A film graduate in Hollywood often endures a grim realization. In a span of two or three years, these students have endured a largely academic process of studying with instructors and professors, who are respected and admired in the academic film community and that are also gratifying and stimulating these students’ creative urges and artistic impulses. Once these film school graduates arrive in Hollywood, they will be quite baffled why no production company or movie studio has any interest in hiring them, even for an entry level administrative job. This is because Hollywood always places a larger emphasis on experience of the working world than it does on academic achievement, either film school or just about any other school (if you aspire to work in a talent agency you would likely take advantage from a law degree or a master’s in business administration, but that’s because talent agencies have practically nothing to do with actually getting film made and have an enormous amount to do with generating business and protecting themselves legally).
A film graduate faces the same predicament that everyone seeking for success in the film world faces: they cannot get a first job in film without experience, and they cannot get the experience without first having worked in film. The truth is that a lot of film schools fail their students in this particular circumstance by really encouraging them on the road to creative heights but in the end forget about the more practical realities. If you wish to be a film maker and desire to go to film school first, be certain it is a film school that offers opportunities for one-on-one mentoring, and that it is also a film school where you will go out into the world of film making, either as an intern or through an actual work study program, so that when film school is over you will not be left with nothing to show for it except a diploma and a few reels of student films.
If you are the next Steven Spielberg that might suffice, but otherwise, you will need to find a program that puts you out in the trenches, both so that you can obtain the skills that will secure you that first job and get your foot in the door, and will also let you to create connections with players within the industry who can help push you even further along your career track. A film graduate in Hollywood often does ultimately get up to successful positions, but generally, they would have risen much more quickly had they only already gotten some experience under their belts before they came to the dream factory.
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