Post-Graduation and Professional Preparation

FDM Opportunities Newsletter

This monthly newsletter is the best way to learn about opportunities that have been shared directly with faculty and/or staff in the department. It is sent out to FDM undergraduate students on the first Wednesday of every month.

This newsletter is often an eclectic mix of opportunities, from visiting filmmaker events to paid and/or volunteer professional opportunities to upcoming film festivals and more!

UCSC Career Success

Career Success offers TONS of resources and support to UCSC students for free! They are an incredibly valueable resource that you should take full advtange of. Some of the support they can provide includes:

• Career coaching
• Resume building support
• Various workshops and events all year!
• Partnership with Handshake for seeking out jobs/internships

Career Success is composed of a team designed for and committed to supporting UCSC students’ growth as professionals!

Building Your Reel

A large part of marketing yourself as a creative professional is having reel(s) to showcase your creative work. We recommend approaching every creative project as one that has potential for being added to your reel!

Check out this Portfolio / Reel Building Workshop that was held in Winter 2025 (slideshow). One section of that workshop (35:10-39:49) is presented by our Lead FDM Undergraduate Advisor and focuses specifically on the film industry.

Internships

The FDM Department fully supports students pursuing outside internships and it is possible to receive university credit for these internships, which helps get you closer to completing your degree. However, the department does not guarantee specific internship opportunities. We send out opportunities that are shared directly with us to the FDM undergraduates and help spread the word as they come our way. From there, it is in the students’ hands to pursue these opportunities.

Check out the Internships page on the FDM website to learn more about the process to receive credit for these out-of-the-classroom opportunities

Film Festivals & Networking Events

Film festivals are a fantastic way to meet new people and grow your creative network. Local festivals especially allow you to meet potential future collaborators in your area. The Santa Cruz Film Festival is a fantastic local festival that the FDM Department has direct connections with!

One of the most important parts of navigating a film-related career is developing a large network of strong creative connections. Keep working at this with every chance you get!

There are also “film mixers” and other networking events you can seek out that can be very helpful for meeting other folks eager to work on creative projects together.

Connect with FDM Faculty

Many of the FDM faculty have professional backgrounds working in creative fields, from film to video games to digital media, and they want to see students succeed! Chat with them after class; attend their office hours; ask them about their work. Forge connections with these folks and learn all you can from them!

Collaborate with your peers!

During your time at UC Santa Cruz, this is extremely important! Your time here is an opportunity to meet other like-minded creatives and make projects that are meaningful to yourselves – not just in the classroom. Gather some classmates and make a short film! These projects don’t have to be perfect; they are opportunities to get to know one another and experiment with creative ideas.

These peers that you work with are some of the first people joining your network – the network that you will continue to rely on for years to come!