Hello!
I’m a freshman in college, and I’m currently studying Bio with a pre-med emphasis. With that being said, I’m not good at science or math. I really enjoy English, or anything to do with writing and reading. I’ve always been creative. I’ve always been mystified by the film industry. My dream job would be to work on a movie set directing, working the camera, editing films, or even working in the art department. I love the idea of creating something and working with people to finish the project. So I have a question. Is a film degree really worth it? I know it costs a ton of money, and I don’t want to be in a ton of debt and then have a useless major when I graduate. I know getting into film is hard and you need to network, but I thought that was what going to school was for? I am willing to network myself and put 110% into it, but I don’t have much experience with making any movies besides making my own mini movies and skits when I have the chance during the summer and my friends want to help me out. I would love to get on some sets just to see what a person does, but I don’t live in a state where the film industry is popular. Can you even job shadow on a movie set, or would that be considered becoming a PA? Everyone brushes off my idea of a film degree or even working in the business, away. Anyone have any advice?? Should I go for it, or should I just change my major to English or communications or psychology? I’ve got the assumption that no major guarantees a job anymore except in the medical field. I’m just really lost, anyone have any advice??? Please and thank you.
You’re right that film degrees are very expensive, and they don’t guarantee a job by any means. In this day and age, many filmmakers (generally) agree that while film school is a beneficial experience, it’s far from necessary to have a career in film - * especially * if it’ll put you into debt (that’s the real kicker). Everything depends on your motivation, existing knowledge, work ethic, social skills, location, etc. Personally, I think going to film school is a pretty bad idea. It’s a good idea if you can double major in something else practical, minor in film and major in something practical, or if you have a rich family and you can get a degree in anything you want.
It’s extremely hard to break into the film industry, and doing so with a lot of debt is nearly impossible. Think about it. With filmmaking and screenwriting, you don’t go to an office 9 to 5. All the work you get is on a project by project basis. When work on one film is done, you have to move on to the next, so you’ll always be searching for new work every few weeks or months. Unless you’re an incredibly famous, well-established director or writer (and even then), people don’t come to you and offer you jobs. You have to make your own opportunities. It’s an endless search, endlessly asking for things, looking for jobs, raising money, contacting agents, managers, and producers. It’s all on you.
How does one survive in this sort of environment? Essentially all filmmakers, regardless of their education, start out in the independent branch. If you graduate with a film degree from even the most prestigious schools like USC or NYU, no one really cares unless you have a body of high quality of short films to back you up. THAT is what really matters. A piece of paper doesn’t prove that you have decent filmmaking skills - that proof comes from having credits under your belt (even if it was just “I volunteered as a production assistant on X film”). You don’t necessarily have to live in Los Angeles to be a PA. If anything, it’ll work to your advantage to live outside of LA, because there’s less competition for jobs (although living in a very small town isn’t going to help you either). I’ve even heard before that directors like to hire “green” filmmakers who didn’t go to film school, because they’re a lot more likely to work for free, and they won’t act like they know everything.
I don’t know if you’re interested in screenwriting or just production, but for writing, the difference is even more severe. No one really cares if you got a degree in screenwriting. That isn’t enough proof that you can tell good stories that’ll make a studio money. Win a major contest like the Nichol fellowship and that turns heads. Have a body of scripts you can physically show people, and that also turns heads. There’s very little correlation between education and quality of work when it comes to writers. Just look at Quentin Tarantino. He’s an Oscar winning screenwriter/director, better than most film school grads combined (and much more profitable), and he dropped out of high school. Filmmaking is technical and you need to collaborate with others. Writing is very solitary, and pretty innate. Most great writers get inspired by reading a lot and watching plenty of movies, not sitting in a lecture hall while some ‘expert’ (who usually hasn’t sold any notable scripts themselves) tells them how to write.
So, most people start out as production assistants, or working on other peoples films. Lots of people become successful by working their way up the chain, networking, and getting experience. Plenty of people will tell you the best place to network is film school (but you don’t seem like you want to go to an actual film school anyways), yet in reality, I think you can network just fine by doing freelance work. Breaking in is unbelievably difficult if you have debts to pay off however. Considering most entry level film work pays very little (because you don’t need a USC education to be the person holding the boom pole or delivering coffee), you’ll need to live on a tight budget for a while. Paying for food and housing/utilities is already hard enough. Add in debt from an expensive degree that by no means guarantees a job? You’ve kind of just sunk yourself into a hole. You’ve made an already difficult lifestyle even more difficult. The tuition of one year at a film school like USC is enough to produce three Blair Witch Projects (the most profitable independent film of all time, made for around 20,000 dollars before editing and marketing, and grossing 250 million dollars worldwide). With that kind of money, you could buy yourself a great set of professional film equipment that could be used to produce dozens of films, and you’d own all of it (no sharing, and you wouldn’t have to give it up after graduation). That’s what Christopher Nolan did - he took $7,000 of his own money and made Following. Same with Robert Rodriguez. A lot of writers and filmmakers with these kinds of debts end up getting regular jobs like working in retail/teaching/services/etc. to make ends meet, and kind of get ‘stuck’ in those predictable jobs because the checks need to keep coming in. Very few people can pay off their debts and pay for their lifestyle on the salary of a film career alone, for at least a few years after graduation while you establish yourself. Everyone thinks they’ll make a blockbuster right after graduation and that’ll pay off the debt, but that’s not the reality for 99% of people.
Sixty years ago, filmmaking was pretty elite. The internet and digital mediums didn’t exist. People used expensive, heavy 35mm film cameras to shoot with actual, easy-to-damage, expensive film stock. The only place to get access to these materials was film school, because the average person simply couldn’t afford them. Hence, film schools churned out a tiny, select group of people who all went on to work together, building up the name of these schools. The same thing applied to meeting people. You couldn’t find a film crew in a few hours via something like craigslist. Online film groups didn’t exist. To speak with and collaborate with like minded individuals, film school was the only place to go. Today however, the trade of information is much easier: there are loads of e-books and online forums (such as Indietalk and Done Deal Pro) dedicated to spreading filmmaking knowledge (just look on youtube, channels like filmriot, Indy Mogul, and you’ll see all the information out there). Today, literally anyone can become a filmmaker. Film equipment has become lighter, cheaper, better quality, and easier to share. Social media has changed the entire market. Today, the main benefit of film school is meeting people you can collaborate with, although that isn’t an issue if you live in a big city or can seek out people who also like film.
If this is something you’re really serious about, I say go without a film degree for a while. I’m sure you could shadow a movie set - so long as you don’t ask for payment and offer to help out in any way you can, I doubt people would care. Hopefully I’ve given you a basic rundown of all the big arguments against film school (most of this is stuff I’ve garnered by reading books, browsing around online, etc.). Ultimately, it’s your choice. I think you should pick up a few books on the subject first, just to see how you really feel about all this. You don’t have to drop everything all at once - you can even start out by joining your campuses film club (if they have one), or taking some film classes. If you worked really hard to get into your current college, you might consider switching majors (since it sounds like you don’t really like math and science) and finishing up your education so you’ll have a practical backup degree later on incase things go awry, and pursue film part time. If filmmaking is your passion, go for it. And good luck!