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Right, so you wanna talk about getting into films, eh? Thinkin’ about a film school, maybe? Every other kid with a TikTok account these days fancies themselves the next big thing, the next Coppola, or maybe just someone who can make a decent dog video go viral. Seen it all, been there for most of it, watching the hopefuls stumble in, eyes all shiny, dreams big as a Glasgow city bus. Most of ’em, they crash and burn quicker than a firework on Bonfire Night.
It’s a tough racket, this creative game. Always was. Everyone chasing that magic ticket. Some reckon a fancy degree from a place with a big name is that ticket. Like a golden handshake straight into the studio system. I tell ya what, a handshake, sure, but sometimes it’s just a way to shake loose a whole heap of cash from your pocket, faster than a dodgy bookie on race day.
The Big Promise of Film Schools
You see the brochures, right? All glitz and glamour, students lookin’ serious behind massive cameras, lights everywhere, a proper Hollywood set. They promise you connections, the inside track, a “network” as they call it. And some of that, it’s true. You’ll meet folks. Some of ’em will be good eggs, some will be utterly useless, same as anywhere else. What they don’t always scream from the rooftops, mind, is the mountain of debt you’ll be piling up. It’s enough to make a bloke from Dudley blanch, seriously. You’re talking rent, living expenses in places like New York or LA, and then the tuition. Just thinking about it gives me a proper ache.
They make it sound like this is the only road. Like you can’t learn to hold a camera or cut a scene without dropping sixty grand a year. And that’s just daft. There’s plenty of ways to learn. Folks been making films long before these institutions popped up like mushrooms after a good rain.
What’s the Deal with Tuition?
Someone asked me the other day, “Is the New York Film Academy really worth the price tag?” Look, that’s a question for your bank account, mate. They’ve got campuses all over the shop, from NYC to LA, even Florence. Beautiful places, I’m sure. They’ll tell you about hands-on experience, learning by doing. And that’s the thing, isn’t it? You gotta do it. You gotta get your hands dirty. Doesn’t matter if it’s with an expensive camera from a school or your beat-up iPhone out in the sticks.
The price, though. Yeah, it’s a shocker for most. It’s like buying a brand-new car when a decent used one would get you where you need to go just fine, maybe even better ’cause you ain’t scared to ding it. Tuition for the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Filmmaking at their Los Angeles campus, you’re looking at something north of $35,000 a semester. Multiply that by four years? You do the math. Your head’ll spin. People wonder, “How do you even pay for that?” Mostly, you don’t. You borrow. A lot.
The Reality Check: Beyond the Campus Gates
So, you graduate. You’ve got your fancy degree, your reel. Now what? Does Warner Bros. Discovery come knocking? Do you get a call from A24? Not usually, no. Not straight away, certainly. You’re competing with thousands of others, all with their own shiny degrees, their own reels, their own desperate need to break in. It’s a proper dog-eat-dog world out there. Always has been. The actual learning, the real nitty-gritty of making films, that starts when you leave the comfort of the classroom.
Where Does the Work Happen?
You might end up doing production assistant work, coffee runs, fetching things for people way up the ladder. You might intern at a place like Blumhouse Productions, making horror flicks, learning how to make a shoestring budget look like a million bucks. Or maybe Lionsgate, a bigger studio, doing grunt work, just watching, listening, absorbing. You think you’re going to direct your masterpiece right out of the gate? Nah, not a chance. You learn by osmosis, by being around it, by saying “yes” to every single, rotten, low-paying gig that comes your way.
I’ve seen kids come out of places like USC School of Cinematic Arts or NYU Tisch School of the Arts, loaded with talent, sharp as a tack, and they still struggle for years. And I’ve seen folks who never saw the inside of a film school, just picked up a camera, taught themselves editing, and started making stuff. Some of them actually cracked it. It’s about grit, a relentless, almost insane desire to keep going, even when every door slams shut in your face.
Who Actually Lands the Big Gig?
