The Job No One Talks About (But Every New Filmmaker Should Do)

Breaking into the film industry can feel like staring at a locked door with no clear way in. You knock, you send emails, you apply to jobs you’re underqualified for, and then one day, an opportunity opens that’s small, behind the scenes, and not very glamorous: film festival screener.

At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew I’d be reading or watching submissions for short films, features, and maybe a few docs, which seems like the perfect job for someone like me! But what I didn’t realize is how much the experience would reshape the way I thought about storytelling, filmmaking, and my place in the industry as a newcomer.

Being a screener means sitting at the very first gate between a creator’s work and an audience. You become the first eyes on someone’s passion project, often years in the making. That’s a responsibility I didn’t take lightly. But it also came with some sharp realizations: attention spans are short, pacing is everything, and intention matters more than polish. I watched beautiful films that said nothing, rough films that said too much, and pieces that almost worked, but fell short.

I started to see patterns in what made a submission stand out. Authenticity, voice, and confidence in tone. Whether it was a 5-minute short film or a feature-length film, I learned to recognize when a filmmaker trusted their story and when they were still searching for it. That discernment started to bleed into my work. Suddenly, I wasn’t just thinking like a writer or a director, I was thinking like an audience member, someone asking, Why this story? Why now? Why should anyone care?

The job also taught me humility. There’s no perfect formula. I saw submissions that checked every box and still didn’t move me, and others that broke all the rules and left me thinking about them for days. And behind every submission was a cast & crew, hoping to be seen, to be selected, to be believed in.

Working as a film screener didn’t launch me into fame or connect me with a fancy producer. But it grounded me. It reminded me that this industry isn’t just about getting your foot in the door. It’s about listening, watching, reading, and creating purpose for your stories. It’s unpaid, often overlooked work, but being a screener teaches you how to spot a powerful story, and more importantly, how to tell one yourself.