How To Write a Holiday Check-In Email To Stay in Touch with Your Entertainment Industry Network

We’ve often shared that one of our favorite networking tips is to reach out to your contacts around the holidays, as it’s a natural time to check in and maintain that relationship. But how exactly should you go about this?

First of all, send personal notes to any contacts you truly want to engage with. Your goal is to reaffirm your relationships with your contacts, and that means approaching them as an individual who you are truly invested in building a connection with. A mass email where you update your contacts with a year-in-review is nice, and a widely distributed simple “Happy Holidays” card is a lovely gesture, but you’re not likely to get a personal or meaningful response. Instead, craft separate notes to your contacts. They can be similar in nature, but should acknowledge your relationship with the person or your specific goals for reaching out. 

Start by asking your contact how they've been, and feel free to mention any news you’ve seen about their work. For instance, if you saw they got a promotion and you haven’t reached out yet to congratulate them, now’s a good time to do so. Or you can reference a project that they worked on that you enjoyed. Make sure to offer to help them however you can in the new year. Many people across the industry had a tough year in 2023, and even if you’re among them, you may still be able to support a colleague in their career.

Then, share a quick, positive update about what you’re up to. For example: 

• I spent most of the past year on the picket lines and took the down time to finish a pilot, which I’m planning to shop around in the new year. I’m hopeful that work will start picking up again in 2024, and we’ll be able to get back to normal.

• I just wrapped SHOW NAME and am looking for my next field producing gig in 2024. I've really enjoyed working on home reno shows lately and would love to find another gig in that space, though I'm open to anything in the lifestyle arena - please keep me in mind if you hear of anything!

• Work at Company Name has been finally picking up after the strikes, and I’m excited to continue growing our slate in 2024 and get back to business as usual!

• 2023 has been a whirlwind year! I’m thrilled that my film FILM NAME placed in SXSW, and I'm starting to develop my next independent project. I’m also still editing in-house at Company Name – we expanded to work on branded content projects over the last few months, and it’s been interesting to learn more about that side of the business.

​If you have the bandwidth, you can always include an invitation to get together in the new year alongside your warm holiday greeting. Don’t overstuff your calendar, but if you genuinely want to connect with this person over coffee or drinks, say so, and then make a note to follow up to actually get it on the books.

The message should be short and sweet. But don’t be so short as to make the endeavor meaningless. For example, “Just wanted to wish you and yours a happy holiday season and fruitful 2024! Let me know what you’ve been up to!” is far too vague and impersonal to warrant a response. 

It’s best to send these emails either before the industry “closes” on December 15, or right when people are back the week of January 2, unless you’re contacting someone on their personal email. And you don’t have to send a message to every single contact you have (though kudos to you if you do!). Make a list of the highest priority contacts (those who you would love help from with your job search, people you want to do business with in the new year, close contacts you haven’t spoken to in recent months) and start there.