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I was one of these film MFA students, seduced by my own delusional idea that I could continue to develop my own work for several years (I was already a flailing

I was one of these film MFA students, seduced by my own delusional idea that I could continue to develop my own work for several years (I was already a flailing filmmaker) and then re-launch my career. And then, if necessary, teach in a college film program with my MFA - and continue to develop my own work. It was all going to work out! I’ve made many mistakes, but high-tailing from that program after 9 months and finding something else to do in life was not one of them. Hindsight being 2020, I missed a fabulous opportunity to shoot a documentary about my MFA classmates, who were a very fine cross-section of the kind of students from around the world who would find and spend about a hundred thousand dollars in the year 2000 for the privilege of having a teaching assistant show you how to operate a video camera while simultaneously trying to read and understand the instruction manual. Probably for the first time. The most successful of my classmates who stuck with it makes commercials in the Midwest. The nicest one never made a film at all yet somehow is a tenured professor at a small college in California. I stumbled my way into technology and am making up for years that were fun but deeply unprofitable. I must say that the faculty at my program were the Woody Allen punch-line incarnate: because the stakes are so low.

seanicus 5y ago
Many folks say to just take that money you'd spend on tuition and make a short film. What's your opinion on that? I got an AS in film production, and that was cheaper than making a mid-budget short film, and also helped make contacts. I was in city w/o much film program so even PA gigs were hard to come by and paying for my contacts was a great shortcut. There's a very short chain of links between the guy who sat next to me in Stagecraft 101 and my present job 20 years later. And get this: turns out I hated film production itself and the long hours as well as unreliable life of a freelancer. This meant taking a day job and missing out on a lot of freelance gigs due to weekday availability, but even with that handicap I managed to be gainfully employed (although the first 5 years out of college were pretty rough).
sjg007 5y ago
That's the playbook there, make the documentary about the program. Would be great! I could see an Exit Through the Gift Shop type of vibe. It has all the elements.

seanicus 5y ago

Many folks say to just take that money you'd spend on tuition and make a short film. What's your opinion on that? I got an AS in film production, and that was cheaper than making a mid-budget short film, and also helped make contacts. I was in city w/o much film program so even PA gigs were hard to come by and paying for my contacts was a great shortcut. There's a very short chain of links between the guy who sat next to me in Stagecraft 101 and my present job 20 years later. And get this: turns out I hated film production itself and the long hours as well as unreliable life of a freelancer. This meant taking a day job and missing out on a lot of freelance gigs due to weekday availability, but even with that handicap I managed to be gainfully employed (although the first 5 years out of college were pretty rough).

sjg007 5y ago

That's the playbook there, make the documentary about the program. Would be great! I could see an Exit Through the Gift Shop type of vibe. It has all the elements.