film school – yes or no?

there’s an interesting post at DV Guru listing 10 reasons to go to film school and 10 reasons not to go to film school. i didn’t go to film school, but i thought about many times. here are my general thoughts…

whether you are for or against film SCHOOL, i don’t think anyone would be against EDUCATION. there are many ways to educate yourself outside of a 4 year or 2 year degree program, like learning through books, night classes, seminars, mentors, and of course, just doing it and learning from experience.

basically, i think the people that some people will succeed regardless of film school. if they don’t go, they’ll find another way to learn what they have to learn. if they do go, they will probably succeed quicker.

most people will fail no matter what, whether or not they go to film school.

if you need to go to film school because you’re lazy and you need motivation, then don’t go. 4 years or 2 years later, you’ll graduate, and you’ll still be lazy so you’ll sit around not making movies. it might be a good idea to tell yourself you’ll make several short films before you even apply to film school. if you never get around to it, you just saved yourself lots of time and money. if you do finish your shorts, you can re-evaluate if you still want to go or not. if you do, you’ll have some shorts to put on your reel which should put you ahead of the other applicants.