I am used to ENG shoots on a small crew, but I had the chance to be a camera operator on a couple of bigger shoots and really liked the taste of it. I enjoyed being on a large crew, and the much smaller workload. I understand that to become a DP in the commercial/feature/cinema style world you have to work your way up as a 2nd AC, then 1rst AC or focus puller, and then a camera operator and then a DP. I am currently 34 years old, but I have 14 years of experience as a cameraman.
The reason I was able to be a camera operator was mainly because these were shoots my friends were coordination, or came from a smaller corporate job i did with a client. I would like to do more of this ad agency work however. But everyone keeps telling me I have to start as a 2nd AC, which I do not mind at all.
The question is, how can I break into the cinema side of things as a 2nd AC? How do I train to become a 2nd AC and get that first gig so that I can work my way up?
Here is a link to a job I did where I was the operator, I had an AC pulling focus, and the DP was my buddy who was just standing around watching on a monitor: