Online Film School Blog

Here’s a question I hear a lot. Hey Prof, I think I’ve got talent. What’s the easiest way to get started as a film director?

The fact is Hollywood doesn’t have a lot of openings for new directors. But there is always demand in the film industry for really talented people who have demonstrated what they can do.

So how do you get experience and get noticed? You can go broke making your own indie films and hoping someone notices. But what are some other ways to become a film director? Where do new directors come from?

Well, in the early days of the industry the directors were mostly theater directors. In the 70s they were hiring sharp kids right out of the film schools. But now I notice that many of the new directors coming on the scene got their start in one of two ways: Either shooting television commercials or shooting music videos.

Breaking into television commercials is about as hard as breaking into Hollywood.

You’ll have to do a lot of self promotion to get the big ad firms to take a chance on you and you’re never going to make it into the big time unless you have your own studio and a lot of expensive equipment.

So, what about breaking in by doing music videos? That’s a great way to start for this reason.

There are musicians everywhere who are trying to get there break and they realize a good music video could be just the thing that gets them noticed. If you’ve got the basic skills and some basic equipment you can approach local bands and offer to do a music video for them. Chances are you can get them to pay at least a few hundred dollars for your expenses, especially when it turns out well.

Once you get going and gain a reputation the bands will come to you and you can start to make a decent income while you get great experience. Eventually with any luck at all one of the bands is going to make it big and everyone will want to know who shot their videos.

Then your fabulous talent will get noticed by the people who are making and financing films. And that’s when someone will say to you, “I’d like you to direct my new film.”

In the mean time you get to have a lot of fun working with creative people, trying new ideas and getting paid for it.

Go make a music video.

Tags: film directing, filmmaking tips //