When the Oscar nominations were announced in January, celebrating along with Christopher Nolan, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Meryl Steep, were two first-time English filmmakers Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton. Their film, “The Silent Child,” nabbed a nomination for Best Short Film.

“The Silent Child centres around a profoundly deaf four year old girl named Libby who is born into a middle class family and lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker teaches her the gift of communication.” Doesn’t that sound Oscar-worthy?

They seemingly got there through an online sourced crew and a crowdfunded budget. Before making this film, Chris ran a showreels company.

When a member of the subreddit /r/filmmakers excitedly shared the news and an interview with the filmmaker, How a showreels director became Oscar-nominated for his first short film, the second most popular comment, with 5 upvotes, said:

“Awesome to read. Looking forward to seeing this film…”

Was that a rare moment of celebration and admiration on Reddit? No. The most popular post, with 51 upvotes:

“So you mean if you’ve been a professional actor for 15 years and have worked with people like Roman Polanski, you have the connections to get a professional crew together and make a short film?? SHOCKING BREAKTHROUGH GUYS, I’M SO INSPIRED”

We could dismiss this user, and the at least 51 people who agreed with his post, as simply being salty. Or does he have a point? Was it truly their first film? Did they really just pluck their crew from the internet? How much did their position in the film industry influence their success?

I’ll briefly share my own trajectory that allowed me to enter into the humble world of filmmaking in the Netherlands. It all started when I was around six years old.

Thanks to attending basic Hebrew and Jewish cultural lessons at the Synagogue when I was young, a casting agent spotted me as a potential extra for actor Jeroen Krabbé’s first feature film as a director, “Left Luggage.”

Isabella Roseslini and Laura Fraser in “Left Luggage” 1998

The film is a weepy drama focused on the orthodox community in Antwerp, and my young Semitic features got me the role of Hassidic boy dancing around a fire singing a song in Yiddish. I rehearsed with the other young actors, I met Isabella Rossellini, and they glued curly hair to the side of my head.

It was an amazing experience because for the first time I realized that movies were made. The director was friendly and had a big beard, and the cameras rolled around on train tracks. Movies didn’t just spontaneously exist. One day I could make movies! From then on I had an answer to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Jeroen Krabbé acting in his own movie, with a great Jewish/Director’s beard

Fast-forward about a decade, the casting director from “Left Luggage” rings up my folks. Am I interested in auditioning for an online commercial for Twix? They’re looking for a young American teenage nerd type. Oh, thanks. I get the part.

I bought an iPod with my acting paycheck!

Without all those previous experiences, and my fancy film school education, I wouldn’t have been in a position to start up a video production company.

Fast-forward another few years. I am attending Emerson College in Boston getting my BA in Film. During my summer break after my freshman year, I’m at the Boom Chicago theater in Amsterdam (Best Director nominee Jordan Peele was a cast member in the early 2000s). I’m out with friends, drinking, having a good time watching some improvised comedy. After the show I mention to cast member Greg Shapiro (who I’ve now collaborated with countless times), “Hey, we kinda worked together. I was in that Twix campaign that you also did a part for.” He gives me a beer and mentions the writer of the advertisement, Claire Taylor.

The next day, thanks to Claire’s easy to remember European name, I quickly Google her contact info. I offer my services as a summer intern. She responds favorably: she liked my performance in her ad, and I’m studying in Boston where she grew up.

After college, now back in Amsterdam, I finagle my way into an internship at Boom Chicago. Through them I make commercials and sketch videos, one of which was shown on Comedy Central as an advertisement, and even in my favorite movie theater in Amsterdam, the Tuchinksi. As part of my skeleton crew, I use people I met through a barebones film-networking meeting in The Netherlands when I first came back.

One of those crew members recommends me as an editor to a 48 hour film team. This is a competition project where a crew makes a short film in 48 hours. Sometimes they can even be good! The post-production company who sponsored the team liked how I worked under pressure. I am hired there for a little while as an editor.

While bobbing about freelancing here and there, Claire Taylor, the aforementioned advertising lady, recommends me as a copywriter for a job with DigitasLBi working on their Under Armour campaign. Suddenly I am writing copy for a large social media campaign.

Today I freelance as a copywriter, a video editor, and together with my wife run our own video production company Wild Meep creating “vibrant videos that connect communities.”

