Marketing and PR assistants work wherever a film is sold to an audience: at a distributor, an entertainment PR or creative agency, a trailer house, a sales agent or a production company. At Stage 1 you have never had a job in the industry, so the work is learning the campaign, the tools and the business before you apply. Marketing is a discipline before it is a film job, which helps: you can earn a living in marketing elsewhere while you build a film CV, as long as you do not leave the crossover too long. Stage 1 is knowledge and skills, Stage 2 is placements, references and contacts, Stage 3 is the first paid assistant job. Mark each line done, next or later, be honest about the gaps, and take the list to an MFJF mentor clinic. Most first placements are unpaid or expenses-only, and the first paid job is modest.
Read the career guide for what the job involves day to day.
Stage 1: Before your first job
29 things to do, know or be able to do
Experience 8
- Apply for work experience positions during the holidays; write to distributors and agencies months ahead.
- Look for voluntary roles at film festivals to add career focus to your CV: the BFI London Film Festival (expressions of interest close about a month before the October festival; travel and food are covered; 18 and over) and Sheffield DocFest's volunteer crew.
- Be the marketing person on a short or student film from the MFJF collaborations board: poster, synopsis, social account, press release to the local paper, festival plan and screening invitation list.
5 more lines
Skills 9
- Learn Microsoft 365 properly, especially Excel and PowerPoint: media lists, RSVP trackers, campaign grids and a deck someone can read in a minute.
- Take short courses to add to your CV: Meta Blueprint's free courses on Facebook and Instagram advertising, a Google Skillshop course such as the Google Analytics certification, or the CIM Level 3 Foundation Certificate in Professional and Digital Marketing if you want a qualification.
- Write a two-line logline, a 50-word synopsis and three platform captions for three films released this month, and compare them with the distributor's own.
6 more lines
Knowledge 12
- Read The International Film Business: A Market Guide Beyond Hollywood by Angus Finney, 3rd edition (2022).
- Read The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott, 9th edition (2024), for content, social, podcasting, newsjacking and AI.
- Watch films, new releases and classics, and watch the trailers first: what did they promise, and what got you into the seat?
9 more lines
Stage 2: Experience and contacts
28 things to do, know or be able to do
Experience 10
- If you have finished studying, look for paid internships at distributors, agencies and sales companies; a placement with set hours and real work must be paid.
- Do you have a reference or two from a work experience or internship placement to add to your CV?
- Do you have a few work experience or internship placements on your CV?
7 more lines
Skills 9
- Practise your interview technique with friends and relatives; interviews are only nerve-racking when you have not had many.
- Continue to develop your office skills.
- Practise pitching your ideas.
6 more lines
Knowledge 9
- Research the company before each interview and keep re-reading the job description.
- If you are receiving no response, go back to your CV and work out what is missing; do you need more experience?
- Ask four questions before any placement: how long and what hours, is it paid or are expenses covered and is it shadowing, what will I do, and will you give a reference?
6 more lines
Stage 3: Paid work
22 things to do, know or be able to do
Experience 7
- Do you have a CV with relevant internships?
- Can you operate Excel?
- Can you collate data?
4 more lines
Skills 8
- Can you write a blog post, and a 30-second vertical video to go with it?
- Do you know how to run accounts on X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook: the formats, scheduling, community replies and what to escalate?
- Do you know where to look for release dates and what is in production?
5 more lines
Knowledge 7
- Have you decided which area of the industry you want to specialise in: distribution, an agency, production, publicity or film sales?
- Do you know how the industry uses the trades: Screen International and Screen Daily, Broadcast, Variety, Deadline, Campaign and Marketing Week?
- You need to know the best way to fit into the office environment; marketing can be very sociable.
4 more lines
Ways in for a marketing and PR assistant
Real schemes, checked on the organiser’s own page. A shut one is still here with when it comes back, because half the big schemes are closed at any one time and that is worth knowing.
- Trainee FinderScreenSkillsPeople over 18 who live in the UK and have less than 12 months of paid production experience in their chosen department. No on-set experience is needed, and there is no upper age limit.Final deadline 28 October 2026
- Yorkshire's Screen Diversity ProgrammeScreen YorkshirePeople aged 19 or over who live in York and North Yorkshire and have not done a Skills Bootcamp in the last 12 months. No screen experience or qualifications are needed, and graduates and career changers are welcome. Screen Yorkshire particularly encourages applicants from groups under-represented in film and television.Final deadline 2 November 2026
- Sara Putt Associates Trainee SchemeSara Putt AssociatesTwo professional credits but under three years' cumulative experience, in Camera, Sound, Edit, Production Office, Art, Costume, AD, Script Supervisor, Locations, or Hair and Make-Up.Final deadline 24 January 2027
Sources and References
This is MFJF’s own three-stage career plan for a marketing and PR assistant, written up from the career plan and the careers guide on our site. Open any of them yourself.
- MFJF career plan: Marketing and PR Assistant (PDF) the original plan this page was written up from
- MFJF careers guide: Marketing and PR Assistant what the job involves day to day
- The Three Career Stages the framework all three stages follow
Every link checked 19 September 2026. The plan itself was last revised September 2026.
