Day: November 18, 2025

• Darshan Patel landed a film internship by Venmoing 50 cents and his résumé to a favorite director.
• Patel’s unique approach helped him break into the competitive film and entertainment industry.
• His internship expanded his network, and he premiered a film at the Chelsea Film Festival this year.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Darshan Patel, a 28-year-old film and marketing professional based in Brooklyn, New York. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

In my second-to-last semester of college, I started actively searching for postgrad work in the film or entertainment industries. I had studied advertising with a minor in film studies, and I was applying to any opportunity I could find online, including cold emailing studios and direct messaging producers and directors on Instagram.

As graduation approached, I still couldn’t seem to get in contact with any studios. I randomly came up with the idea of Venmoing a director to get their attention.

I felt regret the moment I sent the message, but it ultimately launched my film career. It taught me that you have to do something unique to get attention in this job market.

The Venmo idea was a huge risk

I really admired the director Oscar Boyson, so I DM’d him a few times on Instagram about working for him. Honestly, I bothered that man a lot. I even emailed other directors in his company, but I never got a response.

One day, I had the idea to see if he was on Venmo. Given his unique name, I found his Venmo account straight away. I decided to send him 50 cents as a joke, with the caption “something to sweeten the deal,” alongside a link to an Instagram DM I had sent him that included my résumé.

The second I sent it, I thought, “What am I doing?” It really could’ve gone either way. Either he’d find it funny, or I could be blacklisted forever.

A month went by, and I followed up with a more professional email, mentioning the Venmo transaction. He called me for an interview. We had a conversation about the Venmo transaction when we first started working together, and we made it into a joke.

I ended up working with him for six months

I moved from Florida to New York City to intern with him as a studio assistant, where I handled various hands-on production tasks. It was unpaid, but all my travel, food, and miscellaneous work expenses were covered. I didn’t mind not getting paid because the experience itself was worth it.

I learned a lot from him, from budgeting to scriptwriting, which really helped me shape a better understanding of how the film industry worked. I feel like I learned more in those six months than I did in college.

He also introduced me to new directors and producers he knew, which gave me the opportunity to work as a PA or assistant on other projects, such as an ASAP Mob shoot for Yams Day.

I think what really helped was having Oscar Boyson’s name on my résumé. When I was trying to make my first short film, I felt like it gave me more credibility.

Since the internship finished in late 2020, I’ve continued to work in film

I’m working a day job at an in-house marketing agency, but I spend a lot of my spare time working on my own film projects.

My second short film, “Lou and Jane,” recently premiered at the Chelsea Film Festival, which created a lot more opportunities for me in the industry. I filmed three additional projects in the summer, and I’m currently working on a feature-length film.

My overall goal is to become a full-time film director and producer. In a dream, I’d win an Oscar, but really, I’d just like to have an independent studio where I can develop my own projects and help other underrepresented or POC filmmakers.

My advice is not to be afraid to bother people

Imagine being a director who’s constantly approached by film students for work or advice. In any industry, but especially the film industry, you have to stand out.

My little brother just graduated from film school, and I’ve been telling him that sometimes you have to bother people. It sounds bad, but they might not see you if you don’t.

Many industry experts are eager to help, and if they can sense your passion and recognize that you have something of value, they might say yes or even pass you on to someone else. You never know what could happen.

• After a shooting at Blackstone’s headquarters this summer, the firm’s executives sprang into action.
• Paige Ross, the firm’s head of HR, walked Business Insider through its response since the tragedy.
• Ross said one unexpected need was counselors to help employees explain the event to their children.

When Blackstone had to address the private equity giant’s nearly 5,000 employees across 27 cities after the tragic shooting at its global headquarters on July 28, it was clear how the firm’s executives would do it.

The firm had already made it a habit to connect over Zoom with Blackstone TV, a Monday morning video meeting launched during the Covid-19 pandemic for CEO Steve Schwarzman and his management team to keep the company close. Now, that infrastructure was being used by the firm to share in grief.