You hear about agents, talent scouts. The big players like Creative Artists Agency (CAA) or William Morris Endeavor (WME), they’re not really sniffing around for fresh film school grads. They’re looking for proven talent, for the kid who shot something incredible on their phone and it blew up, or the director who’s made a couple of solid shorts that have done the festival circuit. They want the sure thing, or at least something with a solid track record, not just potential. It’s a business, after all. They ain’t running a charity.
Is it all About Connections?
People ask me, “Isn’t it all about who you know?” Aye, that’s a bit of it, that’s fair dinkum. But you can’t buy connections. Not really. You can get yourself in the same room, sure, through these schools or through internships. But a connection worth anything is built on respect, on showing up, on being reliable, on being good at what you do. It’s not just a name in your phone. It’s someone who’ll pick up your call when you need a favour, someone who’ll vouch for you. And that takes years. Decades even. You can go to nyfa or anywhere else, sit in every lecture, but if you don’t actively build relationships, if you’re not a good person to work with, that fancy piece of paper is just that. Paper.
What about those folks who manage careers? Firms like 3 Arts Entertainment or Brillstein Entertainment Partners. They’re not scouting new directors directly from student films. They’re signing actors, writers, directors who’ve already made some noise, who’ve got a track record. You gotta make the noise yourself first. No one’s gonna do it for you.
The “Learning By Doing” Mantra
They preach “learning by doing” at these places. And yes, that’s the only way, really. But you don’t need a four-year, five-figure commitment to do that. You can get yourself a camera, download some free editing software, and just start. There are countless online resources, workshops, local film groups. You can work on sets as a volunteer, learn from the ground up. Some of the best filmmakers I know, they started just messing about in their backyards.
I often get asked, “Does a degree from someplace like the New York Film Academy really open doors that much wider than self-teaching and networking?” My answer is always the same: some doors, maybe. A crack. But the effort you put into pushing that door open, whether you got a degree or not, that’s the real measure. It’s the persistent bugger who keeps knocking, keeps trying, that usually gets through, not the one with the biggest debt.
The Indie Scene: A Different Path?
You look at the independent film world. Companies like Neon or Searchlight Pictures, they’re taking chances on new voices, often. But even there, those filmmakers, they’ve been grinding for years. They’ve made five short films that went nowhere before they hit on the one that got noticed. They didn’t just walk out of school and straight into Sundance. That’s a romantic notion, that. A nice story for a film, perhaps, but not the truth.
The truth is, this industry, it devours people. It spits ’em out. You gotta have a thick hide. You gotta love it more than you love sleep, more than you love eating proper meals, sometimes. You could spend years chasing the dream, mortgaging your future on a piece of paper, and still end up back where you started, but poorer. So you have to ask yourself, “What’s my real motivation here?” Is it the glamour? Or is it the sheer, bloody love of making something?
Money Matters and the Long Haul
Let’s talk brass tacks. You walk out with a hundred, two hundred grand in student loan debt. The average salary for an entry-level production assistant? It’s not enough to cover that. Not by a long shot. You’ll be working for peanuts, living on ramen noodles, sharing a dingy flat with three other hopefuls for years. And you gotta be okay with that. Really okay with it. You’ve gotta have the stamina of a Welsh coal miner, honestly.
“So, what’s the point then? Don’t go to film school?” That’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is, know what you’re signing up for. understand the odds. Understand the financial burden. Understand that a school like nyfa will teach you some technical stuff, give you some basic theory, but it won’t give you the magic touch. That comes from inside you, from your own sweat and tears, your own failures. Your vision. Can’t teach that in a classroom. Can’t buy that for any price.
Some people thrive in that structured environment. They need the deadlines, the curriculum, the push from instructors. And for them, it might be the right fit. It’s like some folks need a gym membership to work out, others just run around the park. Both get fitter. Depends on how you’re built.
I’ve seen the look on faces, years later, when they’re still hustling, still struggling, the debt hanging over them like a dark cloud. And sometimes, they just regret it. They wish they’d put that money into making their own films, bought their own gear, figured it out as they went. Or maybe just invested it, got a steady job, and done film on the side until it took off. What’s interesting is, the ones who make it, they often have a story of relentless, almost blind, self-belief. That’s the real lesson. Not something you get on a certificate.
