<p>Hey, do any of you guys have any recommendations for a useful double major or minor to go with Film Production? Animation is currently at the top of my list but I want to keep others in mind too.</p>
<p>Business. Getting projects financed is a huge hurdle. Being able to speak the “language” certainly helps.</p>
<p>Oops, I forgot to mention “Aside from business” because I have literally no interest in the business side of film because I want nothing to do with producing.</p>
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Okay, I am confused. You are majoring in Film Production, but you want nothing to do with producing? If so, you may need to rethink your major. What are you planning to do with your production major since you say you are NOT going to do any producing…?</p>
<p>I think redcap means (s)he wants to do more directing/designing/editing instead of actually being a producer, and hence would not want to focus on the business aspect but rather the more creative side of things</p>
<p>Even if you don’t wanna go indepth into a particular aspect of filmmaking, as a filmmaker, you’re gonna want to at least be familiar with everything, including producing and the business end of things. Not saying “minor in business,” merely saying a narrow mindset like “I want nothing to do with _____” isn’t the best way to dive in to anything. I dislike programming, but as an Interactive major, I can’t exactly shove it away; same thing with producing and production. </p>
<p>That said, a good complementary major depends on your interests. Animation would be a good fit for you if you have an interest in animated films, 3D modeling/animation, motion capture (CTAN-564 is a mocap class), special effects, and so on. If you wanna get strong at sound, I recommend Music Recording and Music Industry (I have nothing but good things to say about the MUIN and MUCO departments), or maybe IMD’s new Audio for Games minor. If you’ve ever been interested in cross-platform storytelling, perhaps one of the other IMD minors will fit you right. </p>
<p>And never undervalue the worth of more knowledge in any field, including the liberal arts. It’ll all help you write better stories. If you’ve ever been curious about one of the fields of science or history, don’t hesitate to jump in - maybe not minor (unless you want to), but take a course or two, see what you can glean.</p>
<p>A good minor for a film production major is whatever your secondary interests are. You can do just about anything for a minor at USC (one of the university’s great strengths) and that will help you sell yourself in the room to get hired on various film shoots or at various film companies. The key to getting hired for a lot of jobs in Hollywood is the “and,” meaning your interests are film production and _____. However you fill in that blank, odds are good that that’ll be the kind of work you end up doing because you’ll be able to blend both your talents in film production and your interest in that subject to make good movies / TV shows. I have friends who work in animation and science films because those were their secondary interests beyond general film production.</p>
<p>Lol I forgot how confusing filmmaking lingo can be. A producer is the guy behind-the-behind-the-scenes part of films that makes the movie (referred to as the production) run, essentially all of the business stuff which gives me a headache just thinking about it. </p>
<p>Anyway, my first semester of classes seems like it’ll only be production stuff anyway so I guess I’ll have some time to think about it. I’ve always had an interest in special effects so animation is starting to feel more likely.</p>
<p>I’m certainly not going to try and talk you into taking business classes you don’t want to take, but I’ll warn you that finance and budgeting are eventually part of every job. If you’re good at what you do you’ll be given bigger responsibilities. At some point part of those assignments will involve making, tracking and keeping on a budget. Your ability to ‘speak the language’ may give you an edge in getting a plum assignment.</p>
<p>That said, take what interests you. As has been pointed out, having more arrows in your quiver makes you much more attractive to employers.</p>
<p>I learned pretty much all of the useful business parts of film from my internships at production companies… with that said, my minor is Consumer Behavior which does feature one or two business classes. However, it focuses primarily on my secondary interests, sociology and economics (and I’ve taken tons of poli sci classes too!). 
I firmly believe that you cannot make a movie about anything if all you know about is film. All of my favorite filmmakers are well-rounded individuals and none of my favorite screenwriters studied film/screenwriting in college. It’s all about your experiences and background, while the major will certainly help you I think you should minor in something you want to learn about.</p>