<p>Hi, I'm wondering If it would be more helpful to get into Hollywood as a filmmaker by going to the UCSbarbara film school for free (after scholarships and aid that's what I'll get) or to go to the USC school of cinematic arts and get into debt with student loans? Which would help me get into Hollywood as a film director? Thanks</p>
<p>Well if you get anything free, grab it. UCSB is very good school. Lots of people in the movie industry live near SB, so maybe there will be some connections. Who knows? But if you get aid there, you would get aid at USC, no?</p>
<p>Well the aid I would get is from athletics, not financial. @DrGoogle </p>
<p>The film industry has a reputation of needing new entrants to go through a string of unpaid internships before getting a paid entry level job. While the legality may be questionable (and has been debated in other threads), that indicates that trying to get into the industry with a debt burden is unlikely to result in success, since you would need a paid job to pay off your debt burden. Better to go to school for free and save the money to support yourself during the likely unpaid internships, or if you try to direct your own indie film on a shoestring budget.</p>
<p>One of the guys my daughter knew at USC ended up working at Verizon. It still on his linkedin.</p>
<p>Don’t take out loans to go to USC for film. You could end up not having time to pursue film if you’re forced to take a higher paying job to pay back your loans.</p>
<p>Who would be co-signing all those extra loans each year? </p>
<p>YOU can only borrow $5,500 for frosh year, so who would be borrowing the rest?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the responses- UCSB definetely sounds like the place to go. What about 2 years at UCSB then transfer? Would that be better? </p>
<p>If you really want to try to get into the film industry, you want to do it from as strong a financial position as possible. I.e. stay at UCSB for all four years for free. Transferring to some place expensive will weaken your financial position and make it that much more difficult to take unpaid internships or make an indie film on a shoestring budget.</p>
<p>UCSB is good enough that if you have the talent, you’ll do just fine. </p>
<p>As for transferring, since the business depends in large part on connections, stick with wherever you start for the whole four years. If you leave UCSB after two years, you burn a lot of those connections you just made and will likely have a hard time breaking into new relationships at USC when they’ve already had two years to form.</p>
<p>Good god. Please, please, PLEASE do not go into debt for film school!</p>
<p>I’ll lay out two facts. You’ve probably heard them before, but they’re true. One, filmmaking is a dead degree. If you aren’t talented enough to make it as a filmmaker (and talent and passion are, unfortunately, two different things), you’re stuck with an art degree that doesn’t translate well to other jobs. If things go South, you’re stuck with an educational background that doesn’t look very enticing to any employer outside of the entertainment industry. </p>
<p>Two, you don’t even * need * to go to film school in this day and age, with the advent of social media, cheap digital HD cameras, online/plentiful how-to books, the spread of information through forums and things like YouTube, and online equipment rentals. The great “film school myth” is largely a hoax. So many kids go to film school looking for this great, freeing artistic experience that’ll mold them into a mini Spielberg, and when they graduate, they find that the debt they took on to get a film degree is NOT worth the few advantages you gain from that degree when you actually enter the industry (advantages that really only apply at the start of your career, and level out quickly… unlike significant debt). </p>
<p>I would go on and on about why I think film school is overblown, but you seem to be leaning towards UCSB anyways, so there’s no need. </p>
<p>Good luck</p>
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Thanks so much for the responses- UCSB definetely sounds like the place to go. What about 2 years at UCSB then transfer? Would that be better?</p>
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<p>No. That would not be better. Total waste of money and VERY bad if it involved debt. </p>
<p>How would you borrow the money anyway? As a junior, you could only borrow $7500. That won’t pay for USC. I doubt any sane parent would co-sign a large amount of money to pay for USC for a film degree. </p>