What You Should Know BEFORE You Launch Your Career In The Cinema Industries
A HFF Masterclass on "Starting Out"
Starting or returning to film school next month? They most likely won’t teach you all of what you need to know — unless you are lucky. Have no fear though, there is not only a lot to mine in the legacy methods they are stuck in, but HopeForFilm is here to help keep your ear to the ground in terms of what is going on.
And did you know that I will gift a subscription to any student? Yup. Just tell me where you are enrolled and what you are studying and HopeForFilm will be in your inbox before you can blink.
Not a student, but still learning, or having a hard time making ends meet? No fear, I’ve got you. Just reach out.
Or even better yet, if you are a student, take care of all your class. Tell your teacher to reach out and I will batch add the whole class!
But this post is not just for the beginners.
All of us need to work to maintain a Beginner’s Mindset. That is a total gift. Keep seeing it all with fresh eyes. Take a pause. Shake off the daily hell. Begin again. Remember the joy you had and how the passion was such a powerful fuel. Take this little road trip with me now and scan a few of these posts onto your brain for safekeeping. ‘K?
Let’s go!
Perhaps you want to get a big picture view of where you want to go:
Maybe there are a few shortcuts you can take:
If you invest in the time to confront some big questions before you have to answer them, you are going to navigate those waters far better:
There are some negative things about our cinema industry that I think you should know:
As well some things about our past:
Today’s mindset requires something different that than all of those that started earlier. You are lucky for that. Most of those already in are stuck in the legacy practices they entered with. You are far better prepared to recognize that we now need to approach things differently:
There are many practices you are going to want to embrace to improve your art, craft, and mindset:
Don’t just be pragmatic. Keep your utopian dreams alive; it’s crucial now more than ever.:
You should know the attributes of your particular focus:
Perhaps join a community that is forming to do it all differently?
And it is good to know what it takes to get a movie actually made:
Fortunate for you, as well as all of us, quite a few folks have written books on the subject or adjacent to it. Mark Vahradian surveyed the folks in Producers United and put together a kick ass list:
What did I leave out?
Help me build a better list please!
Hi Ted, offering this substack to Film students is really magnificent. I was lucky when I went to film school, I got paid. So many, today, pay an arm and a couple of legs to attend.
Hi Ted - I’m about to begin my second year in Film at Stony Brook Grad School (I hear you visited Christine’s masterclass last semester). Thanks for all your advice- I’d love a gift subscription. briolson@gmail.com