<p>I'm at the top of my class (#1 or #2) at the moment, and I just wanted to know what I should do if I want to become a film director. Film school is out of the question (not worth it, plus I'm going to college in-state and there aren't any where I live). I'm torn between study business (finance) and economics. Which is better? </p>
<p>Don't tell me I should just skip college: I want to at least have some sort of higher education to keep me afloat while I plan out my future in film. You can't just go down to the unemployment office and become a director, after all. </p>
<p>I can, but I’m not majoring in Film Studies. I can study film at home. As for actual film school, there are no prominent ones in the state; there are none which will feed in to a successful career in film (nothing like USC or NYU–and even there people don’t immediately find success after school). </p>
<p>I’ve heard some say to double Theatre with Business or Economics. But the question is: Business or Economics?</p>
<p>I don’t live in New York, and NYU is too pricey for my family. Plus, MBA requires work experience, which would mean four years undergrad, at least two/three years work experience, then another two to three years of school. Too long. </p>
<p>The M.S. program I was referring to takes only one year right after undergrad.</p>
<p>You can major in English (or anything else, for that matter) with some Economics or Business classes. Devote your free time to cultivating your eye and ear. Watch classic movies. Do you have Hulu Plus? If not, request it for Xmas/Graduation/birthday gift, and watch as much of the Criterion Collection as you can. See if you can do a semester abroad, and expand your mind with travel. You can learn the craft pretty easily, with a few courses. It’s the artistry that needs more work. There are no direct paths. Some of the greatest directors had little formal education. The pioneers in Hollywood were mostly immigrants with limited English, who realized their medium’s potential for mass communication and entertainment. Open your eyes, whereever you are. If you can’t take many classes, at least sign up for tech crew on student theatrical productions. That will give you more experience with lighting and sound mixing. “The Industry” is built on connections. Try to identify and build on any contacts you can make, even seemingly minor ones. </p>
<p>Too long? Assuming that you’ll be 22 when you graduate undergrad, that means you’d be at most 25 when you return to business school and at most 27 when you graduate. That’s still quite young.</p>
<p>Neither finance nor economics is inherently “better”. It depends on what you want to do with them and the skills you pick up. An economics major who interned at a financial firm for two summers and knows how to do complex statistical models for finance is more appealing than a finance major who has little work experience within the field. There’s also nothing preventing you from taking classes across departments - so if you decide to major in finance and took some heavy theoretical economics classes, you could potentially get work as a junior economist somewhere.</p>
<p>But there’s a wide gulf between unemployed aspiring film director and financier. Are you defaulting to finance or economics because you want to make money to support yourself and feel like those are your only options? Because if so, that’s not the case…there are a variety of other majors that will make you employable.</p>
<p>Also, the people who get famous film careers are not only from USC and NYU. You don’t have to major in film to take some classes in film. Florida State has a good film program, for example, as do San Francisco State, Cal State Northridge, Ohio University, UNC and UT-Austin (all public schools). Some top schools that meet full need also have great film programs, like Wesleyan and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Also, often people who came out of USC and NYU went there for grad schol, not undergrad. Ang Lee went to UIUC for undergrad. Jennifer Lee went to the University of New Hampshire.</p>
<p>The other thing is that film directors - and other people very successful in the arts - tend not to be risk-averse people. There’s a certain period of struggle when you’re trying to make it in a creative field. I believe that most serious film directors had at least some period of time at which they had to really concentrate on filmmaking and there was a level of uncertainty about where the next rent check was coming from, unless they had wealthy parents…I get the sense that making filmmaking your full-time career is not something you can do in your spare time when you get home from your i-banking job.</p>
<p>Have you ever seen award winning film director in their 20’s. Or any 20 yr old major studio film directors? Talent aside, Film directors needs time to mature and lots of luck.</p>
<p>If you are rich, you can be a film director any time. I have a friend who left a large estate to her 20 some daughter. Her daughter took the money and produced and directed a film which was carried by second rated theaters for a week. We went to see it just to show support, as a group of 20, we were the largest audience for that showing, total audience was less than 40.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in a career in filmmaking, watch lots of films. In particular, you should be watching lots of good films. The list of Grand Prix and Palm d’Or winners at Cannes are good lists; as are the lists for the European Film Awards, The Criterion Collection, and of course, movies nominated in the Academy Awards.</p>
