Carlijn Hoogstad finished studying BA (Hons) Film, TV & Digital Media Production at Regent’s in 2019 and walked straight into her dream job – Production Assistant supporting the visual effects teams working on films including Oscar-winning 1917, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Cats. She attributes a lot of this success to the industry experience she was able to access at during her studies at Regent’s.
‘One of our lecturers put a call out for a runner on an advert for a well-known baby care brand. I immediately put my hand up because I wanted to meet as many people in the industry as possible, as well as learn about different roles and what people do. Being a runner is a great way to start that, and having this kind of experience on my CV hugely helped me to get my first job.
Studying at Regent’s means that industry experience is readily available. The staff and faculty have great contacts within different sectors and opportunities like mine mean that Regent’s students have a big advantage when they join the job market – they already have some great, real-world experience.’
Carlijn’s advice to those joining a competitive market such as the film industry is to always put in the effort to expand your network. As a student, Carlijn proactively reached out to people in across the Regent’s network to learn from them and share her own experience. Her Regent’s highlight was studying abroad in New York, making sure she took every opportunity to build her contacts across the Atlantic as well as in London.
In the short time since Carlijn graduated, her career has gone from strength to strength. She now works as a VFX Production Coordinator, with her projects including major Sky and Netflix series.