Home/Jobs & Careers/Career Planning

Question/Subject:

What to do with film degree

I have a BFA in film. As you might now, qetting a job in the industry is very hard. I decided to get into English Literature where I completed 30 credits towards the MA. However, I although I have 3.75 GPA I didn' t write a thesis to get the degree. I really would like to finish some sort of studies but the truth is that I don' t know what exactly.

It has always been hard to break into the film business, and so that cannot have come as a surprise when you received your degree. It is especially hard right now, because of the many economic factors that are affecting the business and the mega-companies that are running it. Every issue of the Wall Street Journal seems to have some new tale of woe from AOL Time Warner or Vivendi Universal. Disney has been in bunker mentality for quite some time. You get the point.

As far as finishing your studies is concerned, it is good that you have achieved a 3.75 average. In graduate work, you really should be getting nearly all A' s, by custom and expectation. I would recommend that you bite the bullet and get your thesis written while some familiar faces are still around in the department. That is by far the easiest way to " finish some sort of studies."

The real question implicit in your question, however, is where to direct your talents and interests at this point. I think you need to do some serious soul searching as to what attracted you to the film program in the first place. There are really so many different avenues into this business, ranging from the creative side to the business side to the technical side, that I think your first order of business should be to refine your niche a little bit.

If you like to write, you should look at what writers do: novels, short fiction, screenplays, teleplays, etc. Learn from one of the top guys like John Truby (www.trubystudio.com). I have a friend here in L.A. who writes screenplays while supporting himself as a restaurant reviewer for local papers.

If you are more into the technical side of things (director of photography, director, crew member) you need to find ways to get some experience under your belt. It seems as though the top people in such fields pay their dues by starting at lower-level positions and learning from the people on the set.

On the business side, there are any number of " behind the scenes" activities that range from the lawyering required on any project to the acquisition of intellectual property rights to the raising of capital to the line producing of the project. You probably know more about this than I do after your film training.

Keep in mind also that there are a lot of different places to ply your trade. Feature films represent only one such place. There is also television, industrial films, internet multimedia, video games, and more. Again, I urge you to take some quiet time, sit down at your local Starbucks with a pad and pencil, and really review with yourself what it is about this world that attracted you and plays to your talents and interests.

You will, of course, have to deal with friends and family who wonder when you're going to get a " real" job. If you are a creative person who was born into a family with three generations of accountants, you are going to feel like an orphan. It's more important, in my view, to share your real talents with the world rather than trying to force yourself into a mold that doesn' t fit you.

I am a fan of Barbara Sher' s books I Could Do Anything ... If I Only Knew What It Was and Live the Life You Love. They are available at bookstores and libraries. You might find them interesting.

Back to FAQS

Back to voiceguy2000's FAQS