Why Bother With Film school

Caveat Emptor (That's Latin for "Buyer Beware")

If you go to Medical School, turn in all your assignments and pass all the tests you will come out as a doctor. You can expect you will be able to work as a doctor, have the respect of being a doctor and make the money doctors make.

Many people go off to film school expecting that when they graduate they will come out as a fim director, will get a great filmmaking job and soon be enjoying fame and fortune in Hollywood.

If that's what you believe then you need to get real!

You may have taken years of singing lessons from the best instructors but if you don't have the looks and vocal talent you won't be the next pop singing sensation.

The film industry, like professional music or sports, has a few talented, star performers who make really big salaries but most workers start at the bottom, make modest incomes and put in long hours in relative obscurity with worst than average job security.

There are two things you can get from film school: Some basic knowledge of how films get made and future helpful contacts in the form of fellow students you befriend. You don't have to go to film school to get either of these.

Show Business has always sounded like an exciting place to work and there is an endless stream of people going to Hollywood hoping to get their piece of the action. When you show up with your fresh degree you will find there is already a long line at the employment counter and you may be lucky to get an entry level job as a receptionist or mail room clerk.

You don't need a degree from a film school to work in Hollywood. It helps. But famous relatives, experience, talent, luck and contacts are the way people get ahead in the filmmaking industry. You simply can't work as a doctor without a medical degree, but in Hollywood many of the top earnering filmmakers got there without setting foot in film school.

Over the years I have heard many people complain about what a disappointing experience film school had been for them. Film schools seem to encourage misconceptions of what you can expect when you graduate. After all, they're in the business of making money. It's up to you to get real and start your filmmaking studies with a plan and realistic expectations.

The film industry is dominated by a few gigantic multinational corporations where all decisions are made at the top and everything anyone does is second-guessed by junior executives. No movie gets made unless the studio head "green-lights" it. Almost everyone starts at the bottom in low-paid jobs unless they have a famous relative in the business.

So let's get real about what you can expect. It helps to start with some history.

A little film industry history

In the very beginning the film industry was started in New Jersey and was run by Broadway producers wishing to branch out into this newfangled form of entertainment. But the primitive filmmaking materials required that filming be done in bright sunlight so the industry moved to Southern California where the sunny weather was ideal.

The film producers imported most their talent: actors, writers and directors, from Europe or the east coast. Eventually they started apprentice programs to create new talent in their perfect mold. Everyone was under iron-clad contracts that gave all advantage to the studios.

But the apprentice programs were expensive and in 1929 they came up with a wonderful idea. They joined with the University of Southern California (USC) to establish a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film.

The filmmaking students got to pay for their own education and the studios got to pick from the best and brightest to fill their ranks. It was a terrific deal ... for the studios. Some of the filmmaking apprentice programs still exist on a very small scale but the point is that film schools saved the studios a lot of money. It was a win-win for both of them. But not a good deal for the students.

At first there was no particular glamour associated with going to USC film school because the students knew they were going to an over priced trade school, and would have to work in the industry for years before they would have a chance at the big time.

In the 70s everything changed

For years the film industry continued to be dominated by a closed club of powerful, old white guys filling every creative and managerial position. Then in the 70s a revolution occurred when a few young film school trained filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, started creating blockbuster hits like Star Wars and Jaws.

The studios had never seen such profits. They realized that the young filmmakers were much more in tune with the tastes of a huge, untapped youth market. Suddenly everyone coming out of film school was in demand.

Of course the studios soon figured out that every film school student wasn't an undiscovered genius and the hiring binge became a backlash against hiring film school graduates. But the mystique stuck that going to film school was a sure path to fame and fortune.

Why does anyone want to go to Film School?

Admit it. In large part it's just the glamour factor. Telling someone at a party you're going to film school gives you a better chance of going home with them than telling them you're goal is to be an accountant.

Who benefits from film school?

A co-worker of mine explained this. She attended one of the top three film schools and had a classmate who was a close relative of a very famous director. The classmate arrived at film school with a completed script and quickly became the darling of the professors.

They helped him polish his script and encouraged him to use the school's equipment, film and insurance policy, and use his classmates as crew to create his first film. He worked very hard, only partied to make contacts and after graduation he got a good job in the film industry with the help of his famous relative.

My co-worker friend was never allowed to make a film. She completed her assignments, graduated, worked at a succession of exhausting, low-level jobs in the film industry and finally went back to school to become a nurse.

Clearly film school works for people with the money, drive, and the right connections. If that describes you then send in the application and good luck with your career. If not ... read on.