The morning after the shooting, Blackstone’s president, Jon Gray, and Schwarzman addressed the firm, sharing that one of the firm’s executives, BREIT CEO Wesley LePatner, had been one of the four victims of the shooting at the office tower.

“I’ve been working with Jon for almost 10 years. I’ve never seen him that moved,” Paige Ross, the firm’s head of HR, told Business Insider.

She said employees appreciated the “authentic response” from the firm’s leaders after a man with an assault rifle walked into the high-rise at 345 Park Avenue and began an attack that killed four people. Ross described how the firm navigated one of the most difficult moments in its history in an interview with Business Insider, revealing how the private equity giant handled the shooting in the moment and how it’s continued to support employees through grief and trauma.

“The best of Blackstone came out on its worst day,” Ross said, who said she was proud of the firm’s response and how its employees kept each other safe.

July 28

Around 6.30 pm on that Monday in July, a lone gunman carried out a shooting inside the 44-story building, which houses several high-powered businesses, including the NFL and a KPMG office.

As the intruder began to shoot, Blackstone’s leadership team sprang into action.

Ross, who was in the building, said that her sole mission was “to protect our people.”

During the active shooting incident, the firm’s executives worked to manage the physical safety of those in the building. They attempted to locate everyone who would have been on-site and share the information provided by the police with those inside the building.

Images of Blackstone employees barricading their office with furniture went viral the night of the attack. Business Insider previously reported that employees also barricaded themselves inside bathrooms, closets, and conference rooms. Some employees were hunkered down in the building past 10 p.m.

Ross described the time she spent responding to the shooting as a moment of “locking into what you need to do and just running.”

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” she said.

How to support employees

After the firm’s leaders addressed the whole company, the next step was to see what employees needed. Ross personally called more than 50 people.

“People were at different points of processing it,” Ross said, explaining that some traveling employees just wanted to get home to their children. Some employees wanted to return to the office immediately, while others wanted more time to continue working remotely.

In those early conversations, the firm’s leaders were also trying to understand what employees needed more broadly. Ross said it quickly became clear that their employees had a need that the firm “didn’t anticipate”: how they should talk to their children about the shooting.

Ross’s team sought out mental health professionals who specialized in working with children in crisis, and they delivered a session for employees within a week.

“Nobody expects that you’re going to have to help your employees talk to their children about someone dying at the office, or how they’d been stuck in a building for hours and make it home,” Ross said.

Back to the office

The following Monday, the firm’s offices reopened. It was reported that Gray and Schwarzman were in the lobby, welcoming employees who had chosen to return.

The firm also had counselors at the ready to support its employees.

“When we saw people in the lobby who were struggling, we offered to have them talk to somebody,” Ross said.

Some employees apologized for getting emotional and needing extra support. Ross recalled one conversation with an employee who apologized for being affected and said they didn’t know why they were so affected by the shooting.

“You don’t know why you’re affected,” said Ross. “We were invaded, it’s OK to feel that way.”

The firm has continued to roll out increased mental health services, including individual and group counseling sessions, and expert-led sessions giving advice on how to manage grief, trauma, anxiety, and how employees speak to their children about the event.

Since the shooting, security has been heavily increased. During Business Insider’s visits this fall, we could see private security detail and police officers standing at both building entrances and scattered throughout the reception area.

To honor LePatner, the firm, its charitable foundation, and senior leaders have donated to a charitable fund founded by her family. The firm plans to host an NYC Day of Service in her honor before the end of the year and has established an annual “Wesley LePatner Award” in her memory for an employee. Ross said the real estate team is also taking her office and turning it into a memorial conference room.

They have also made donations to support the families of Didarul Islam and Aland Etienne, the fallen police officer and security guard, and a donation in honor of Julia Hyman, the fourth victim, at her family’s choosing.

Ross said that life is largely back to normal at the firm, but many people, including herself, miss LePatner’s presence at the office.

“Everybody will always miss Wesley,” Ross said.