Is Film School Necessary?
There’s been a post on our forums that’s been getting a lot of heat lately:
“Hello everyone. I’ve noticed that there is a pretty good mixture of professionals and students on this forum. I’m at a point in my career that I’m thinking about moving from some random freelance video production work to full-time professional. I’m wondering how important an education in video production/multimedia or something similar is… I’m not looking at making films, I’m thinking more of working for an established company (NFL Films would be my dream job). Does anyone have suggestions regarding the best approach? Anything would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance. ”
As a film school graduate myself, (UCSC 96 go Banana Slugs!), I am of two minds about the topic. Surely there’s no substitute for experience, and certainly a lengthy resume is a better indicator of professionalism than a fancy film degree from a top school. However, having the broad contextual background in the field, as well as the network of contacts from your classmates, makes film school a very effective way to climb up to the first rung in the ladder.
I don’t think that anyone would argue that a formal education on film would be a bad thing, but would it be more beneficial, to instead put the time and effort into starting as a P.A. or Intern, and working your way up through the ranks instead?
Take a look at some of the replies, and give us your opinion….
December 11th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I’ve heard the arguments for and against filmschool. Here’s the reality I ran into; Experience is great, but it takes lots of time. During that time you’ll no doubt learn some good lessons the hard way. The days of ’starting from the ground up’ are coming to a close. I was fortunate enough to get education and experience by doing production work in the military. Whereas in 3 years I went from camera grip to fully-fledged producer-director, I found things in the civilian world moved glacially slow. After I got out of the service, I was highly qualified and had the reel to prove it but no one would hire me. I started my own company, but quickly found that the industry was moving forward at light-speed with the transition to digital and I knew I was falling behind. So when a sponsorship for graduate school fell into my lap, I knew filmschool was my best option. I did solid research and found a school with a program that suited my requirements and it was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. As a previous poster said, “cutting down on the learning curve” is no joke and anytime you can, do so. A while back IFC had a commercial about ‘independent movies’ and Dennis Leary made a comment about ‘take the money for filmschool and go make your movie’. I always thought that was bad advice, because you need to know how to make a movie before you can make one. It just so happens, the school I went to will only graduate you if ‘you make a film’. So in the process of getting excellent training, working with experienced and world-class industry professionals, networking with other potential professionals, I also wrote produced shot and directed my first independent feature film. Now, I also agree with another poster in that there are pros who will hold filmschool against you. I recently had an applicant apply for a gig as a producer. Though he possessed a fair reel, all of his experience was from school. I wasn’t going to hire him as a full producer because he had no real-world experience. If he had a mixture of both, I would have hired him in an instant. I did however offer a gig as a producer’s assistant which would have allowed him to do much of the ‘heavy lifting’ producers must learn to do to evaluate his potential. He unfortunately felt he was too well-trained for a gig like that. Bottom line: These days you need both. If you can go to school, go. If you can’t, slog it out and build your experience but the first chance you can go to school, go!