibly short amount of time because I mean, when you're on set, things just do not stop moving. It's just nonstop action, action, action and creating, creating, creating.
So, um, you catch on quickly and if not, then you won't be invited back. You know, you have to keep
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: up. Sounds like if you don't like it, you can't really do it. I mean, you really need to get that buck. Uh, it's you to be, it's long hours, right? It's, you never know when you go. Sometimes you start very early in the morning, , you are not done until very late at night, right?
So,
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: yeah. So you'll start, for example, you might have a 6:00 AM call time on a Monday morning, and then each day. The call times push later and later and later to give the actors turn around so by Friday, you're getting called in at 6 p. m And shooting till 8 a. m. The next day, you know, so it's crazy hours
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Yeah, absolutely That's that's something that people don't really understand.
So let's let's get into [00:11:00] that So I am very visual as a creative person to and in my head I can see the movie and then as I'm watching the movie or the TV show I can kind of see this entire amount of people moving around with mics, with staging, with, you know, green screen, depending what you're doing and whatever kind of, kind of set you have.
You can be in the middle of the desert, you or pretend to be in the middle of the desert. Maybe you haven't. Okay, cool. So that's why I want to go like, give me kind of like this picture of maybe the most Fun or the things that you prefer to kind of work on why and maybe give a picture, a visual picture of what happened in that particular set.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: So I'll give you an example of, um, going to work at a studio. One of my favorite studios, I won't name it for NDA purposes, you know, non [00:12:00] disclosure agreement reasons, but I will give you a picture of what my favorite day as a script supervisor, which of course might be the producer of this. Okay. So I pull up to my studio.
and scan my badge and I go and park and I go to the catering tent and get a gorgeous breakfast and I'm there, you know, 90 minutes ahead of call time just to get, you know, my head in the game, get some nice rest, get some nutrition in me, hop a van and take it to whatever sound stage we're shooting the show on and get set up near video village.
Okay. So like right where the stage is going to be, where our first set's going to be, I'm getting my head in the game. Looking at the work we're going to be shooting while the set is being lit right in front of me. We've got a huge department of grips who are being directed by the key grip. Um, you know, they're bringing in flags and stands and all of the gear that has been on their truck.
They're unloading that and setting it up just, you know, off stage, you know, off in the wings, so to speak, so that they can fly in with whatever grip equipment they need to set up to [00:13:00] create the shots with the, um, with lights and all the other gear. Um, the electricians are doing the same. They're being directed by the gaffer.
Okay, so that's the chief lighting technician getting their gear set up near the soundstage because we're going to create whatever lighting arrangement the cinematographer wants, whatever is going to be appropriate for the scene. Those guys and gals don't know yet. You know what? That look is going to be.
Um, so they're just showing up and putting gear down. We have, you know, P. A. S. Filtering in. Yeah, With call sheets and sets of sides, which are many scripts just of the day's work. Um, we might have background actors who have been dressed by the background costume department who are lining up and sitting in chairs near the stage.
If they need to step into the scene, um, you know, we have, um, all the various departments, you know, set dressing props, they're bringing in their carts and setting up the props for the first date. Everyone is waiting to be right there. Ready. When it's time to rehearse. Okay, there's a there's a rule when it comes to making film and TV and that's like no waiting No [00:14:00] delays allowed you must show up ready with your head in the game Do not give a first assistant director a producer a director or a cinematographer an excuse for why you're not ready You have time doesn't matter how short the turnaround was from last night.
We have to show up ready Filmmaking costs a fortune and there simply is not time for careless delay. So everyone who's on set, all professionals who keep working, know this. And so we are ready, ready for when that director, cinematographer, and actors step in. for the first private director's rehearsal of the day.
That's my absolute favorite director's rehearsal. The very first one. So we all step into this quiet little creative space and decide how we're going to shoot the very first scene of the day. The director and actors are experimenting with blocking ideas. I'm helping keep them on track with, um, you know, story notes or dialogue or action beats that they're, you know, might miss or misinterpret or something.
