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•College of DuPage Career Services•Season 12•Episode 102
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In this episode, Pierre Michiels interviews John Rangel. John Rangel is a motion picture and television professor at the College of DuPage as well as an independent filmmaker. In the interview, they discuss the film and video program, the wide range of career paths available in the industry, and the key skills needed for success, including networking, creativity, and hands-on experience. They also highlight the importance of getting involved on film sets, building a portfolio, and leveraging internships to break into the field. After listening to this episode, we hope you have a better understanding of careers in the film and video industry and how to get started.
Full episode transcript can be found on the episode page. Below is a general timestamp summary.
00:00–03:00 | Introduction & Program Overview Pierre Michiels introduces the episode and guest John Rangel, a motion picture and television professor and independent filmmaker. They outline the purpose of exploring the film and video field and begin discussing the College of DuPage program, which provides a broad foundation in filmmaking through exposure to directing, writing, producing, and more.
03:00–08:00 | Career Paths & Industry Roles The conversation highlights the wide range of career opportunities within film and video, emphasizing how many specialized roles exist, as seen in film credits. Rangel explains that students can pursue paths in production, videography, or related industries, while Michiels stresses the importance of recognizing these diverse options.
08:00–12:00 | Key Skills for Success Rangel identifies essential skills, including collaboration, networking, and consistent content creation. He emphasizes that success depends not just on technical ability but also on engaging with others, building connections, and actively sharing work to gain visibility.
12:00–15:30 | Gaining Experience & Internships They discuss the value of hands-on experience through working on film sets, stepping outside comfort zones, and pursuing internships. Internships are framed as critical entry points, often leading directly to job opportunities through relationships and demonstrated skills.
15:30–18:30 | Program Preparation & Student Opportunities Rangel explains how the program prepares students through frequent project work, resume and demo reel development, and a film festival that simulates real industry experiences. These opportunities help students build portfolios and confidence.
18:30–End | Final Advice & Resources The episode concludes with advice to focus on storytelling over equipment, watch diverse films, and create complete, polished projects. Rangel shares how students can learn more about the program, and the episode wraps with key takeaways on entering the field.
Welcome to the Career Ready podcast. Learn about resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn, interviewing, and all things you need to be career ready with the Career Service Center at College of DuPage. I'm your host, Pierre Michiels, for today's episode. In addition to learning about resources and the job search process, important part of being career ready is understanding career paths to help us explore the field of film and video. I have John Rangel with me, who works as a motion picture and television professor here at College. DuPage. John, thanks for joining me for today's episode. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to hear more about the film and video field. I know there's a lot that goes into that, but before we really get started with that. Can we just hear a little bit about you or provide a quick introduction or as we like to call it, your elevator pitch? Sure. My name is John Rangel, my professor in the motion picture television department here at Cod. And in particular, I oversee the film video discipline, which includes narrative filmmaking. And also I'm an independent filmmaker. All right. Well, I'm excited to hear more about the program, what that means, and how that really leads to different career paths here. So let's go ahead and get started there. Can you talk a little bit about film and video program and the different career paths that it's preparing people to enter? Yeah, sure. So are your our programs a two year program that provides students with sort of like with a baseline understanding of what filmmaking is. So they have to try directing and writing, producing cinematography and so on so that they get a taste. Some of our students come here knowing exactly what they want to do, but we can't assume that. So we built the program so that students could dabble a little bit and everything to start to get a sense of what it is they want to do. And as I said before. So we focus on narrative filmmaking, and we do a little bit of documentary as well. And we prepare students for a wide variety of things to study film, at least in a community college setting, a two year setting. You can actually branch off into a million different directions after you leave here. So you could go work in the world of film production or narrative television production, or you could do videography. We have former students who do who do video work for physics labs or law firms. So there's a really wide range of directions our students can go. And so we're trying to help them gently go in any of those one directions. Yeah. You know, I'm a big fan of film. And whenever a movie ends I like to watch the end credits. My wife's like, why do you sit through that? But, you know, these are all artists. So just as we think of these different paths and I'm really not reading the names because it goes too quickly for me to read them all. But like, appreciating all those names and people working on that. Are these the type of people that we're talking