Reflecting on Film School
I’m packing right now for a flight to Boston tomorrow to celebrate friends’ graduation from a film school that I attended for a semester. I transferred to other state schools to try to save some money until eventually dropping out and working at a production company.
As I get ready to see friends that I haven’t seen in years, I am reflecting on the opportunities I may have missed out on by not finishing school.
I think the most valuable asset that comes from film school is the connections. You are immediately thrust together with like-minded, ambitious individuals and then required by the school to make stuff. These deadlines force you to improve your craft and the nature of filmmaking forces you to collaborate with your classmates.
The friendships and creative partnerships serve to land you jobs on set in the future and the manpower to bring your ideas to life. When collegiate environment is healthy, it’s truly amazing how far your peers can push you. However, as is often the case in the film world, there can also exist a toxic competitiveness, an ‘only one of us can be hired as a director out of school’ mentality that can truly paralyze the creative process. Luckily, its easy to spot the types of people whom perpetuate this negativity.
All in all, although brief, I had a great time in film school and met some kindred souls. Now if only we could find a way to make a legit film education not cost $200,000
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