<p>The best way to get good at an art like filmmaking is to practice. You just have to keep shooting stuff and see how it goes. FWIW, Paul Thomas Anderson dropped out of film school and he’s had quite a successful film career. He began experimenting with film from a young age, however, and had to spend $20k to make his first short, which he later expanded into a full film which launched his career.</p>
<p>I won’t say the path is as clear cut as it would be with a film school, but it’s certainly possible.</p>
<p>The one way you don’t become a film director is by playing it safe - which is exactly what you are proposing. The number of people that make it by doing what you are proposing probably ranges from zero to miniscule. Those that make it have a passion for film, they can’t imagine doing anything else so they go out and do it, possible failure be damned. Yes, there are lots of bodies along that road of those who didn’t make it, but I think you’ll find that almost every successful person in film did it by making movies at any level, getting product in front of eyes, and pursuing their passion without compromise. Which is why many of the people who succeed have a support mechanism like family money or connections behind them - success takes time and they can buy time with money or connections. Most of the rest of us can’t afford to do that - we need to eat and so either never try it or cut it short before achieving success.</p>
<p>It seems that you need to decide what your goal really is. Is your key goal is to be paid a decent salary in your 20’s or to gain skills/knowledge that will build you toward a career in cinema? You can’t plan to become a rich and famous director. Like any other kind of artist, you would have to devote yourself to the craft and have something else to pay the bills.<br>
Are you looking for what major you can best “pay the bills” with or what major will gain you skills that will apply to your “craft”? By concentrating on “paying the bills” it seems unlikely that you have the “fire in the belly” necessary to end up in the creative part of the film industry. </p>
<p>Perhaps focusing on the business side of entertainment may be a better fit for your goals.</p>
<p>You’re right. I am playing it safe. Screw all of that.</p>
<p>I just don’t want to starve immediately after college with a degree in English, which is why I’m concerned a tad. But I want to figure out something to major in anyways.</p>
<p>No, thanks. I am determined to make movies. I just don’t think that studying film in college is the brightest idea ever. And given the number of filmmakers who didn’t go to college or who had majors in soft subjects, I don’t think I’m wrong. </p>
<p>I’ll put it this way. I am 100% certain that I want to make movies. No doubt about it. I just don’t know what to study in college, and I’m not paying thousands of bucks to learn something I could learn on my own. But I still want to go to college and learn something practical. What’s the point of being determined to make movies if you’re dead-broke right afterwards? I’ll get a decent job, quit when I’m sure I’m ready to make the leap, and then go for it. </p>
<p>I plan on moving to LA immediately after college and getting a film-related job. But there’s nothing wrong with having a fail-safe on the side. It’s insurance.</p>
<p>Think about what kind of job you’d like to have to avoid starvation. There are a lot of different things that aren’t soul-sucking and still make good “back up” careers. Teaching high school, running a regional theater company, technical writing for business, sales. Pick a major that will lend itself to a job that seems most attractive and utilize the career services office at your school. If you are a bright, motivated and personable English major - you can find decent employment. If you are a sub-par student who mostly smoked weed and doesn’t have a post-grad plan, you will struggle. It’s not the English degree’s fault. Its just most students of that ilk aren’t majoring in finance or engineering - thats the predominant reason those majors look “better” in statistics. </p>
<p>BTW, I completely agree that there is no need to major in “film”. but the alternative doesn’t have to be majoring in accounting.</p>
<p>Not interested in accounting. And I disagree with you. Yes, an intelligent English major will find a job, but some majors are superior to others. Some offer more opportunities and are more worth the time and money. Some just stand out better and lend themselves to better opportunities. </p>
<p>Like I said, immediately after college, I’d like to maybe find work as a production assistant or something on a short movie. I’d even like to take some time to flesh out my ideas and come up with something. I realize that I can’t “keep up with Joneses” and try for a career in film. But I just want to make the most of my college years if I’m going to be shelling out some money for an education. </p>
Seriously. </p>