Without being cast at a young age I wouldn’t have pursued film making. Without acting in the Twix ad I wouldn’t have been introduced to freelance advertising work. Without my relationship with Boom Chicago I wouldn’t have interned with them. Without my work with them I wouldn’t have been recommended for the 48 hour film team. Without the 48 hour project I wouldn’t have been subsequently hired as a freelance editor. Without all those previous experiences, and my fancy film school education, I wouldn’t have been in a position to start up a video production company.

So how did we get our first client? Our logo designer Merel introduced us to a friend from way back who ran a music festival called Georgie’s Wundergarten. They were interested in creating videos for their summer festival.

Our case Study Video for the Georgie’s Wundergarten Campaign, aren’t we charming and personable?

So how did we meet her? She was selling her art at the hip and happening Volkshotel.

“American woman” by Merel Corduwener now hangs on our apartment wall

I can trace, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, which project led to what. Often times we feel the need to disguise our trajectory, not reveal our path that would pop our bubbles of “merit” and “talent.” This is unnecessary, and fortunately those who have made greater strides than myself are revealing their journeys, if you look.

So what about Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton, and their Oscar nomination? How much did their network and connections influence their recent great success?

Chris Overton lays it out pretty clearly in his interview with Mandy.com, the film jobs posting website. “I’ve always been in the industry from a very young age…When I was 20, I set up a company called Slick Showreels. Myself and Danny Ormerod run it.” As an actor Chris worked with some big name directors: “I’ve been lucky enough to take on board what they do and how they approach directing actors. It feels like my acting has been training to be a director.”

As valuable as professional set experience can be, it’s his business that provided the practice and roadmap for success. Chris’ Slick Showreels company creates reel worthy scenes for actors to showcase their talent for about £350 a pop on the low end.

Writing and directing multiple scenes for a variety of different actors, over a few years, is a lot of short film. As Chris explains, “Although the showreels are low-level film making, we’ve had so many guys come our way and join our team.”

How did they find those people? Chris claims they did it almost completely through Mandy.com. The website is obviously quite proud of this fact, and interviewed the short film’s boom operator. What attracted him to the project despite its lengthy shoot schedule and no-pay?

“The plot really caught my attention as it is actually a film for a real cause and the writer and star was a recognised actress. However, I had been working for no pay jobs for a while and was a bit tired of not being recognised for my work…But the team said they would cover all my expenses, so I jumped on board. And I could not be any happier for that decision.”

Also interviewed was their gaffer Neal Parsons. He says he “was excited by this opportunity to work with and learn from DoP Abed Farahani, and with director Chris Overton who I’ve known and worked with for nearly four years.”

Okay, so how did they get that cinematographer? Chris explains: “Ali Farahani, is just an absolute genius and we found him on [Mandy.com]…quite a few years ago, so he’s been working for us quite a long time.”

Let’s lay it out. Chris starts as an actor at a young age, and through his experiences on set he builds up a showreel company together with another actor. Through his showreel company he builds his network of filmmakers, primarily using the site Mandy.com. Through his personal romantic relationship with a talented writer and reasonably well known actress, Rachel Shenton, he has the opportunity to direct a short film with a concept that resonates.

Therefore, over a period of years, with clearly determined focus and work, they found themselves in a position where they could truly make something that got into an incredible amount of festivals, won a tremendous amount of awards, and was ultimately nominated for an Oscar.

Let’s not vilify those who reveal their trajectory and use caution when celebrating those who obfuscate.

Do we begrudge their rise to success as inevitable and not worthy of praise, or do we elevate their story as a roadmap towards recognition? How about we recognize the essential truth: that anybody who makes it, with perhaps some extreme exceptions, did so thanks to the relationships they’ve built along the way, fueled through a combination of opportunities, privilege, effort, and skill. You could have all the advantages, but without ability you’re not going to be noticed. Perhaps you have all the ability, but without a community, how are you going to create?

There’s something incredibly intoxicating about the fairytale of the plucked-out-of-the-ether talent. It’s why we love competition shows. It’s why actors who audition for open casting calls are elevated to stardom and are seen as so exciting. It’s why there is a frustration when that mythology is clearly fabricated, yet promoted, and we spot its construction. The individual who just oozes talent through each and every pore and just needs the right gatekeeper to hold open the door, well, most of us aren’t that person. Most of us will need to slog our way towards our personal definition of success and will require all the help we can get along the way. Let’s not vilify those who reveal their trajectory and use caution when celebrating those who obfuscate.