Life and work as a composer?

[protilius]

I'm just now completing school in Madison Media Institute, and wanted to start sending out resumes and demos to various companies that have use for freelance or house composers. I on the other hand was wondering if advertising companies were the way to go, and if so, is there a list of advertising companies I could hit like a master directory?

 

Would that be more a Production company roll if not Advertising? Are they usualy two seperate entitees, or do advertising company's do they're own commercial work with an in-house studio?

 

What's the best way for freelance Scoring and Post-Production to become a reality for an educated and practicing writer of music?

 

I use Reason and Pro-tools primarily, the end results are marketable, I'm just not out for rockstar fame being thats not the kind of music I write. I like doing things for Movies, games, or even commercial use. No platnum hits being I don't sing often and rarely record vocals being a lack of talent and equipement.

 

Should I hire an agent or a lawyor, just let them deal with the shopping of my talents, or should I get off my bum and actualy research a couple hundred companies and let the job hunt begin?

 

I can never seem to get straight answers out of most pros I talk to, everyone seems to get they're gigs iin different ways, frequently because they knew someone or were just plain lucky.

 

I've compiled a DVD resume with contact info and menu's to guide potential employers through a small archieve of material properaly structured for exploration. Scoring, Sound Design, Commercial, Musical Style sublists, ect.

 

Is a DVD Resume too much, or inventive? I find that actualy presenting a finished product within a resume is realy cool, between the menu's sounds and score, I get to show off material as they're exploring my resume and material as it is.

 

Would that be the best way to present a 5.1 mix?

 

Anyhow... Answers or sugestions are apreciated. I'm just trying to brainstorm a career to make some money in.