Is Film School Worth It?

I was at my favorite local bookstore the other day and when I went to make my purchase, the girl mentioned to me that the book was "like Harry Potter."

I immediately replied with, "I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books."

She stared at me like I just told her I was born with a tail. To save face I quickly added, "but I worked on one of the films."

This opened up a conversation. She is an aspiring concept artist, and asked me point blank - "Is film school worth it?" Great question, and one I want to elaborate on here.

"Worth it" is a multi-layered concept. Im going to break it down into the 3 pieces which I feel expand on that.

1) Cost. Film school is expensive.

If you want to go to one of the elites, film school is costly. I am talking a USC level school, which is probably around $50,00 per year now, not including rent etc. That is a lot of money when you consider most film jobs don't typically pay that well. Look at this over 4 years and you are nearing $200k in tuition alone.

I went to film school, but not on an elite level. I entered the film program at CSU Monterey Bay. The cost much much more reasonable. But was the education similar?

2) What are you going to learn?

I didn't really learn anything in film school - which sounds almost cruel, but hear me out. Before I went to film school I spent years working in a video store. I was film obsessed. I studied movies. I also interned at a local TV studio where I learned lighting, staging, camera operation, and direction. By the time I got to film school, I had already lived film school.

Nothing beats on-set experience.

The this point, the best part of film school is working on student films. You get a real flavor for the industry and can see the fruits of your labor some to pass. Will a more elite film school give you a better experience? Maybe. A lot of USC / UCLA student projects actually have tremendous budgets and crews.

Could you also get this experience at a cheaper film school or not at film school at all? Absolutely. There are always film crews and student filmmakers out there looking for people to work on their projects. You don't even need to be a film student, just passionate. I was 17 when I got my job at the TV Studio and had never touched "real" film equipment in my life. At the end of the year I was single handedly lighting the sets and often times operating a camera.

Or, just grab some friends and go make a short movie yourself.

3) Networking

This is where the elite film schools shine - the networking. Getting your first job on set is going to the the hardest, and schools with built in industry networks like USC etc, can make this much easier - not to mention you may be going to school with film executives children who can also help you along the way. This is why you pay the $200k!

That said, elite film school or not, you are most likely going to start as a production assistant either way.

Final Thoughts.

Film school is great to give you a taste of what working in the film industry is like. Expense is relative - $50k a year to some is unthinkable, and to others a drop in the bucket.

But film school isn't the only way to get those experiences, especially these days when an iPhone, some free editing software and a youtube acct can get thousands of eyes on your projects. In the end, it is a personal choice where the above, and many more factors need to be taken into consideration, especially in 2025 where the film industry and AI is changing rapidly.