On October 21, New York Film Academy (NYFA) held a special day-long professional development workshop with Hire Heroes USA, an event open to New York City’s diverse array of veterans seeking careers in film, television, and broadcast journalism. This training session follows a very successful NYFA Hire Heroes USA event that was held at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus.
Hire Heroes USA is a highly successful nonprofit organization that provides free career coaching and job sourcing to transitioning U.S. military members, veterans and military spouses. To date, Hire Heroes USA has found more than 20,000 jobs for veterans.
Together with NYFA, the organization tailored the day’s instruction and training uniquely for the media and entertainment industries. The training also included a panel of industry professionals with a plethora of experience in major motion picture production, start-up production company management, entertainment law, pitching and network building.
“The men and women who make up the United States Armed Forces are some of the world’s most highly trained professionals. But when service members transition out of the military one of the most common questions they ask me is, ‘Which of my skills from service are transferable to a civilian career?’” stated NYFA Veterans Services Coordinator Chris Paparis, one of the workshop’s principle organizers. He continued, “In many cases, veterans discount how much their service in the military has already prepared them for careers in the entertainment industry.”
NYFA’s Chair of Veteran Services Colonel Jack Jacobs (Ret.) provided insight into his own career in television as the on-air military strategist at NBC/MSNBC, which he began after a successful venture in the finance industry. Colonel Jacobs is an advocate for all veterans seeking to break into the film and television industry. He readily advises students on their career paths, and even has NYFA veteran students visit the NBC Studios in NYC for a behind-the-scenes experience.
Attendees worked through a busy lunch hour, which included the opportunity to have professional headshots taken by NYFA staff photographers to accompany the LinkedIn skill-building portion of the seminar.
Gileon Clarke, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and graduate of NYFA 1-Year Acting Conservatory, noted that the class “focused on modern concepts … we learned how to use LinkedIn to build our personal brand, and [how] these new ideas can really help build one’s network and overall impact in the job market.”
NYFA greatly appreciates the partnership with Hire Heroes USA, and especially wants to thank Elena Comperatore, Jamie Rimphanli, and Molly Giles, who provided the accompanying lectures to the event and provided the skills training.