Is film school a lucrative career

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a PP said, film and theater - two very different things. Very different recommendations for schools based on which choice. NYU, Juilliard, DePaul, Northwestern, Yale Drama (grad), SUNy Purchase or the London schools for theater.
NYU (indie with H'wood connections), UCLA (art house) USC (commercial blockbusters), Columbia College in Chicago, and lately Full Sail in Orlando (gaming and production)-- for film.
As for employment, stop thinking that way. It's 2022. Literally nothing stopping you from creating and distributing and profiting from your work. All about getting good work out there. The world is desperate for quality content and great writing. Check the WGA schedule of payments for how lucrative writing for TV and film can be.
As for producing, you don't get a job as a producer (outside of TV). You bring in a good project and get it sold - bam, you're a producer. That's how it works. None of this requires school. All of this requires the connections you can make in the better schools

Not true at all about producing. First, all the producers in TV are writers. Second, in features (both studio and independent) producers to different jobs from financing in independent films to giving script notes, setting shooting schedules, casting, basically running the set. UCLA had a great film producing department.

The point is don't go-looking to be hired as a producer. In film, it's a job you create and something you get asked to do once you build a reputation

Yes, you do get hired as a producer. It’s how the studios work. They give producers contracts and they bring projects to the studio and oversee them if green lit. Independent producers do everything for a film except act and direct it.

[Anonymous]

As another poster suggested, there is plenty of good-paying work for skilled editors and videographers.

If you're going to film school to be a famous writer or director or producer -- you'd better be extremely talented, well-connected, and lucky -- or all three. Also you should probably ooze charisma. Then maaaaybe you might have a chance of getting a decent job.

Otherwise, if you learn real technical skills -- post-production, sound/lighting/camera work -- you will be able to earn a living. But it would be foolish to break the bank to acquire those skills.

I have a friend in the industry who is a special effects editor. He does well. Like, what people in DC call "upper middle class?" Well enough to pay full tuition. Not well enough that he doesn't mind lol

Anyway, he has been advising my DD, and his advice has been to focus on the learning and not on the credential. Certain corporate settings will require credentials, but the point is to get a BA (or BFA or -- ideally! -- a BS) but nobody cares where you got it. People care what you can do. And maybe who you know.

But nobody cares where you went to school.

I have another friend in the industry who is a verrrry accomplished editor. He went to NYU, wealthy-ish family, studied film and Jewish-studies-it-shouldn't-be-a-total-loss. Brilliant, hardworking. Never been in debt a day in his life bc his grandparents paid for school. I'd say NYU certainly hasn't hurt him; and also, he advises against going into debt for film school.

I do have one friend in the industry who makes BANK. High roller, no prior connections. Didn't come from nothing, exactly, but was solidly middle class when there was such a thing. One of the most intelligent people I have ever met, taught himself French and German, wrote his own ticket. Now works in acquisitions for one of the major streaming services.

He got his education at Columbia Law school.

[Anonymous]

I majored in business undergrad and got an MBA from a top school because it was lucrative. I wish I could go back and do it all over again. I would have pursued something I actually enjoyed and felt passionate about. Money isn’t everything and I wish I hadn’t fallen into that trap. Making a modest living at something I loved - that would have been a better goal for me. And I often wonder if I would have been even more successful doing something I actually cared about. If film was my kid’s passion, I’d just make sure they knew it wasn’t an easy path.

[Anonymous]

As another poster suggested, there is plenty of good-paying work for skilled editors and videographers.

We have a friend who got a masters from UCLA's film school. As far as I understand he has pretty steady work as an independent contractor editing things for Netflix and Prime. It's not glamorous at all. He's 40 and he lives with his wife and kids in a 2 bedroom apartment in LA. They're not destitute, but will never buy a home in LA. His wife is a school teacher for the health insurance benefit. Last I heard he'd been asked to edit a documentary on the Simpsons and was loving rewatching old episodes for work. Pre kids he chased more artsy work that he thought could make him famous, but now it's about paying the bills.

[Anonymous]

Well someone has to go into film or we won’t have movies 😉. Some people will make a lot of money and some won’t. You could say that for a lot of professions.

[Anonymous]

I think you knew the answer before posting this question.

Believe me, I appreciate the arts. I went to a Fame school in high school 30 years ago for acting - I really loved it. Then I saw super talented after super talented person go to LA or NYC and end up waiting tables. I ended up going to business school.

Look, someone has to be the artsy person to keep us all having fun on Netflix but I feel the odds are difficult and its hard to justify the risk - esp for an expensive school.

If they have a fall back the degree is not going to steep them in debt -then go for it - you only live once, do what you love. But for debt and more perspective later, no, as a parent dont let them do that, unless you have money to fund a few false starts for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Wait. So you tell your 18 year old not pursue what they love? I agree - they shouldn’t take on debt. I don’t think anyone should if it can be avoided. But speaking ad someone who listened to their parents and took the practical route, you aren’t actually doing your kid any favors in the log run. It’s about them now, not you.

[Anonymous]

We have family friends whose DS won several documentary awards while in high school and has a real passion for filmmaking. He's pretty good. They are World Bank/IMF employees, so DS could have gone to university in Canada for free. We thought that was a better option, as many films and shows are made in Canada and would have provided good experience.