Some Hard Facts about Expensive Film Schools

1. Film schools are highly selective. You may not get in because the best film schools, in their infinite wisdom, only accept a small percentage of applicants, ones they know are most likely to succeed. Some of the most legendary talents in the film world were rejected, like Robert Rodriguez and Steven Spielberg. Getting in doesn't mean you will “make it”, and being rejected doesn't mean you won't.
2. There are only three film schools that really, truly count: USC, UCLA and NYU. These are the only film schools with real connections to the industry, where famous directors and actors show up to give master classes, where the professors were successful filmmakers before they started teaching. These schools are located in one of the two centers of activity for the film industry. All other film schools are trading on the mystique of the Big Three. Chances are few of the professors at the other schools have any real connections or experience with Hollywood.
3. Film school gives you the opportunity to make friends and contacts that can help you as you try to climb the ladder. In Hollywood, where nepotism can be a way of life, you aren't going to go anywhere if you don't have a famous relative or many close friends who can give you a boost. You'll make the best contacts by attending one of the Big Three. In any case much of your time will be well spent cultivating contacts.
4. Before you start film school you need to have a plan as well as the charm, drive and energy to carry it through. Film school is not going to lead you by the hand to success. Film school can be a launching pad for a career in Hollywood if you make it happen with tremendous drive, loads of sheer raw talent AND a bit of luck because...
5. Less than 1% of film school students have a ghost of a chance of becoming a working film director in Hollywood. Everyone goes to film school thinking they will come out a film director. There is very little demand for new film directors in Hollywood. There are many other careers in film but don't think for a moment that going to film school will guarantee you a top glamorous job.
6. Film school classes present a lot of theory but less practical experience. Cameras and film are too expensive to let everyone lose to make a film. You may well go through four years of film school and not have even one short film to show for your time and money.
7. Why would you even WANT to work in Hollywood? Expensive film schools train you for jobs in Hollywood. Remember that the studios are gigantic multinational corporations where all decisions are made at the top and everything you do is second-guessed by junior executives. Why would you want to work there?

Now you're getting real

If your odds are so small should you just give up the idea of ever being a filmmaker?

Not at all!

There're many ways to a satisfying career as a filmmaker and film school is certainly a good route if you can get in and you can afford it. You'll still need drive, talent, the ability to make contacts and more than a bit of luck.

Before you (or your parents) sign that big check to get you into film school be sure you ask a lot of questions of the school.

• What are the qualifications of the professors?
• How many of the professors have actually worked in Hollywood? Have helped make a produced and distributed film?
• What percentage of the students find meaningful work in the film industry?
• What is the average starting salaries for graduates and what are the typical jobs they get?
• Will you actually get to make films?

Useful Sites for Filmmakers

Library Of Annotated Film Schools Filmmaker.com has a site where you can find extensive feedback from film students describing their experience at all the top film schools. Don't even think about signing up at a film school until you've surfed this site. http://filmmaker.com/reviews.html

If you can't afford film school or aren't accepted don't give up hope. There are many sources of training such as local community colleges, appreticing with small companies in the film and video fields and, of course the completely free film school at FreeFilmSchool.Org. You'll have to work to make the contacts who will help you get ahead.

Here are some school that I've heard good things about that charge a lot less than the big universities for quality instruction.

I recently received the following information about California State University Northridge (CSUN):

"A school of interest that is relatively inexpensive but starting to show itself as a big time player is California State University Northridge (CSUN). Michael Hogan (Emmy award winner and former president of A.C.E.) is one of the faculty members in the film production option of the Cinema and Television department as well as Fred Ginsberg, an Emmy award winning production mixer. The Hollywood foreign press association is now endowing the school with a lot of money that used to be reserved for USC and UCLA alone. CSUN is now also a participant in the Kodak 35mm project which also used to be exclusive to USC and UCLA. Panavision, Ari and many other big named outfits are now supplying senior film projects at CSUN."

De Anza College is a community college in Cupertino, California that offers a very complete Film/TV program for extremely low tuition to California residents.

These Canadian schools were recommended to me by one reader as being very good, although the tuition seems expensive and I can't imagine what link they would have to Hollywood:

• Ryerson University - Toronto $5,000 per semester 3yr-4yr program
• Confederation College - Thunder bay - $3600 per yr 2yr program
• Sheridan College - Toronto $5,000 per semester 2yr program
• Concordia University - Montreal $5,000 per semester 3yr-4yr program

If you have any other suggestions for good, low-cost film schools please let me know so I can list them.

If you're not going to be welcomed in Hollywood what other options are there?

There are far more opportunities for filmmakers and videographers working outside of the Hollywood mainstream. As an independent filmmaker you can follow your passion to carve out your niche in the world. The cost of equipment to make films has plummeted and new opportunities for distribution are opening every year.

Remember George Lucas?

He's an independent filmmaker who lives and works on a beautiful ranch in Northern California and has as little to do with Hollywood as he possibly can. The worlds most successful independent filmmaker has all the power, fame and fortune anyone could want.

There are many other independent filmmakers, some highly successful, who work mostly outside of the Hollywood system and get to control their own destiny. Wouldn't you like to be one of them?

Every year some young filmmaker, who may have barely finished high school, manages to create a brilliant new original film that wins all the awards at Sundance, and Hollywood welcomes them with open arms. "Nothing succeeds like success" is doubly true in Hollywood.

If you truly have the passion and talent to make films then do it your own way, however you can. Go for your dreams with everything you've got. Never give up.

And Happy Filmmaking!

Other sources of filmmaking training

There are a lot of way to learn about filmmaking. If there aren't any good, cheap classes available in your area here are some excellent, comprehensive resources you can get. Product Reviews Info Info The Filmmaker's Basic Library has all the top-rated filmmaking resources.