Is film school a lucrative 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.

Right. If you look at the paths successful artists have taken, most of them do not have formal training. It seems like they just throw themselves into it and hopefully get their break. It’s such a crapshoot. You can have all the talent in the world, but if the right person doesn’t see (and appreciate) your work, you won’t go anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Film school is most valuable for the connections you make there. Alumni networks are important to get your foot in the door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Film school is most valuable for the connections you make there. Alumni networks are important to get your foot in the door.

The field is so random and crapshoot, nonetherless good schools like USC, NYU, or UCLA are at least a good place to get started and the degree only helps IF Money is not a big issue.

Also as mentioned above double major or minor with something more practical.
Again those schools provide plenty of good options.

In fact NYU and USC in fact even have a minor or double major options regarding entertainment business under it's business schools which are top notch.

So if you have will, talent, and intelligence, there are options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Film school is most valuable for the connections you make there. Alumni networks are important to get your foot in the door.

The field is so random and crapshoot, nonetherless good schools like USC, NYU, or UCLA are at least a good place to get started and the degree only helps IF Money is not a big issue.

Also as mentioned above double major or minor with something more practical.
Again those schools provide plenty of good options.

In fact NYU and USC in fact even have a minor or double major options regarding entertainment business under it's business schools which are top notch.

So if you have will, talent, and intelligence, there are options.

And for those interested in the music industry, UCLA has a strong major and minor in the business of the music industry in the Herb Alpert School of Music. My DC is doing the minor. She knows a lot of grads who have great jobs in the industry, and the students have access to good internships too. A lot of big names in the industry teach in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My friend, you are talking job descriptions. I am talking entry points. You get hired by a studio to produce after you have produced something and proved yourself. Nobody is listing job offering for a producer unless it's TV news, online news or online content production.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is video game design a lucrative field?
Is art school a lucrative field?

For a very select few it is. Best to take some business classes. A lot more people work adjacent to the entertainment industry than work actually making films.

Video game design is a fairly lucrative major all around--it's just that the work most grads get is often pretty deadening. You spend school learning technology on conceptually really interesting work and then you get a job in a studio and basically tweak pixels and vectors all day as one of thousands working on a game. But it's a viable job that has benefits and decent pay and you're usually in an office with a bunch of other gamers and you may find collaborators to work on indy games.

It's pretty similar to animation. If you want to create your own animations--it's a long shot. If you want to be an animator for hire, there's work to be had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Right. If you look at the paths successful artists have taken, most of them do not have formal training. It seems like they just throw themselves into it and hopefully get their break. It’s such a crapshoot. You can have all the talent in the world, but if the right person doesn’t see (and appreciate) your work, you won’t go anywhere.

Not really true of contemporary artists. Most went to art school for BFA and MFA. Many are professors. But, yes, it's a crapshoot. But it's more of a crapshoot if you don't have the formal training.

[Anonymous]

It worked out OK for Jim Morrison....sort of

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Right. If you look at the paths successful artists have taken, most of them do not have formal training. It seems like they just throw themselves into it and hopefully get their break. It’s such a crapshoot. You can have all the talent in the world, but if the right person doesn’t see (and appreciate) your work, you won’t go anywhere.

Not really true of contemporary artists. Most went to art school for BFA and MFA. Many are professors. But, yes, it's a crapshoot. But it's more of a crapshoot if you don't have the formal training.

Interesting Reddit thread, but for aspiring actors:

https://www.reddit.com/r/acting/comments/g306qr/3year_totals_young_adult_pilot_season_bookings/

It details where actors who booked pilots from 2018-2020 were educated, if anywhere. What’s interesting is that tons of them had formal postsecondary education of some sort.

[Anonymous]

As mentioned earlier, here is the story from the WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773

It's behind a paywall, so here is the lede:

Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000.

Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As mentioned earlier, here is the story from the WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773

It's behind a paywall, so here is the lede:

Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000.

Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.

I think film school as a Bachelors vs film school as a master's is a different proposition. A bachelor's gets you access to a lot of careers--so you might as well do the long shot major if that's where your passion is. You'll still qualify for random entry-level jobs that you get a few credentials for that require a bachelor's. But a master's is really to specialize in a particular field--and you often have to take on a bigger debt burden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As mentioned earlier, here is the story from the WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/articles/financially-hobbled-for-life-the-elite-masters-degrees-that-dont-pay-off-11625752773

It's behind a paywall, so here is the lede:

Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000.

Yet two years after earning their master’s degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.

DCUM children are not taking out any student loans.