I have heard people saying that Film Majors are a waste (or watched videos about this). Like that I won’t be able to get a job with a film major - I am currently in the 10th grade and I want to go to USC or NYU for film - and they also say that I would just be wasting money by going there, should I not become something in film or should become something in a different area? Like will I be able to get a good job? (Screenwriting, Directing, Producing <- Or would those all be really hard to get into)
The reason people say this is because it’s extremely hard to break into film, 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 from USC or NYU, no one really cares unless you have an amazing reel (aka, a collection of short clips from all your projects, used to show off your skill). THAT is what really matters. A piece of paper doesn’t prove that you have good filmmaking skills - that proof comes from having credits under your belt (even if it was just “I worked as a production assistant on X film”). For writing, the difference is even more severe. No one cares if you got a degree in screenwriting from USC. 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, better than most USC and NYU grads combined (and much more profitable), and he dropped out of high school. Filmmaking is technical and on some level, 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. That’s completely natural. Lots of people become successful by working their way up the chain, networking, and getting experience. However, this lifestyle is unbelievably difficult if you have debts to pay. 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 a horrendously expensive school like NYU and USC? You’ve kind of just sunk yourself into a hole. You’ve made an already difficult lifestyle even more difficult. Personally, I think it’s almost criminal what schools like USC and NYU charge, and I can’t imagine how anyone could every pay tuition that without feeling like they were selling a piece of their soul. The tuition of one year at 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 short films, and you’d own all of it (no sharing, and you wouldn’t have to give it up after graduation). 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 jobs because their checks need to keep coming in. Working as a food server is secure and consistent. Working in film isn’t so much. Very, 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 sadly, that’s not the reality for 99% of people. It’s like playing the lottery. Hinging everything on something like that is a gamble.
Now, this isn’t to say that people don’t work in film unless they have a degree in film. The opposite is true. Sixty years ago, filmmaking was pretty elite. The internet didn’t exist, and digital mediums didn’t exist. People used expensive, heavy 35mm film cameras to shoot with actual film, something that was also expensive, easy to damage, and difficult to edit. The only place to get access to these materials was film school, because the average person simply couldn’t afford them. Hence, schools like NYU and USC 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. This is where the trade of information happened. Today however, there are loads of e-books and online forums dedicated to spreading filmmaking knowledge (just look on youtube, channels like filmriot, and you’ll see all the information out there). Today, literally anyone can become a filmmaker. Digital cameras give extremely good HD images for such a tiny fraction of the price people used to pay. Everything has become lighter, cheaper, more efficient, 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. And even then, you can find a film program at a state school if you want to meet people. You don’t have to blow all your cash on NYU or USC.
I hope I’ve given you a basic rundown of all the big arguments against film school. Ultimately, it’s your choice. For a lot of people, expensive, prestigious film schools are simply outdated; the benefits of possibly meeting someone influential are canceled out by the price and the fact that so many things exclusively offered by film schools in the past are available to everyone nowadays. Still, I’m sure it’s a really fun, enriching experience. If you have the money, you should go for it. But if it’ll sink you into debt, I’d say you’d be smart to stay away
I know someone who went to NYU film school, and went on to become a producer of many films, attend film festivals around the world for years, socialize with celebrities, make tons of money, and otherwise have a life that those of us with ordinary college majors can only dream about. Go for it!
Jobs are available but most if not all are free intern/pa jobs. However, the time will not be wasted, assuming you get to to know someone in the industry who can help you take the next step. If you ever get to that point, you will need a few short films to show your vision and style, but more importantly you will also need a script.to show your ideas. Writing is the key to directing feature. A first class script and a film degree, backed by a few notable shorts, will give you a bit of power in an industry, in which most are powerless. Anyway, film school will teach you how to direct and write. Go for it. GL.
Agreed with all of this, except the bit about the degree. While you ** can ** learn about filmmaking in college, it’s not the only way (it’s a skill that can be learned outside of college, if your really get creative). And if you do go to college to study film, there’s a difference between picking a cheaper, lesser known school, versus a very expensive one like USC or NYU. You lose the name and the potential to network with important people while in college, but for a lot of students, those two things aren’t worth going into debt at the start of a very difficult, risky career. And you can also network by working as a production assistant (once again, college isn’t the only way). It’s all about tactic. If you have the great script and a good reel, the degree is really just the cherry on top, but certainly not a be-all-end-all.
Like I said, go for it OP if you feel like you can proceed without regrets. But if you feel like it’s going to put you into a lot of debt, you might consider exploring other alternative routes.
@Abcde11 - I am extremely impressed by your post. You obviously have experience and are telling it exactly like it is. That post should be required reading by all aspiring film school applicants. When people ask, “Can I get a job in the film industry?” I’m thinking the question should be: “Can I get a job in the film industry… and then another one three weeks from now… and then another one the following month… and then… etc etc etc.”
Quite some time ago, I wrote a post about “above-the-line” jobs (director, producer, screenwriter) and “below-the-line” jobs (all the others you see in the credits): http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1319259-above-the-line-below-the-line-and-jobs.html Above-the-line (referring to the budget) jobs are nearly impossible to attain. Below-the-line are MUCH more do-able.
But the above posters are absolutely correct about not trying to crack into the industry with student loan debt.
@digmedia - Thank you! I’m extremely flattered, and I’m very interested to check out your post. I definitely think that not enough people acknowledge the project-by-project structure of a filmmaking career. So many film schools seem to peddle out this miracle solution to having a “job” in the film industry as soon as you graduate, without really specifying what a job means. A lot of it seems to be about putting yourself out there and chasing opportunities, and you don’t need a degree to get permission to do that.
What you eventually want is that tipping point from looking for the next project to having to turn down the next project because you are too busy.