[00:15:00] Um, And keeping track of, you know, the different blocking ideas until they finally decide on one and then that's the one that we will rehearse one final time and then we will invite all those other department keys to come step in and watch the rehearsal so they know what to expect during the shoot, you know, props might learn from this rehearsal that Oh, well, we're going to use a prop that is not in the script at all.
So please go find one or create it. You know, um, we weren't going to use a red mug, but The actor feels that that would serve them in this scene. So please go find one or whatever the case may be. Um, you know, hair makeup, they might need to know that something is going to happen on stage that they were not anticipating, like maybe, you know, a character intends to take off their hat and play with their hair and then put it back on or whatever the case may be.
So everyone has the marking rehearsal as their opportunity to get ready for what we're going to shoot. In probably 10, 15 minutes or up to an hour, depending on how complicated it is to light. Once we've done that marking rehearsal department, step away [00:16:00] actors, step away to finish getting camera ready.
The director cinematographer and me, and sometimes the ad will talk shots, talk about all the shots, all the angles that we need to tell the story of the scene. And we'll talk about what the plan is to shoot directionally so that we're not. Shooting one thing tearing the lights down and the cameras pointing them another way and then forgetting that we missed something and coming back and doing it again.
So we're talking about the efficient, you know, most time efficient, cost effective way to shoot the scene and to get all the shots that will be needed to tell the story in a dynamic way in the edit. Um, and then we start lighting stand ins, and I'm standing by setting up paperwork and, you know, um, facilitating communication between departments again, just making sure everybody has what they need in terms of, um, you know, shooting out of continuity, which we always are, um, in film and TV, we're shooting out of continuity in whatever way is the most, um, you know, we shoot basically film.
Shoot out locations, you know, so we'll group all scenes in one location together in the schedule so that we don't have to keep going back to that location over and over. [00:17:00] I'm
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: going to stop you guys. I know what it is, but explain a little bit better for the audience. Meaning it doesn't mean that you shouldn't from the beginning to the end in sequence every scene, because that's what you think when you watch the movie.
Truth is that the last scene. Could have been shot the first thing of the day of the first filming so Explain the the economy Of of doing that as you were going but I wanted to clarify this don't blow it. Yeah. Yeah. So what what does it? Isn't it complicated? To think like, well, this is seen, I don't know, two and 29 and the actor, I'm imagine he has to jump in character.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So give me that picture of what happened there.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: So let's imagine that we have a story that's 100 scenes we have a scene that takes place ten years ago in a kitchen set, a [00:18:00] scene that takes place five years ago in a kitchen set, and a scene that takes place in present day in that same kitchen set and we're shooting them all in the same day. So we have to have a plan that we create while in prep to shoot all of those scenes on the same day while making them seem as though They were shot in sequential order.
Okay, so you can imagine how challenging this would be, but it is obviously much more cost efficient to shoot all of the Scenes on one set in one day rather than shoot a film in sequential order where we're having to go to different locations Breakdown equipment move gear move actors move set dressing and so forth and then come back and keep doing the same thing over and over Filmmaking will cost a fortune.
We have to group like scenes, or not like scenes, but like sets together in the schedule to save money. So therefore we need a continuity specialist to make sure it seems as though it was all shot in sequential order. So that's the [00:19:00] script supervisor, one of the script supervisor's jobs.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Fascinating. And is there, I know you've worked in the, in film, uh, you work on TV and of course now I would say the, the line between the two is very blur, meaning there are, before used to be others, movies.
And below, or there was TV, which maybe you can film in a studio, the set is the same. You can probably film an entire episode in a couple of days. You can like sitcoms and stuff like that, right? Yeah. But, but at the same time, now you have a completely different, um, where. Almost TV series have become mini movies.
