So I was a cinema and media studies major and entertainment industry minor at USC SCA. I studied there for 2 years but did not complete my degree due to financial reasons.
I am thinking about going back to finish my bachelors however, from what I’ve read most grads pursuing film business are only able to get jobs as low paid administrative assistants making about $15 hr.
At this wage it is very difficult to support yourself in Los Angeles even with roommates. People are usually stuck in these positions for a long time.
At agencies, assistants don’t usually become agents until they’re at least 30, and only about 10%of assistants move up.
At production companies it is very unlikely that you would become a producer, and if you did, that doesn’t usually happen until you’re about 40.
And if you got lucky and got an assistant position at a studio, congrats you’ll make $20/hr, you’re rich compared to your classmates! However, it is very unlikely that you’d ever become a studio exec, most of them have MBA’s
So is an SCA even worth it financially? I don’t want to pay $240,000 just to be a low paid male secretary
The typical entry level job to become an admin assistant is to be a mailroom worker at an agency. At a top agency like WME, UTA, CAA, only 3% of applicants to mailroom positions are hired. And these jobs only pay MINIMUM WAGE. Trying to make it in this industry is like playing the lottery
In the scenarios you are painting, studying film would not be worth it an any college. Of course not everyone becomes an admin assistant out of SCA. But if that is where you think it will go for you, then no, it is not worth it.
Are you…are you the same person? Because if you are, I have nothing more to add.
If you’re so bitter about your career prospects and potentially being a “male secretary” (isn’t that just a secretary? or are all secretaries supposed to be women by default?), then no, maybe you shouldn’t be in SCA. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you have too much pride to start at the bottom, then I suggest you find a different career path.
I get that money is an issue, but what really comes across to me is that just you look down on entry-level positions.
Can you attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts and still fail or give up early on in your career or still not make it big or not take full advantage of the networking that being among the SCA Mafia / Trojan Mafia might afford you over time? Well… of course. Harvard Law School grads, Wharton Business school grads and even Rhodes Scholars fail too. SCA is not a Golden Ticket or Magic Key to guaranteed success. But no other film school offers a greater potential platform or foundation for success in film or television… or its ancillary entertainment industry roles.
SCA has more than 10,000 alumni. My older daughter is already connected to over 1000 of them on LinkedIn.
Among the most notable SCA alumni are:
Judd Apatow
John Carpenter
Jon Chu
Ryan Coogler
Richard Edlund
Kevin Feige
Brian Grazer
Ron Howard
James Ivory
Rian Johnson
Eric Kripke
Jon Landau
Doug Liman
George Lucas
John Milius
Paula Patton
Kevin Reynolds
Jay Roach
Shonda Rhimes
Bryan Singer
John Singleton
Jon Turteltaub
Matthew Weiner
John Wells
Robert Zemeckis
And most started out at the bottom… and worked their way upward over time.
It sounds like you’ve already answered your own question, frankly.
Hollywood is not a career for everyone, and film school is NOT the same thing as actually WORKING in the industry. If you don’t like the idea of being a “male secretary” (assistant jobs are fantastic training grounds no matter where you work) then you’re not going to like the idea of getting home from work at 9-10pm with three scripts to read before you get to bed, while worrying about early morning calls to Europe and late evening calls to Asia. You’re also not going to like the idea of having a 5-6am call time to report to a set to rig lights and run power cables all day long, or doing the same job while living out of a motel room at a random location shoot.
The friends of mine who are most happy and successful in Hollywood are the ones who were making their own small films in school, writing for their school’s literary magazine, acting/producing community theater and public access television, etc. The people with the 4.0 GPAs and 1600 SATs were generally the first to bomb out and leave.
@USCAlum05 you make it sound like high stat kids lack dedication with your commentary. I think you would not notice just as many lower stat kids bomb, because that would not support your narrative. It could be they’re are just greater numbers of lower stat kids, therefore there’s a higher probability of them around the industry. For every one high stat kid that can convince their parents of this college choice over other fields, I would believe you would find 10 lower stat kids. Higher stat kids are discouraged by their peers and family at a greater rate from pursuing anything to do with the arts. So you may notice intelligent people leaving the industry but why would you even notice or care about the others leaving?
