Wift Member, Saida Ahmed Mohamed shares her experience as a trainee on SF and Netflix film satire horror – Konferensen.

Congratulations on the film Konferensen! For those of us who may not have seen it on Netflix yet- can you share a short one liner?

-Thank you! This is a movie where you will laugh a lot from the get go, even when its bloody.

Wift Sweden met you in Göteborg when you were working at the Göteborg Film Festival – where we saw you in action showing very clear leadership and project management skills. How did you get involved with the SF production ?

Thank you, funny that you met me in my first ever manager position, the same hour I started, haha! I applied to the Netflix trainee position from LinkedIn and went to 3 interviews to meet the producers from SF. It was around 80 people who applied so I am grateful to have landed the position. That was during the summer of 2022 so a month later I started to work at our office.

What are the key takeaways that you learnt about yourself in this experience ?

Probably that I can solve any problem that I come across, I just have to breathe and think through things. How important timing is on a film set, that everyone is respectful of each other so to be on time with everything always, is critical.  To trust the process.  I learnt what my department was doing first and then I got to shadow camera and location departments and so on. That gave me clarity in what is the end goal in the production and how all of the pieces are connected. 

Was it stressful and if so what kind of stress ? Because some stress is positive stress? How do you cope with wanting to do a really good job in front of your colleagues and not having a meltdown?

Every set is stressful at times but mostly just have the meltdown! Everyone has meltdowns and then you go back to work! And I believe in a workspace without unnecessary stress so planning is key, even for small events like parties or buying cakes.

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

 I see myself working in TV and Film in a leadership position, in casting or distribution. I believe we need more open, curious and inclusive people in those areas.

If someone was reading this now- and wants to come into the film industry – what is your advice to them?

Take chances, use linkedin  as a way to contact other film workers and network. Most important is that you feel and give respect because this industry is tough.