Is college for me?

[Boxing Filmmaker]

Is it possible for me to find work in the film industry without going to college?

Of course, my goal is to become a director with a deal with a highly respected movie industry.

However, will going to college help me achieve that goal or just be a waste of my time? Is it better to just go work in the film industry right now and make connections or should I go to school?

Vague question, but I need to know as much as possible.

Thanks.

 

[Brooksy]

The short answer is yes. You can find work without going to college. But there is a much longer answer here. How are your skills in the production work? Are they awesome? Have producers seen your work and called you for jobs yet? Are people willing to pay you to travel and put you up in a hotel when they aren't doing that for anyone else on their project? Have your connections gotten you other connections which have gotten you other connections? Are people rearranging their shooting schedule to make sure you can make it? If you answered yes to all these questions and more that I haven't thought of, then you can probably skip college and use your talent and skill to jump right into the production world. If you've answered no then college maybe for you.

The great thing about going to a college out in LA or New York is that your connections are right there. Hell there is even a place in Chicago where you attend for two years 40 hours a week and they work on actual full feature major motion picture films. I mean those are places where when you walk out of college your walking into a production job. Some people like that and it works for them, some people not so much.

You can always look into trying to apprentice someone or a production company for a few years while your working a dead end job and then make the leap into the biz. Really only you are going to know. It is very hard out there so just be prepared to sludge through a lot to get to where you want to be.