ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 10 months ago - Joshua Kahan

Hey Marcus,

Don't worry about not getting the job, there are plenty of places that don't require you to drive. It certainly helps and puts you at an advantage to have a license. The key with getting a running job is persitence.

If they were about to offer you the job my advice would be keep on at the production company and don't take no for an answer. Not having a license doesn't affect your ability to make tea, deliver parcels or move furniture.

Even on small productions that I have been on production companies haved hired drivers. On bigger projects they have hired vans which runners drove.

The fact that they are asking whether or not you can drive is indicative that they'll probably have you driving around on shoots all day. I'm assuming you want to be a runner because you want to see what's going on, on set.

10 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Depends on the project - it is extremely helpful to have drivers, but you also need a car, and for it to be insured for business use (or for production to rent you a car). There are also plenty of jobs to do on set/location but not all productions will be running minibuses so it may be hard to move you around.

10 years, 10 months ago - Marcus Ebanks

@Joshua Kahan: Yes definitely, it would be great to find something where I can just gain experience and learn more on set. I've worked on professional sets and as an office runner before, and so a little more running work where I can be in the heart of everything going on is definitely more appealing! Thanks for the advice.

@Nicolas Hughes: Where did you manage to find your running jobs and how did you go about obtaining them?

10 years, 10 months ago - Nicholas Hughes

If you did drive, it would increase your chances of getting a running job.

The flip side is that, as Joshua Kahan has pointed out, that you'll spend most of the shoot having to drive here and there on all sorts of errands and if you're filming in London that can mean spending most of your day in traffic jams or heading across town to hire companies to pick up some bit of equipment that was forgotten. I've seen runners being forgotten about because of that; when they eventually complete the tasks and arrive back on set, the 1st AD, Director and some production staff go "who's that" and wonder if someone's intruded on the set. Being on set means you get to see the production first hand and if you're doing your job right then people on the crew will remember you and give you more responsibility.

So don't worry about it; when I was a runner I didn't drive and I got plenty of running jobs that kept me on set.

9 years, 9 months ago - Jennifer Maybour

If your wanting to work on drama productions, especially films it really is essential that you learn to drive as they are so often out on location.

My first feature film I couldn't drive, I would stay in B&Bs and hostels as close to set as I could find and then walk, sometimes 3/4 miles all the way to set at around 4am. It nearly killed me. As many runner jobs require you to go off site and run errands and they require you to have a car to do this.

If you're still struggling to get runner jobs check out my blog talking about how I got into the industry with hints and tips on how to progress your career.

It talks about how I went from studying film production at University to working on films like Guardians of the Galaxy, James Bond: Spectre and Avengers age of Ultron.

http://becomingafilmrunner.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/how-to-become-runner-in-first-place.html?view=sidebar