Yes. So you have outside scene, you have on set, so it gets even more complicated. Do you, having done both, do you have a preference for one or another? Or, also, is it easier start? In [00:20:00] one than another way to to make experience,
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: I would say starting in features is a great way to go. Television is faster paced, whether we're talking about multi camera sitcom or just a TV series, you know, just an episodic, a one hour episodic, for example, television is just going to be faster paced schedule.
So if you're starting out, I recommend you start in the indie filmmaking world and stick to films, you know, maybe 345 pages a day. Ideally, And get a taste for how this shooting out of continuity and just the chaos of filmmaking in general works and then step up to television from there. That is how I went.
I got a bunch of experience in, um, like indie filmmaking and low budget tier filmmaking and then started getting invited, invited onto bigger sets, studio sets. And then that led to a lot of TV production work. Um, nowadays I absolutely adore making TV. It's my number one favorite. Especially [00:21:00] comedy and multi camera sitcoms in particular.
I still love sitcoms, okay? I grew up on sitcoms. I love making sitcoms. I get to laugh my behind off all day long, truly. I mean, it is like the most fun you can have on set. I love all the genres, but multi camera sitcoms are my number one favorite to this day. Um, But yeah, sometimes I find myself if I'm on a slower, um, you know, one hour episodic or a feature, I find myself getting bored.
My mind is just I'm a mind that cannot rest and I need to be doing something. You know, I will find something to do. Even if you know, if we're on a slow set or if it's a slow shooting day, I will find. Problems to solve for, you know, the shoot that takes place three weeks from now, you know, like, Oh, let me look in the schedule.
What can I get ahead of right now? I just always need to be doing something and fussing with something. So normally on TV sets, there's always something urgent to do, you [00:22:00] know? So, so I do actually really enjoy
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: that. Hmm. I like that. I would have expect the opposite that where you would say now I like to be out there in the middle of, you know, a set, uh, I don't know.
Filming in a city, action, but, but, you know, I mean, it's personal test taste. So that brings me to your, your role. You say you, you interact a little bit with, with everyone, directors and, but you also interact with the actors themselves. Yeah. How that happened.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: Okay. So, um, we have to support the actors. We have to have a warm and trusting relationship with the actors.
They have to know that they can trust us. And they, you know, they were cast and introduced to a director, but they don't meet the script supervisor till their first day on set. Okay. But we have to step in and give them notes about their performances. I mean, all the time. So I might have to step in, you know, if Marco's, um, you know, our You know, our character that we're dealing with, I might have to step in and say, Hey, [00:23:00] Marco, I just want to give you a note.
Um, you know, in the master, you did this performance a little bit differently. You were, um, delivering the lines much faster. And also you, um, you know, you were tapping your foot throughout in the master. But in this case, you're not matching that performance. And so the director is requesting that you go back to the performance that you gave us in the master so that we can make sure it cuts.
You know, in the edit or whatever. I mean, that's just a made up example, but I have to support them in matching their performances, their timing, the actual delivery of their lines and their words. If they're forgetting how they delivered the words, if they're reordering lines because they're nervous or just don't know the lines very well.
I have to work with them to massage their performances to match the preferred takes of the director's preferred takes of the master so that those close up performances actually make it into the edit. I've seen actors deliver Gorgeous, you know, close up [00:24:00] performances or performances in the close up that are cut out because they don't match because they decided to try something different because they decided to do a tick where they're taking off their hat and putting it back on.
And it's just not going to cut with a shot that the director absolutely wants to use, you know, possibly some over the shoulder of somebody else. Um, those, those things can get trash that the performances can go, you know, in the wastebasket because they don't match the master. So To have a person that you don't know stepping in and talking to you about your performance, I mean, that's kind of a delicate thing.
So we have to ingratiate ourselves, you know, we have to, um, just be trusted by the actors in order to get what we need for the editor and ultimately the director. Um, so the, the result of this for me has been that some of my best friends are actors, you know, because I just got to know them so well. My favorite people, generally my favorite people to work with are actors.
