Is film school a lucrative career

[Anonymous]

DD is interested and has high targets like USC and UCLA, I know it's very difficult to get into and it's v expensive.

what do kids do after graduating with a Theater degree? is it easy to find work in LA with this degree?

[Anonymous]

Running a film school is lucrative. Attending is not.

[Anonymous]

This is a VERY hard field.

Even accomplished stars have trouble getting underwriting for their projects.

Success has a lot to do with contacts.

I would worry about your kid getting any job, let alone a lucrative one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Running a film school is lucrative. Attending is not.

+1 But rather, you CAN make a living from film, but you’re better off saving up, moving to LA, Atlanta or Vancouver to be a production assistant and network.

[Anonymous]

If your child is truly passionate about film you’re not going to be able to deter them, but my answer would depend on whether they need loans to go to a top film school.

[Anonymous]

You'd be hard pressed to find a worse overall ROI for a degree. While a small number make it big, most can't even make a living with it.

[Anonymous]

If you want to be a filmmaker, the best answer is to go make films. Not sit in a classroom.

[Anonymous]

It can be lucrative, but not in the way you expect.

My child is graduating with a film degree in May. They have combined it (double major) with a marketing degree. They already have a job lined up making in-house training videos for a large chain of stores you've heard of. They pay will be enough to support themselves in a mid-sized city without roommates. They aspire to film commercials one day and do not want to go to LA and be a production assistant fetching coffee for the next four years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It can be lucrative, but not in the way you expect.

My child is graduating with a film degree in May. They have combined it (double major) with a marketing degree. They already have a job lined up making in-house training videos for a large chain of stores you've heard of. They pay will be enough to support themselves in a mid-sized city without roommates. They aspire to film commercials one day and do not want to go to LA and be a production assistant fetching coffee for the next four years.

I'm this poster. I forgot to add that if you search "videographer" and "video editing" on job sites you'll get a better idea of the other paths that degree can set you off on besides going to Hollywood.

[Anonymous]

All the people I know who work successfully in some aspect of film, come from wealth and / or from families connected to the industry. All of them.

[Anonymous]

They wait tables unless they’ve got parental support in the majority of cases, op.

[Anonymous]

My child wants to study film also. There is no reasoning with them. At least it can't be worse than getting an English degree, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child wants to study film also. There is no reasoning with them. At least it can't be worse than getting an English degree, right?

It’s definitely worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child wants to study film also. There is no reasoning with them. At least it can't be worse than getting an English degree, right?

It's a lot worse, actually. But you're probably aware of that.

[Anonymous]

My DS also was very interested in film and is attending a top 20 school. We told him he could do a double major if he wanted, and that is exactly what he did. Whether he pursues the film career remains to be seen, but his earning potential in his other major is much higher...at least right out of the gate.