<p>My true passion is film, and I would love to go to film school, however I am worried if I will be able to support myself financially if I don't end up becoming a big-time director. Any thoughts on this from current film school students, or those who have to make this choice before?e </p>
<p>Sorry, I realize this may be the wrong place to post this...</p>
<p>bump10char</p>
<p>We, a group of 12, Just went to see a friend’s D’s film in memory of her mother (our friend). She is the producer/director of the film and her mom is wealthy and left her D a big estate. The D is pretty active in film making and have been for 15 years, she went to Tish and others in the Europe.</p>
<p>Long story short, the film was played only in one theather in SF for a week. When we were there, must have only 40 audiances. I don’t think she will ever recover her cost, even its not a bad movie. To be big time director, its 1 in 1000 chance.</p>
<p>right but becoming a director isn’t the only feasibly option after film school, is it? there are many other position in the film industry.</p>
<p>Can you double major as a back up? I would think that as long as you have a back-up and don’t borrow too much, it’s a safe chance to take.</p>
<p>i dont think the top film schools(USC SCA, Tisch etc) allow anyone to double major, just because their film programs are so rigorous and time consuming.</p>
<p>Financial viability can’t be a factor when going into film. You need to love it and want to do it more than anything else.</p>
<p>maverick2011 -</p>
<p>You may want to ask this in the Visual Arts/Film Majors sub-forum inside the College Majors Forum, and/or in the Parents Forum.</p>
<p>Happykid is a Theater Tech/Design major. Every college where we have visited, the Tech/Design professors have looked us in the eye and said, “Our graduates all get jobs. With the actors, it’s different, but the Tech/Design graduates are all working.” I suspect it is the same in much of the film industry as well.</p>
<p>Being producer/director is the ultimate goals of any film maker other than being successful in acting. There is no long term emplyment in film making, each film is independent, threfore work in the film industry is a risky business, you have to apply for new job constantly.</p>
<p>The producer/director could have substaintial gain if the film is successful. To the behind scene workers it is just a job, you get paid a regular salary, no gain, no glory.</p>
<p>Tisch students are in fact allowed to double major, it simply depends on how much work they want to do each semester. I have a friend (Tisch student) doing a double major and a minor. As far as financial feasibility goes… Unless you double major in something, it isn’t a highly financially feasible subject of study. Yes, it’s possible that you could make it big. But, more likely than not, you won’t. Tisch and USC are both very expensive schools. Advice would be to (1) not take out too much for loans (e.g. less than $40,000) and (2) don’t expect to be making more than $30,000-$40,000/yr starting; maybe $65,000 mid-career.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine has worked in the film industry for 18 years. Not directing, but he earns enough to make a living in L.A. (which isn’t necessarily a cheap city). In fact, out of the several film school students I knew in college, all but one wound up working in the industry… and none of them were directors. </p>
<p>Make sure your networking skills are at least as good as your degree. My friend says typically you line up your next job through contacts you make at your current or past gigs.</p>
<p>I just wanted to make sure that there was a good chance if landing a reasonably well-paid job after film school, and that I wouldn’t have to come back to college again afterwards if the right opportunity didn’t find me.</p>
<p>internships networking internships…those are your weapons in this industry. Is it financially viable? Absolutely not. Most liberal arts degrees tend not to be. If you want a degree in film, you have to really love it, since chances are very slim you can land it big (director, writer, or otherwise). </p>
<p>If you are on a scholarship, or you/your parents are paying for your college…it’s not worth it for a major. You could always minor in it though…that’s much more feasible. </p>
<p>Making a good film is about raw talent. No one cares if you can make a video about a bullied orphan in black and white. Many of the greatest film directors never went to film school, a lot who did go, ended up dropping out. </p>
<p>I’d suggest get something like a business major (including econ), with a film minor, and constantly refining your skills. You’ll be able to get into hollywood at a level which isn’t serving coffee to a director, much more easily.</p>
<p>Advice from someone who wanted to be a film major in highschool, then became rational.</p>
<p>The Marshall School of Business at USC offers a combined major Business Administration/Cinematic Arts. This might be a program you could investigate.</p>
<p>*can’t edit my post, slight addition</p>
<p>What I should have said was, if you want a career financially viable in FILM (as in, do a job directly related to your degree), then…well, it’s pretty useless, unless you do tons of networking/internships, and have insane raw talent. </p>
<p>However, majoring in film won’t mean you won’t have job prospects. You’ll learn to solve problems, analyze, be methodical, etc. You just have to be able to market yourself, and have good internships/experience. You can still get a good job with a film major, but it will be harder than a more marketable degree (business, economics, engineering, etc). But, this will probably mean you won’t be working in film.</p>
<p>Like all have said above - becoming a director, whether of films/videos/commercials - and earning a living, that is very hard.</p>
<p>You can work your way up in the industry from 4th Assistant director to 3rd to 2nd to 1st assistant director, and that would be a realistic way to put a film degree to work and make a living.</p>
<p>Here are the government’s statistics for the industry: </p>
<p>[Motion</a> Picture and Video Industries](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs038.htm]Motion”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs038.htm) </p>
<p>There is work if you want it, but don’t expect to collect that big paycheck after directing your academy award winning film at age 25. It’s changing rapidly, and it is no place for someone looking for job security. Put your time in, network, be talented and reliable. Why wouldn’t you give it a shot now?</p>