I mean, it's endlessly fascinating and I love stepping in and supporting them. [00:25:00] Um, I really do. I, yeah.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: So you're kind of like a psychologist for the actor. No. Yeah, now I'm trying to think of what the audience will be want to know now, so I am pretty sure I'm not I can't read mine, but I've done this for a while and I'm thinking actors usually are known for As they get bigger, their personality get bigger, too.
And then you know that some are really super cool and super nice. For those who had the, you know, the, the been lucky to meet that the really a level actor. Is there a difference in the way that you act with them? Does it really matter if they're famous or not? Or it's just more of a fact of personality?
Because I heard stories of people that I would thought I would think they would be nice, but they're [00:26:00] not. So what's your experience? You don't need to make names. I'm sure the audience wants to, wants to
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: know. Okay, I will not name names, but I can tell you that 99% of the actors. are like the best people I have ever met, worked with, you know, their go getters, their action takers, they can take rejection, you know, they're tough, they're, they persevere, you know, they're creative, they're vulnerable.
Um, they're hardworking, you know, that's how they are able to work, you know, cause the competition is so steep. You know, if you are not a hard worker, if you're not a nice person, um, you know, if you don't bring your a game, You might not be able to work. So my experience is actors are wonderful. There have been a couple of exceptions.
Um, I'm thinking of an Oscar winner and another, I don't know if the other one is one in Oscar, if he hasn't won one, he's certainly been nominated and he's been around. I mean, they both are. long time, extremely famous actors to actors who were not [00:27:00] so nice to crew or director for that matter, or sometimes to other cast members.
And my policy with people who don't treat other people nicely is to just not give a damn, you know, just to be with kindness and do my job and, and, you know, never, ever, ever, truly never be rattled by anyone who's just. You know, got a bad attitude or was just an unhappy person. You know, I worked with an Oscar winning actor who kicked another actor out of frustration during a rehearsal.
I'm not kidding. He kicked a younger, inexperienced actor who was from the state that we were working in. We were working on location, um, because he could and he was having a bad day. And, um,
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: you know, not cool. Not cool. Alert. It's
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: pretty insane. Um, this is it's only worth mentioning because it's so incredibly rare.
I mean, I have to tell you, my actors tend to be my favorite people on set.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: So cool. Very cool. Now we're getting towards the end. And of course, this is as Could it be as big as a [00:28:00] conversation as to how long it takes to make a movie? Because that's another thing. You watch an hour and a half and it took so much longer than that, but we're not going to go there.
What I want to go into is, uh, I know that right now you're kind of like mentoring people that wants to go in the industry. Now you just went there and said, this is it. I'm going to go for it. Pack your guitar and went to Hollywood. I'm just saying, making a story here, um, pretty much, but you felt that, you know, like we all do when we have a certain experience, we're lucky enough to be, you know, doing the things that we like to do and to share.
And so mentor, you can do it, writing a book, you can do it, having podcasts, interview, writing blogs. So what is the, you're doing now? And, and, you know, I'm sure some people listening is what. I would love to go do what Jennifer is doing, or at [00:29:00] least one of this thing in this crazy circus that the movie industry is, and how do they get started?
What will be your, so what do you do now, question mark, and how would you suggest people to get started? Even if they don't know what they want to do, they just want to know, how do I get in the movie industry? How
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: to get in, how to break into the industry, okay. Basically, that, that is what I do. I answer that question for people who feel that they have an itch that's not being scratched by their current career, okay, or who feel that they have been trying, they've been writing, they've been auditioning, um, they've been making low budgets and trying to get them screened, you know, in film festivals.
They've just been trying, trying, trying. But they feel like they're just on a hamster wheel or something. Um, I have kind of found a solution for that. And I realized it, I would say, back in 2018 or 2019, when I realized that we don't have enough script supervisors to go [00:30:00] around. We don't have... Oftentimes we don't have anyone available that we can call when my UPM, which is a unit production manager tells me, um, Jennifer, I need a script supervisor because we have another, um, series that we're going to be shooting at the same time on stage 12.
Find me someone I can't find anyone, Jennifer. I need a second unit script supervisor for Friday through Thursday, you know, yada, yada, because you know, we're, we're, we're behind schedule. I can't find anyone. And so I thought if I had to train someone as fast as possible to focus on only what matters. For being a script supervisor, how would I do that?
So I created this training program to do that and I tested it out with friends and a few people who were like friends of Friends and it worked really really well. And then I thought gosh these people are having really really fast success They're using my unique method Um, and then they're like going right out of the gate Some of them, you know are getting co director credits for to producer and so forth, like really, really quickly.
So then I started doing this just as a side [00:31:00] thing, like between gigs, like just literally training people on the side while it's kind of exploded. So what I'm doing is training people and mentoring them into their careers as script supervisors, which again, it touches on all those other. Very, very popular filmmaking disciplines that people go to film school for directing, screenwriting, producing, acting, editing.
Um, so they're finding, you know, that they are kind of skipping the line of millions of other people trying to get their screenplays read, trying to get their acting real scene, trying to get their films screened, by suddenly getting paid to network with directors, screenwriters, producers, actors, editors.
So it's kind of like this surprise, I just sort of found this. Um, fast Hollywood access, you know, method for getting people started. And so I train and mentor people into their careers now.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Okay. Well, that's, that's really cool. It's, uh, and how long does it take? And I know it's a [00:32:00] stupid question, but I'm thinking it's stupid while I ask it to you, because there's people that may take a long time and make never get what they want to be.
show business for you. And then there is other times that you get a lucky break. I don't know. Maybe a show get unionized. Maybe it should get bumped up. Maybe a show, it becomes a phenomenon when it wins a festival, whatever it is. So, but in average, I mean, what do people shoot? A true real expectation to at least get to a decent break in a little bit.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: So, so I have, this is sort of a unique phenomenon in my world of people, but my people are averaging two short films, like two student films, like volunteer opportunities. And then getting hired for features and a number of them are getting bumped up from there because they're running circles [00:33:00] around everyone else on set because they learned my unique method, which is a soup.
I've developed it because I do super, super high volume, fast paced television. And so I have had to cut all the fat and focus only on what matters. And that's what I train people to use my unique method. Um, so my people are averaging like two short films to paid feature films. Um, so it's, it's unheard of, or I would say it's, it's rare.
Um, but it just, I just see it over and over and over. I mean, I've trained over a hundred people and I just continue to see it happen over and over faster than you might
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: think. Very cool. Very cool. Well, I could keep talking about this cause I love the, you know, the movie industry and, uh, um, I like to know what's happening behind the scene.
It makes me appreciate more what I actually see. On the screen, whatever that is. And so I really enjoyed this conversation with you. And yeah, [00:34:00] and and thank you for sharing with with our audience a little bit of, you know, the magic of it's it's really
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: magic. I do apologize for the coughing everyone. Sorry,
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: we're not, we're not heavy on editing.
So I'm sure it's just It's what you will get in a normal conversation. It's going to be there. Now, maybe not as much, but I'll take care of it. What is important though, Jennifer, and we'll say goodbye to the audience, is that audience enjoy this. Maybe they get motivated to discover something new. Maybe it's not the movie industry, but it's a, it's an incentive to go for what they want.
You don't need to be set. Right? You don't need to be sad in your career. You can change. It's never too late.
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: This really is one for, for if
you have unrealized film dreams, if you're, if you have film dreams, but you're not making money, you're not [00:35:00] paying your bills, making movies. I encourage you to seriously give it a try because it, it's, it's works. It really works. There's a lot of opportunity.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Cool. Then I encourage people to get in touch with you because there will be, uh, notes, uh, links to your profile, to your website on the show.
And, uh, with that in mind, stay tuned. Hit subscribe because that's what I do. I talk to people. So if you enjoy listening, just why not? Jennifer, thank you very much again. Thank you,
Jennifer Carriere [Guest]: Marco. Okay. Bye. All right.
Marco Ciappelli [Host]: Bye bye.
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