about? Yeah, absolutely. And so I used to literally have an assignment where where students had to watch a film that was new to them and watch all of the credits, really, just to get a sense of how many different jobs there are. And so, like I said, we give like a broad based introduction to the field, but we can't do we can't do it all. And so when we look at the credits, there's so many positions where there's really nuanced specificity to a job. And so if a student of mine expresses any interest like, hey, what's a grip? What do they do? Then I try to give them some information, but then also try to connect them with somebody doing it. So hey, here's they can give you a sense of what that job is or, or a lot of times when they see credits, especially for something, say like a marvel movie, where they have, you know, half a million people working in visual effects, they, they get really excited because what they realize is, is that the little tiny corner of the film world that they're really excited about, that's a job. And so that that's something they could go pursue. Yeah. And that's why I wanted to bring that up because like, this is the entry point, right? Just a starting step. But there's so many possibilities out there where I wouldn't expect you to be able to list them. But, you know, there are many, many lists out there. If you watch a movie. So, you know, go check out those credits and really pay attention to all those names because there's so many paths to help make that happen. Absolutely. So as we're talking about students interested in the field and people transitioning, working in the field, really, what are the skills, the strengths needed to help make that possible? That's a that's a good question. And it's a it's a question that I wrestle with literally every semester trying to make sure that we're catering to our students properly. So I would say there's a few things. One is a certain willingness to meet other people. And so most of our students don't necessarily realize when they arrive that that's a primary skill. And so it's I tell them it's something as simple as meeting other filmmakers who like what you like. Like that's that's a big deal. Like finding your people to go make your stuff. So there has to be a little bit of willingness. And so I always make sure to say you can be shy and do that. Like you don't have to be, you know, it doesn't have to be jazz hands or anything. It's just a willingness to like to interact, to engage with other filmmakers. If you can't do that, it makes things significantly harder because let's say that your thing becomes something like making wedding videos. You have to engage with the couple getting married and you have to engage with. So like, it's a really central part of the job that a lot of our students will, will overlook before coming here. Another thing is, is being prolific in your own way. So like when when my students get into my first class, I tell them all, try to make stuff as often as you can, even if it's something as simple as you're going to make a 32nd documentary of your cat because you're going to have to think, okay, well, what shots am I getting? Is there a story being told? Never mind trying to corral a cat for, you know, the making of a film, but the idea is that thinking like a filmmaker. And so I tell them that they arrive as experts in consuming video, but they're not yet experts in making it. So I tell them, like, like be prolific in that way where you're constantly trying to challenge yourself and think like, like a filmmaker. And then the last thing I would say is work all the time. On getting your stuff seen off campus, getting it off your YouTube channel where you purposely take a film somewhere in some shape or form. It could be online or it could be in person, but get your work seen, because very often that's how you find your people. That's how you find the people who like who like the kinds of horror films you like, were the kinds of comedies you like, so that you can go make more of them. And it's the thing that obviously moves careers forward, getting it in front of people who do hiring, you know? So yeah, that's what I guess I would say about skills and strengths. No, you know, those are all great things to hear. And, you know, as you're talking about it, right? You're not talking about the technical aspects. And I'm sure 100% those technical aspects are important. But if you can master the technical aspects, but you can't go out and make yourself known, you can't be comfortable engaging with the people. It doesn't matter, right? So to have those foundational skill sets, which we tend to overlook, is what's going to really make you be successful moving forward. Absolutely. And they're transferable too. Like, we're really well aware that not all of our students will end up pursuing film as a career, but a willingness to meet other people, a willingness to step out and engage with collaborators. Yeah, that's something that they could take wherever they had in life. Yeah, no, it's great to understand those transferable skills, right. Those skills that will be needed everywhere. And you kind of hit on this a little bit as just being prolific and, you know, making as much as you can. But are there other different experiences or opportunities that you would be recommending to developing professionals? Yeah, there's a few things that I recommend pretty consistently. So one is, is get on as many sets as possible. So not your own, but like your friends or classmates or what have you. And and I tell them that, you know, in the classroom we can only teach you so much. There are scenarios we literally can't mimic in a classroom that you can only find out in practice. So go out there and I challenge them a little bit and I say, okay, come back and tell me when you went on, somebody said, and you thought you saw them doing it the right way, like it was like something was working. And