First touch at Grillifilms – From a trainee to a production assistant

First touch at Grillifilms.

My name is Wille Seppänen and this is my story, how I got into Grillifilms.
I sent an open application to Grillifilms without actually knowing much about the industry or the firm. I had only studied the film industry for a year but still had a burning motivation to get on board.

After a couple of months, I was asked to come to a job interview.
I was a bit nervous coming to the interview but after arriving to Grillifilms office, the atmosphere calmed me down. Everyone was on the couches doing their job, there were lots of colors everywhere. Not your usual grey cubicle office. In the interview we talked about my skills, interests and previous work history. After about 20 minutes of chitchatting and maximising my charisma, I was asked if I could start the next Monday.

I started as a trainee, I was so excited to get working. Reality was that everyone has to start from the basics. The first weeks went by making coffee, changing light bulbs and taking the trash out. Little by little I started to get more responsibilities, such as catering, prop hunting and location scouting. Time was going fast, because almost everyday I was doing something different and everyday I learnt something new. Even though sometimes I had to teach myself.

Couple months in and our executive producer Hanna Tuovio said to me “Wille, everything is going super well but the coffee could be a little bit stronger.” So I started making stronger coffee. I was all ears, tried to take every advice I could and tried to do everything as good as I could.

My first big production were the famous Snellman films in Pietarsaari. I was running errands around the shoot. I was eager to help with everything but the best thing to keep in mind is not to get in the way of the professionals.

Now I’ve been working almost a year in the company as a production assistant and I love it. I still do the basics, make coffee every morning and take the trash out. But I think it adds a nice flavour to the job, the office feels like a safe space where I can be myself. I have gotten so many more areas of work and still not a day feels the same. I am grateful that people who have been in the industry for a long time believe in newcomers such as me and take them in to learn. I’m still learning but I feel like in this job I’ve learned so much about myself, the industry and life.