Aspiring Filmmakers: Do You Even Want to Make Movies?

Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash

(Below is an adapted excerpt from my pamphlet The Truth About Film School: Perspectives on What to Do Before and During Film School, available now on Amazon.)

Do you even want to make movies?

If you’re an aspiring filmmaker wanting to break into the industry or a high-school student considering film school, I need you to answer this question at the risk of sounding nihilistic. I know you’re probably getting mad at me for asking this. “Of course! Are you saying I’m not good enough?! Are you saying I don’t deserve success!? I’ll show you! I’ll show all of you!”

I’m not asking this as a rhetorical question. I’m asking to see if you understand what working in the film industry entails. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of movies. A lot. I’m sure you have your favorites, and you look up to the filmmakers who made them. Think about that film director you admire, and think about the movie they made that gives you a thrill. Okay, now I’m going to go through what their career path was. Yes, without even knowing who you are thinking about, I guarantee you that I can tell you how their career began. Ready?

They started from the bottom and worked their way up.

You’re probably thinking, “Well, duh!” But let me go over what “the bottom” can look like in the film industry.

Unless you know people in high places, you’ll probably start as an unpaid intern, a PA (production assistant), or some other position where you handle everyone’s busy work. Nine times out of ten, you won’t be paid in your first position. Like many others, you’re just going to be seen as another kid trying to get their break in Hollywood — a dime a dozen. If you mess anything up, the higher-ups will roast you or just straight-up yell at you. You’re going to feel awful, but this is how nearly every successful filmmaker started.

You might not get paid despite working ten-hour days seven days a week. If you’re an office intern, all you’ll do is get coffee, organize folders, and do the work your boss doesn’t want to do. If you’re a PA, you’re going to lose weight fast. You’re going to be constantly on your feet: running around giving people food and water, lifting 40+ lbs. sandbags, and performing set lockdowns where citizens come up to you yelling about why they have to take a detour to get to work just for you to shoot a stupid TV show.

It’s emotionally and physically tiring, no matter what. You’ll go home and fall asleep immediately, waking up at 5 a.m. to do the same thing again. You might not even have time to shower. There will come a moment when you’ve had enough. There will come a moment when you realize that all the glamor isn’t worth this work. You start wondering when you’ll “move up,” getting those multi-million dollar movie deals and shoving it to everyone who treated you wrong.

But here’s the harsh reality: “moving up” could take years. Yes, you read that right. Years. Want to know why? Even if you “move up,” you’re not moving to where you want to be yet.

Let’s say you become buddy-buddy with someone involved in shooting a web commercial, and he hires you to direct it. Your first gig! You are excited, knowing that there’s no more PA work. This is where it all starts, you say to yourself. And you’re right; this is an excellent step in the right direction. But your goal is still to write and direct those big blockbusters that sweep acclaim left and right. If you prove you were excellent in making that web commercial, they’ll throw more commercials at you. And guess what? You’re back in the same state you were in as an intern or PA. The long hours, the attitudes, the wondering when you’ll “move up” from directing mayonnaise commercials.

Yes, some people are happy directing commercials for the rest of their lives. Those people have a good job in the industry. The problem I often see with aspiring filmmakers is that they only see the end result. They don’t see the long paths to get there. And trust me, there are many paths to becoming successful in the film industry, but everyone starts at the bottom and works hard no matter what. Period.

Too many eager people rush into film school and not two weeks later realize that they don’t like making movies. In fact, it turns out they hate it. They realize that they prefer a different creative medium to express their thoughts, emotions, and stories, one that takes less manual labor. If you’re a storyteller at heart and consider movies as the only way to get these stories out there, perhaps consider other storytelling mediums such as writing fiction/poetry, drawing, or even music. People turn to movies and television as the ultimate storytelling medium because they are cherished worldwide. Nearly every country on Earth has a film/television industry. However, it’s important to consider that movies have only been around for roughly 130 years (television even less) while storytelling has been around since the dawn of civilization. I originally got into filmmaking because I loved telling stories, but I thought I sucked at writing, drawing, and music. I thought that writing a screenplay and directing would be much easier. Wrong on all accounts, as I later discovered.

Eventually, during my four years at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I realized that movie storytelling was too restrictive for the stories I wanted to tell. I also got a wake-up call about being a director. It’s stressful, I’m telling you now. Also, everyone and their mother wants to be a director. It’s tough competition out there. I eventually decided against being a director and focused my four years on writing screenplays. This led me to hone my writing skills and become a published writer/poet, which I have found more successful than pursuing filmmaking.

This is not to say you should give up your love for movies. You can still work with movies without working in movies. I knew a classmate who liked reviewing/analyzing movies more than making them. They dropped out of film school to become a film and music critic, and now their YouTube channel pulls in hundreds of thousands of views per video. That’s more than enough to get monetized and make some decent money.

With all this being said, I will ask again: Do you even want to make movies? Have you considered being an artist in any other field? Are you in this for the fame and fortune or the love of cinema? The answer better not be the former because you’ll be disappointed quickly. I mean it. The bottom line is that you can’t make movies if you’re not willing to work hard. I’ve seen too many people fall flat on their faces because they didn’t know how much work was involved. I don’t want to see you in the same situation.

If you answered, “On second thought, I don’t want to make movies,” I wish you the best, and I thank you for taking the time to listen to me. If you answered, “Yes, I want to make movies, and I’m willing to do whatever to achieve that dream,” I can’t wait to see your name in lights one day.