Tuiton for most film schools, and just post-secondary schools in general can be pretty expensive, especially if you want to go to school in the US. I’m finishing up my commerce degree in Edmonton, Canada where post-secondary school is much less expensive because the government covers a lot of the cost, but when I go to NYFA next September I’m going to be paying close to $28,000 US in tuition alone with materials being extra on top of that. Also accomodations in Manhattan are going to be pretty expensive. So I’m going to have to find some ways to make some money in the mean time, but I don’t really want to go wait tables somewhere hoping people will tip me well. That means I’ll have to be creative.
The best thing one can do is to try find a way to make money that will further your skills in your areas of interest. For me that’s video production and film. So to make money I’ve started a media productions business along with a friend of mine. Our main source of revenue so far has been filming weddings, which is certainly not as glorious as working as a director, but we’ve learned a lot from it. We’ve learned a lot about business, from acquiring clients to keeping the books in order. We’ve become really comfortable with Apple’s Final Cut Studio, which is going to be very helpful when I arrive at NYFA. We’ve become great at filming live events, and while I’m not very interested in doing documentaries it is helpful to watch people in a natural environment and just observe how they act. Finally, something we’ve done along the way without any conscious effort, is we’ve met a lot of other business people who do a lot of different things. If you want to be successful in the entertainment business I think it’s pretty important to be good at social networking, something we’re going to make a conscious effort to do in the future.
So, if you’re thinking of heading off to film school in NYC, or some other major city (where things are very expensive) you’d better have some rich backers, or you had better be entrepreneurial. I’d say being entrepreneurial is your best bet, because you want to be willing to do things on your own and make things happen for yourself. Nobody is going to hand you a movie to direct, or a huge part in a Spielberg movie, so you’d better go get things done yourself.
This of course is all very hypocritical of me to say because I am lucky enough to have parents that believe in my goals, and are willing to back me at film school. Although, if things continue going well with our business, I may not need the handout anymore (which is something I’d really like to achieve).
As time goes by I’ll give out some information on how to make some money on the side, without having to wait tables, or get some other crappy job. I’ll explain a bit more about filming weddings, and other ways to start a successful business.
