And if he does want to major in film, have him research the job market in film.
If he wants to major in film, and he is accepted to the film school at USC, he doesn’t need to spend a lot of time researching the job market in film. The USC film school has a pretty much unmatched track record of teaching students the industry skills they need to succeed, chief among them maintaining a network and getting hired. And the students it accepts have shown enough raw talent at some aspect of the process that there’s little doubt there will be room for them in what is, after all, a vast and prosperous industry.
A young woman I know graduated from it a year ago. There were times she regretted her decision to go there – it’s a lot more like an apprenticeship program than a liberal arts education – but she has not had a lot of anxiety about earning a living. About rising to the top, yes, lots of anxiety, and lots of competitiveness, but about getting paid to do what she can do, not so much.
Do USC film grads get paid jobs in the film industry on graduation?
Other threads have claimed that strings of unpaid internships are common before new entrants can get paid jobs in the film industry.
That’s not exclusive to film or USC – many majors require unpaid internships, from journalism to teaching
The kid I know was getting paid before she graduated. Something like a string of unpaid internships was what happened during the early years of college.
As I understand it, the USC film school is unique, both in its selectivity and its industry ties. (Also – the film school does not include actors.) The specialty program that my friend was in was very small. I don’t know if all of them got jobs, just that the process for the person I know was not terribly daunting.
I think it’s also the case that a lot of employment in entertainment is episodic/gig economy stuff. 1099s and periods of hustling, not W-2s/benefits/409(k)s. But that doesn’t mean at all that one can’t support oneself.