then the opposite. Come tell me when you feel like they were blowing it, like just it wasn't working and telling them those are the things that are really hard to teach, that they're more experienced. So yeah, get on as many sets as you can. Large sets, small sets, all, all different kinds of film and soak in everything possible. And with that, something that goes hand in hand is that I beg them to please get outside of your comfort zone and try things that you wouldn't normally try. And so I sometimes I literally have them make lists of what they consider to be their comfort zone. Okay, good. What's not in your list? So maybe, maybe, maybe horror film isn't your thing, but you can get on a horror film set like, okay, let's try that again so that you can see some collaborations that you might not witness elsewhere, but that you can soak it up and learn something, that you can then take onto your own set. And the last thing is a little bit more standard, but it's really critical is internships. The if to any parents who are listening right now, I apologize. But in a fashion film, degrees don't mean the same as say like a law degree or a medical degree where you need it to practice. You don't need these degrees to practice, but what you do need is you need experience, and you need people basically to vouch for you. So like, everybody in film gets their first job because somebody recommended them for the job. And so we have strong relationships with with the local industry. And so we try to place students in internships because in our field, an internship is almost literally a three month job interview where if you've learned their particular ecology, if you've learned there, how they use language, how they collaborate, and you're pretty decent at it, and you're not a bad person to hang around at the end of those three months, it's very our students often get job offers, and so very often that's how our students get their foot in the door is through it. So internships are really, really key. Yeah. No. You know, to hear you talking about those internships as really being interviews, that's one of the things that we talk a lot about through career services is you want to be seeking out these opportunities to demonstrate your abilities, to show that value, to create these future opportunities. You know, I could see maybe, you know, depending on the type of internship, type of production, that maybe there isn't an opportunity there because the project ended. But now you have those relationships with people and then they're going to be doing future projects, and now you're on their list of contacts. Exactly, yes. And so I try to give my students examples all the time because it can seem a little daunting. But like I had a student who told me he wanted to be a casting director and and he asked me, how do you become a casting director? I was like, got an idea? How about you talk to one? So I connected them. He got an internship there and now he works in casting for for a living. And of course, it doesn't always end up that way because you're right for outside of casting directors, you're working film to film. But if you can have people industry point and say, hey, that person knows what they're doing, they know how to hustle, they're smart, critical thinkers, etc.. Yeah. It's invaluable. Yeah. You know, a lot of times, you know, not really being a student of this, but, you know, looking at different films and like someone makes a name for themselves, right? Steven Spielberg and then how many people on his crew show up movie after movie. Right. You know, he knows the people that he likes working with. And you got to put yourself out there to get noticed by people, and then they just, you know, want you to be part of their projects. Exactly. Yeah. So we're talking about the field here, but let's just narrow in a little bit on the program here. What are you doing in the program here at College of DuPage to help prepare students for the field? So there are a few things we do consciously like for this idea of, okay, how do we get them ready for going into the field? Well, if they're going for an internship or a position of some kind. Okay, they're probably going to need a resume. They're probably going to need a demo reel of some kind. Sometimes they'll need a cover letter of sorts. And so we think, okay, let's help them bolster these things. So one way that we do that is somewhat implicit is we have them make stuff all the time. So then what happens is now on their on their resume, you can see they've been a part of eight projects or ten projects. And I tell my students, when you're going for your first internship, all 8 or 10 of those count. It shows intent, it shows seriousness. And that's often what's desired in an intern is that that you're willing to show up at 8 a.m. every morning or whatever it is. So we try to get them making a lot of stuff. And then in my classes, like particularly in my capstone class, I have them make a resume. And then I have I give them examples of demo reels for the different positions. And so okay, let's start working on these and putting these together. So when they are done here they know how to make a demo reel. They know how to put together a resume, how to word a cover letter or an email so that they have like those, those basic skills to start making efforts into the industry. Another thing that we just started doing a couple of years ago is we have an empty film festival, and it's in the middle of April, and we have it at the York Theater in Elmhurst. And part of the motivation for that is our accrediting body said to us, hey, we would love it if you all would celebrate your students the way the industry would celebrate work. And so we thought, hey, let's do a film festival, and more importantly, let's do it off campus so that it feels more industry, maybe a little less school. And so, yes, we put on a screening at the York Theater, and