Is Film School the Right Choice?

Do You Want To Make Movies?

If you shouted “YES!” film school is hot on your focus list. Right? I know because in 2005 I was you. Quit my job, packed up life and moved to LA to attend film school and start my journey.

So what am I about to tell you? That you should go to film school? Or not go? Is there a skip-to-the-end on this page to get the answer? What I ask is that you stick with me. I’m about to lay some facts that are crazy important for you right now. These are things you don’t want to find out later. Good? Read on…

First, a taste of reality: Roughly 65% of film directors direct only a single feature film in their entire career. Another way to say it: Only 35% of directors make another movie in their entire life! And only about 9% of directors make more than 5 films.

Who cares, right? If you’re like me, those stats mean NOTHING. Zero. Zilch. Why? Because you have the dream. The ideas. The commitment. The passion. “And I dig that about you!” — Rod Tidwell

But hang with me, because like it or not, these statistics play into what you do next.

The Cost of Film School

Film school isn’t cheap. Ask someone like Ryan Coogler (Sinners, Black Panther) about school debt. Coogler had $200,000 in student debt from attending the USC School of Cinematic Arts. That almost sunk him, but he pushed through. Now he’s wildly successful. But here’s the problem: Coogler doesn’t represent the norm. And that $200,000 degree isn’t what made someone hire him.

To speak personally? Out of my graduating class at the Los Angeles Film School, I don’t know of one directing major who is making a living as a director. Not one. Some aren’t even in the industry any more.

I saw this coming in our first semester and switched to a double major in editing and sound design. I knew there was nothing for me as a director right out of film school. Figured specializing in post was a better play. And it was…but still not easy.

So back to the cost of film school: Here’s a brief list of annual tuition as of 2025:

• AFI — $63,575
• USC — $59,260
• NYU Kanbar — $59,260
• LAFS — $33,100
• Florida State — $21K (out-of-state)
• University of Texas — $19K per semester (out-of-state)
• Colorado Film School — $14K (out-of-state)

You can dig in more at this film school resource.

What Film Schools Don’t Advertise

Many film schools have excellent programs. There’s no knocking that. The proverbial elephant in the room? The film industry does not operate on degrees or school pedigree. If you graduate top of your class as a directing major, Hollywood doesn’t care. They also don’t care about your thesis film and they definitely do not care that you went to film school.

So what gives? How do you get established as a director?

After film school, regardless of where you graduate from, you must begin directing movies. But you have to fund them. Along with food, rent and everything else. If your plan after school is to raise money, shoot a feature and find success—your chances are very slim. Again, ask the directing majors in my class who did just that. Three of them directed feature films right out of film school.

The norm for directing majors is to make zero money directing movies. School debt is often paid back from other careers. It’s depressing to think about—these were aspiring filmmakers chasing their dreams! They picked up their lives and moved to LA, just like me. Film school was going to be the silver bullet into the industry!

I’ll never forget seeing one of the talented directing majors at LAFS serving sushi in Malibu years after graduation. Is that the fault of LAFS or the filmmaker? No. It’s the status of the industry. Unfortunately working side hustles to pay bills is the norm. Ryan Coogler, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck simply are not.

If Not Film School Then What?

Let’s get one thing straight: You have to learn the craft of filmmaking. There’s no getting around this. You can’t make it in a highly competitive industry without mastering the craft. And learning it the hard way isn’t the best way for everyone. Sure, Tarantino pulled it off, but he’s also not the norm.

If someone came to me right now and said, “I wanna make movies” I would tell them this: Learn the craft from development through post production. Learn everything. Learn it well. And spend as little as possible doing that. This will do two MASSIVE things for your career:

1. The Benefit of Learning Everything

A beginning director has to fund their own films or waste years hustling for investor dollars. If you’re funding movies after film school, you’ve gotta cut costs. Asking for favors from crew is NOT the way forward. What happens when your production sound mixer gets a paid gig? They have to bail, because like you, they’ve gotta pay rent. If you don’t know how to run sound, your production halts. Multiply this by every other position on set for production and post.

New directors who learn how to light, run sound, edit, grade, do sound design—these are the directors who are not held back waiting on crew. These are the directors who can move forward on their schedule and no one else’s. They don’t have to worry about crew day rates.

2. Don’t Spend Much On Film School

One of the huge mistakes of most aspiring filmmakers is draining the bank account for their education and shiny degree. You saw the tuition examples above. It’s not cheap. If you can learn the craft without spending much something incredible will happen. What?

You’ll have money to buy the gear you need to keep making movies. With current pricing you can purchase multiple cinema cameras, lenses, lights, mics, field recorder, gimbal, editing suite—everything needed to make movies. And it will all cost way less than one year of tuition at a private school. ZERO exaggeration.

Okay, great. Learn everything. Learn it well and don’t spend much. What film school fits that bill? So, I guess there sort of is a skip-to-the-end-answer. The answer Write & Direct. This is a hands on film school. “But wait, it’s an online film school.” Yep. And guess what you do when you go to film school? You spend a lot of time sitting in classrooms. And even when you’re on set, you’re often working with other students…not masters of the craft. They were the ones teaching you in the classroom.

The Director’s Film School

Write & Direct is designed to lift the heavy financial burden from those pursuing the craft of filmmaking. Write & Direct is designed to teach directors everything from development through pre-production, production and post production. You will know how to move your career forward without relying on others.

This film school is cutting edge. Inventive. Radical. Pick your descriptor. This training will help you do what you want to do vs crushing you with school debt that incapacitates you from following your dreams. At the end of the day (I like that phrase) some film schools are guilty of stealing dreams. They usurp tens of thousands of dollars knowing full well their students will be decimated after graduation.

Don’t be a statistic. Be revolutionary. Enroll today.

P.S. If you’re like me, there’s no swaying you from going to film school. Once you get it in your head that it’s your way in, good luck to anyone attempting to change your mind. My advice? Book a call with me. And at the least? Start calling studios. Tell them you just graduated with honors from “SCHOOL NAME” and see what they tell you. I’m not encouraging you to lie. I’m advising you to test the waters before you make a huge decision.

Whatever you don’t, never give up on your dream to be a filmmaker!