Is it possible to go to online film school, and have it lead to paid professional work as a director, or screenwriter or producer?
The answer is yes. In fact, what Friends in Film is teaching is how to get the professional work, which is the OUTCOME that people are going for when trying to choose the best film school.
They really just want to make sure they start right.
They want to have all the help or accreditation they can get.
However, is the student debt that you get into, worth it?
The cost of film school is typically $40,000 to 100,000 per year including room and board. So, film school can take 20 years to pay off, and the monthly payments can easily be $600 per month… for 20 years, so you are already behind the 8 ball and now you need to find and pay an acting agent, things quickly add up.
That can make it challenging to get started in the film industry, because when you start, you are working freelance jobs… typically production assistant.
And if you’re a director or producer, you could really use that money that you have spent on school, to produce your own projects.
If you’re a director or producer, you’re still going to start in the film industry as a production assistant (PA), but you really need to also establish yourself as a director or producer or writer at the same time.
How do you do that?
Direct your own projects. Producer your own films. Write your own screenplays.
And then talk about it on professional film sets.
That way people see you as a director from the beginning.
The only problem is that it takes money to shoot a project. You need locations, insurance, camera, editing, you should pay your actors and crew, so if you have debt from film school, it makes it hard to invest in your own projects… It makes it much harder to do what you need to be doing as a director, investing in your own projects.
So, if you have confidence in yourself… go straight to the destination you are trying to prepare yourself for… the professional film set.
You can learn production work on set as you also make an income as a production assistant.
The best of all worlds.
Use the film set as your film school… and use Friends in Film to be your online film school along with professional film sets.
That is the best way and fastest way to become a professional director, producer, actor or screenwriter.