However, the DS wanted to go to NYU film school and follow in Scorsese's footsteps. DS felt that the Canadian route was not as prestigious, so it was off to NYU. But it wasn't just the usual COA for NYU, which is already sky-high. Because of all the social networking required, the family spent on much more expensive rent and upkeep so DS could hang with the much richer, connected students in the school.

DS didn't go into debt, which is good. But the family now has spent a lot of its resources and has little $ for their other DCs for university.

We really hope things work out for this kid. He's a good kid. But for every Scorsese, there's a Tarantino (or many of them) who never even finished high school, and learned his craft by working in a video store and watching movies. Spielberg went (in-state) to a Cal State before dropping out.

Film school is like art school. If you've got real talent, it will help. But you've got to be prepared either (1) to starve or (2) to compromise and take more commercial work, and even with that talent it might not work out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I majored in business undergrad and got an MBA from a top school because it was lucrative. I wish I could go back and do it all over again. I would have pursued something I actually enjoyed and felt passionate about. Money isn’t everything and I wish I hadn’t fallen into that trap. Making a modest living at something I loved - that would have been a better goal for me. And I often wonder if I would have been even more successful doing something I actually cared about. If film was my kid’s passion, I’d just make sure they knew it wasn’t an easy path.

It's someting easy to babble about, however the problem is you only have one life.
Everyone has curiosity about the roads not taken, and some sort of regrets.

There are probably 10X 100X more cases of the other way around.
They tried to be a movie star or rock star but now are waiting tables and wishing that they were more responsible and realistic.
You can at least do what you like as a hobby.

As for the college, you can always double major, major(passion)+minor(lucrative), minor(passion)+major(lucrative) if you have the will and talent in order to have more options and flexibility in hands.
My kids are doing that, so I'm not sure what people are complaining about.

[Anonymous]

I know 3-4 people in Hollywood. None attended film school.

One apprenticed with a famous director.
Another attended a SLAC and then worked at well-known production company.
One is an actor who attended one of the fancy big public schools.

A screenwriter I know finds that to be extremely lucrative. He said he likes to make money. He's written shows that people here would find dumb, but he has a nice house. He knows the shows are dumb.

I'd consider asking your child to research people in the field and learn more about the path those people took to determine if film school is worth it or not.

[Anonymous]

PS:

My friend was a camera operator. It's itinerant work and relies on networking. I could never live this kind of life.

Another person I know--yes, I know a lot of creators haha--has a spouse who helps celebrities with something. They have a nanny they take on trips yet complain how expensive everything is. Even the TV actor I mentioned before got sporadic work after being on a hit show. Now I did sort of roll my eyes privately when these folks said they "don't have money," but I took that to mean that there were fallow periods. These folks are not earning $1M+ a movie like the A listers we see on the red carpet.

If you like the work and you're young, go for it. Give it X amount of time and try not to spend loads of $$ in the process. It will work for some and not others.

[Anonymous]

My sister wanted to go to film school. She went to a state school and majored in something adjacent and did a summer program at NYU.

She never broke into Hollywood like her teenage dreams but has worked for 3 decades as an editor and producer, mostly for corporate projects and commercials. She now works on in-house projects for a major corporation and makes about triple what I do in my government job.

I’d say the ability to preserve against long odds, deal with uncertainty and lack of stability (freelancing is tough) and be creative in finding a niche are going to be important traits. But also it’s not like it’s be Steve Spielberg or wait tables. There are a lot of lucrative jobs in the field that may not be their dreams but might be a better fit than being an accountant. Just don’t go into debt for it. School loans will limit future flexibility.

[Anonymous]

OP - if your DC is fortunate enough to get accepted at USC - they could double major in a more traditional subject pretty easily as a potential fallback (or even compliment) to film. USC is really big on diversity in learning, they want students to explore a variety of subjects and allow you to take any class in any of the schools there. When we toured, it seemed that everyone had a double major and several were a mix of something more traditional with something related to film, art, or theater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As another poster suggested, there is plenty of good-paying work for skilled editors and videographers.

We have a friend who got a masters from UCLA's film school. As far as I understand he has pretty steady work as an independent contractor editing things for Netflix and Prime. It's not glamorous at all. He's 40 and he lives with his wife and kids in a 2 bedroom apartment in LA. They're not destitute, but will never buy a home in LA. His wife is a school teacher for the health insurance benefit. Last I heard he'd been asked to edit a documentary on the Simpsons and was loving rewatching old episodes for work. Pre kids he chased more artsy work that he thought could make him famous, but now it's about paying the bills.

Similar. A fiends daughter went NYU and now getting steady production work for television. Lives in LA and owns a home, probably not lucrative or a continuation of the sorts of projects that were fun in school, but it is a career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know 3-4 people in Hollywood. None attended film school.

One apprenticed with a famous director.
Another attended a SLAC and then worked at well-known production company.
One is an actor who attended one of the fancy big public schools.

A screenwriter I know finds that to be extremely lucrative. He said he likes to make money. He's written shows that people here would find dumb, but he has a nice house. He knows the shows are dumb.

I'd consider asking your child to research people in the field and learn more about the path those people took to determine if film school is worth it or not.

Once you get your foot in the door, writing does seem to be the more stable path in Hollywood, esp for TV vs movies.

The one person I know in the industry is a writer and now show-runner. She had an English degree from Princeton.