Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1401019
16 I m ps e . o rg STUDENT CORNER BY XINYUE YU MPSE B efore 2015, I lived in China and studied music. I was always interested in film sound and wanted to work in the film industry, so I made my mind up to apply to a sound design program in the States. Fortunately, I received an offer from Savannah College of Art and Design Sound Design program, and I moved to Savannah, GA, by the end of 2015. I spent 2½ years at SCAD learning sound design for film and television. I met some great friends and enthusiastic professors. I worked on nearly 60 student films which made me much more determined to be a sound editor after I graduated. So by the time I was in the last quarter, I was working on my thesis and started to look online to find a job opportunity. It was incredibly hard. There were barely any post- production sound job opportunities that I found on job-searching websites. I had always been told at school to make connections with people in the industry, but it was not easy to make connections while everyone was working on the West Coast and I'm studying on the East Coast, so I changed my direction. I started to search for sound houses on LinkedIn. There were quite a few, and once you find one, LinkedIn would promote you with more similar companies. I wrote down all of the companies I could find, and did the research on each one of their websites. I emailed every sound studio my info to introduce myself and asked for a potential intern or assistant sound editor opportunity. I always received back a warm greeting from the studio manager, but no open positions. I didn't become dejected about receiving these rejections. I looked at it as if I'm getting new connections, so I kept checking back with them every two weeks, until one day, one of the studio managers offered me an opportunity to be their summer intern. I was thrilled. I packed my things, booked the ticket to LA and applied for an Employment Authorization Card. I was so ready to start my journey in LA, but two days before I left, I received the email from the studio manager that they canceled the summer intern program because the company was about to close. At that moment, I suddenly understood why people say "things are happening fast in this industry." I didn't cancel my flight. I still moved to Los Angeles like the original plan. This time, I became more active. I still checked in with everyone once a while, and I started to meet with people. People who had also graduated from SCAD, and they introduced me to more people who are working in this industry. Finally, I landed at a small post- production house editing dialogue and sound effects for indie features. I worked there for about six months, and irreversibly, they closed their facility due to lack of projects and I lost my job. I felt bad at that time because I felt I went back to the very beginning. The reality proved me wrong though. I didn't go back to nothing. I had met all these people. One of my co-workers introduced me to another company to do some temporary sound conform work which helped me pay my rent while I was transitioning to my next job. Not after too long, Jeff Shiffman from Boom Box Post (BBP), contacted me. They were looking for a dialogue editor and he saw my job application. Everything after that went on really smooth. I went to the studio to do an editing test. Kate Finnan showed me around. I passed the test and joined the BBP family. Now I'm working at BBP for a bit more than two years, I feel lucky to work with everyone here at Boom Box Post. They are talented, nice, and fascinating people. With Boom Box Post, I received three Golden Reel nominations and two Daytime Emmy nominations this year. It's a blessing to grow together with the company. My journey is not the smoothest one. I wasn't recognized by big awards while I was a student, and I lost my job a couple of times when I first started. I believe many of you fresh graduates out there are still struggling trying to make a foot into this industry. I've been there and I've been through it. Just keep meeting new people and be more patient. Get yourself ready for the opportunities. You can make it through and eventually land at a good place like me.