Professionals are
always speaking about what a young person should do to get ahead in
life, but I personally never found that very helpful. Most of what
they say are theories and may not necessarily based on real life
experiences. But you know what? That's what I'm here to do for those
of you film makers who are grappling with whether you should go to
film school. I'm going to tell you my account of important
experiences related to my journey to Hollywood. To be clear, I will
speak less about my time in film school and more on the rest of the
process. I think it'll be more impactful to talk about the lead up to
getting into Hollywood, and where those experiences lead to.
I always loved
watching movies, but the concept of actually being involved with the
production of one didn't cross my mind until late in high school.
Sure, I had been making silly little short films for fun for years,
and even made a couple for class projects, but never did it seem like
it could make a legitimate career choice. But then, in my senior
year, my friend Josh and I set out to write, produce, direct, act in,
and edit a 45 minute James Bond movie. This became each of our Senior
Projects, and would be a prequel to Casino Royale called Preceding
Duty. In all, the project took about a year to complete from genesis
to final showing in public. Josh took on the writing and directing
portions, and I took on the final editing and lead acting portions.
Both of us learned a lot about working with others, how to throw
together a project, and everything that can go wrong surrounding all
of that.
Even through my
personal hands on experience in filmmaking, I still had much to
learn. On top of that, this project didn't add any of the essential
connections it take to be successful in the film world. I could have
packed up my stuff and moved to LA in a heartbeat, but I knew I
wouldn't be successful. It is hard enough to make it in Hollywood if
you are from a well known film college, let alone being a nobody from
Oregon, so I started shopping around for schools. At the time, I was
itching to get in school, learn what I needed to learn, and get out
so I could be proactive as soon as I could. Instead of looking
seriously at expensive state schools, I ended up looking into the
smaller, more intimate ones. Thankfully, I found Compass College in
Michigan. It was a big jump from where I was in Oregon, but I took
the plunge and moved to Grand Rapids.
From the start, I
dove right into classes, and rose through the ranks of the class over
the course of the year. We learned all of the practical hands on
things such as script writing, lighting, and directing. We were
tested on the obscure things, such as what a C-47 or an applebox are,
and worked on school films and sets. Outside of classes, we found
ourselves constantly working on side projects. When you're in film
school, filmmaking is all you think about all the time. It just sucks
you in like that.
Beyond the normal
learning that happens in school, I cannot stress enough how important
it is to make as many connections with people at the school, whether
it be with teachers, alumni, or administration. Those connections are
often the ones you call on later for help in getting a job somewhere
down the line. Trust me on this, I literally just sent an email to
one of those people not an hour ago. Thanks to a trip to LA we took
with our teachers during the year, I was able to get the information
of a guy who later got me started in LA, and later was able to get me
hired at Quixote Studios. See? Easy. OK, it was hardly an easy
journey to get to that point, but it did require initiative and
patience. And faith. Lot's of faith. Even with all of that, I still
had to take jobs I didn't want, living places that would have
horrified my mother, and spent money that I didn't really have. But
in the end, I was able to take all of the knowledge and connections
from film school and use all of them to land a really great job in
Hollywood.
Here's the problem
with telling stories like this: No person's journey into film is the
same. Ever. This story is bitter sweet. It's equally filled with
success and stress, and I barely scratched the surface of the whole
story. What's important is finding the right film program for you, as
well as realizing you must be willing to work your hardest to get
where you want to be. You will also almost never end up where you
think you will, so flexibility is also a must. That all being said,
to you all looking for fame and success, I bid you good luck! As Han
Solo said, “You're gonna need it.”