this past year, I believe we had 14 films. And so our students are the filmmakers where badges and they have to sign in and they go through the mechanics of what a filmmaker would go through should their film be in a festival. And so we put together a little, a little program that has like descriptions of the films and headshots of the filmmakers, again, so that we can basically give them a warm up like, okay, when you start getting your films out into the world. These are some steps you're going to have to go through. So now you went through them here at Cod in a way that feels a little bit more familiar or comfortable to ready you for outside. Or maybe it feels a little less comfortable, but you're familiar with process and you're ready to jump in. As a filmmaker, you know that. All that's great to hear, like, you know, not just like learning how to do it, but actually producing projects that they could be showcasing. And then that experience. I did hear of the film festival. I haven't had a chance to attend it. I've got to mark that on my calendar in advance. So, you know, I can make it there in the future, because it sounds like just a great opportunity to not just like as someone in the community see film, but for your students to really experience what it's like to be active in the field. Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that we do in the festival is we invite a filmmaker from the local industry. So not an MTB student. It's a program we call vision. And it's it's to highlight filmmakers from underrepresented communities. But we're bringing in somebody from the professional world. And we and they do a Q&A. So we so we see their there short film and then they do a Q&A so that our students can see that's what a Q&A looks like. So when you're asked to do one yeah you oh I see I remember they ask these questions. This was the rhythm of it and so on. Yeah. So that everything just feels a little less scary. You know, outside. Outside of school. Yeah. Sounds great. Is there anything else you would recommend to students, to young professionals wanting to prepare for the field? A couple things. One is, and I can't stress this enough, the quality of the equipment does not make the quality of the movie. And it's easy, like it happens to us too. We would love to have the biggest, fanciest, most expensive cameras, but that doesn't guarantee a good movie. In fact, there's there are plenty of good movies, great movies that have really kind of terrible technicalities to them. But so start there. It's not the equipment, it's you. It's the human element that that creates story and experience. That's what to focus on. Another thing is to watch short films of all kinds. And and so I'll give I'll give them sources to say, hey, check out this site or check out this group of films so that you can get a sense of what's possible. And so I tell them, like the short film sections at film festivals are probably my favorite because they're so daring, they're so willing to try things that are unconventional or that are new. And so I tell them, go see some of that stuff because it'll like shake inside you as wait a minute, or maybe that thing I wanted to try is valid. So let me try that thing. And then the other thing that I would recommend is when they make work, make it complete. And what I mean by that is maybe it has a title card. Maybe you give credits to your actors and the people who helped you, and you make sure that your sound is is edited properly. Because when like when students are out doing stuff for TikTok or Instagram, what is complete in that world is not the same as what's complete in ours. And we often find it's the it's kind of a hurdle because our students just aren't used to thinking in that fashion. So when you make your 32nd documentary about your cat, make sure you get a title. Credit your cat. You know anybody else who helped you so that you can start getting into that rhythm of, oh, this is what a film experience is. Now all of that sounds great. And, you know, I'm just again, thinking of some of those early, you know, filmmakers and some of those things that I've seen them do and like the quality as far as like equipment and like I could tell they didn't have it, but it didn't stop them from pursuing their passion. And, you know, they did make a complete thing with what they had at hand. And then a lot of times that's their springboard to getting noticed. So it makes a lot of sense to hear all of this. Yeah. So thank you for sharing all this insight. Before we wrap up here, how can interested listeners find out more about the program here at College? DuPage. Well, one way you can do one way is you can go to Edu and you can search film production or film video, and that'll take you right to to our page and our information about our program. And if you want to know more about it, my email address will be there. And people feel free to contact me with questions. And then maybe I could point you in a specific direction, but I could just say very quickly, It's Rangel at Cod and that's R.A.F., g e l at Edu. And I'll encourage our listeners to just look at the show notes. You'll be able to find the email there, and I'll link up for the program there. All right. Well, thank you, John, for sharing this great information. I really appreciate just hearing everything that you're doing and how students are getting prepared for this path. Pierre, thank you so much for giving me the chance to share this. Yeah, it's been really great. Thank you. All right. Well, with today's episode, there is no listener question. However, if you have a question, you can submit it to Career Podcast at Edu or on social media at Cod Career Center. And you may hear it answered in a future episode. Thanks to all our listeners, and special thanks to John Rangel for joining the Career Ready podcast. We hope you now have a better understanding of the film and video field.
