How To Become A Film Director

How To Become A Film Director – with no previous experience

Like with all creative careers, there is no single route to becoming a film director. There is also no official qualification which you need to become a film director. So, if you are starting from a position of zero experience what should be your first steps to taking the helm of a film production?

A film director is by nature a freelance career. Gone are the days when film directors were employees of film studios. This means, except in rare cases, you need to be someone who is happy to pursue a career which is highly precarious and uncertain.

At the highest level, the most well-regarded directors generally have the easiest time finding work. And even famous directors sometimes have to take on work out of the need to earn some income rather than a passion for the project.

But getting back to the beginning, what route should a aspiring film director take?

Three challenges

Writer and producer Stephen Follows says there are 3 challenges to becoming a professional film director.

1. Get good at the craft of directing
2. Learn how the industry functions
3. Get known (and liked) by the gatekeepers

Note, only 1 out of the 3 challenges involves a camera. Starting out as a novice filmmaker, we might be under the impression film directing is all about being on set, telling actors and crew what to do.

But one of the most legendary film directors of all time, Orson Welles, a man who most embodies what we might fantasise being a director is, had something of a love-hate relationship with the film industry.

“I made essentially a mistake staying in movies, … (but it’s) the mistake I can’t regret because it’s like saying ‘I shouldn’t have stayed married to that woman, but I did because I love her.’ I would have been more successful if I’d left movies immediately. Stayed in the theater, gone into politics, written – anything. I’ve wasted the greater part of my life looking for money, and trying to get along… trying to make my work from this terribly expensive paint box which is … a movie. And I’ve spent too much energy on things that have nothing to do with a movie. It’s about two percent movie making and 98 percent hustling. It’s no way to spend a life.” Orson Welles

But things have changed

While this may have been true only a decade ago, the film industry is changing. Orson Welles didn’t have access to smartphone cameras, digital editing equipment and self-distribution channels like YouTube or Amazon. And for a good portion of his career, he acted like someone who would have made the most of those resources.

So, if you’re looking for a first step to becoming a film director, my advice would be to take your smartphone out of your pocket and start filming.

Whether you go to film school or not, there’s only one way to becoming a better director – practice. With smartphones now carrying cameras capable of shooting 4k, and famous directors shooting box office hits with them, there’s really no reason why you can’t start right away.

While many festivals now have special smartphone-shot categories, there are also a number of festivals dedicated to smartphone-shot films. So, not only is it easier to get shooting, there’s also avenues to getting your work seen and recognised by the film industry.

Film school

The most common route to becoming a film director is still via film school, taking a 3 or 4 year course. However, the stats say that while most current working film directors have studied to degree level, less than a third studied film at that level.

Which means (based on Stephen Follows’ own sample) most currently working film directors did not go to film school.

What are the advantages? At film school, depending on the course, you will get a comprehensive, “guided tour” of filmmaking. You will meet a lot of filmmakers and learn from experienced professionals, who will help to guide you in the right direction.

If I was looking for a film school now, I would be looking for a course which is firmly placed in the present (and not the past). For example, why would you learn to shoot on film, now? Currently, very few commercially produced films are shot on actual film. Back in 2016, they were almost 90% digital and 3 years later I’m sure that number has increased.

The problem with film schools is, like the film industry itself, they are often stuck in what they perceive to be the golden age of filmmaking. But if you want to have a career in film, I strongly recommend you look to the future – and the future is digital.

The main downside of film school is the cost. If you can afford the fees – great. If not, you are going to have to take on some debt. Which is one thing if you absolutely need the qualification. But when the benefits are a little uncertain, I recommend you give this option a lot of thought before jumping in.

Working your way up from the bottom

This may also be a hangover from the past, but the one of the most common routes into the film industry is via the bottom rung – namely as a runner on film productions. A runner has that name for a reason – your job is to run around, doing any jobs the various departments need doing.

The most important qualification for this job? A driving licence.

When I was 19, I failed to get into a film course after completing an Art & Design foundation. I told a tutor I wanted to be a filmmaker and he suggested I try the ‘working your way up from the bottom rung’ method. The problem was I really hated being told what to do and also I had some social phobia issues.

Meanwhile, a friend who took the foundation with me, told me he didn’t believe he could get into film school, so took a set design degree instead. His plan was to work his way from there to film. He never had much interest in theatre but the logic of art > set design > film had some sense to it. This strategy ended up working out rather well for him.

The future of the film industry

The film industry is changing, whether some parts of the industry like it or not.

Mainstream cinemas will become even more dominated by big budget movies which have the ability to wow audiences with their action and special effects. There will be exceptions, of course.

Meanwhile, streaming platforms such as Netflix are now becoming the safe haven of indie filmmakers with a mission to produce thoughtful works of art. This year, Netflix post-produced Orson Welles “final” movie. Even though we might dispute whether this really counts as a full Welles picture or rather a posthumous collaboration, Netflix are still the first people prepared to finance a Welles production since he made F for Fake in the early 1970s.

They also produced the arthouse hit of 2018. They even agreed to a limited theatrical release. This is a film that would once have dragged itself around a ton of festivals, before getting a territory-by-territory theatrical release, and only years later would have found itself on TV.

The digital film industry does not work like that. And as an aspiring director, it would be good to know where things are heading.

An example  of how things work differently – the film Cargo (2017), starring Martin Freeman, started as a short film. The directors received funding for the feature partly due to the number of views of the short on YouTube (currently over 15 million). We can add this film to the list of shorts which went on to become features.

Yet, still filmmakers look down on YouTube. In the same way many still look down on films shot on smartphones, they also believe if you’ve put your film on YouTube, then it must be trash and amatuer. So, do not make the same mistake – look at all possible avenues for distributing your work.

Perhaps rather than teaching you how to shoot on an outdated medium, film schools should be showing you how to set up and run a successful YouTube channel…

Make films

Whatever route you take, there’s one thing you have to do – and it’s the reason why you’re reading this article, so that’s cool: make films.

There’s no excuse not to just start shooting stuff. As a director, you will learn the most when you come to edit your footage. So make sure you keep shooting and editing, making short films to start with. And, who knows, maybe short films are the future anyway.

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