Film School
 

Has any one pursued a career in film? Particularly in editing? After school, do you know what the market is like for editors? I ask because I want to know if it's worth trying to get into Rice U's film program.

This might not be completely helpful, but a really good friend of mine is a senior right now in a program at Ohio University with a film emphasis. She does a lot of editing for some of her courses, but has been really keeping her options open as to what she's going to be doing with her degree after school.

She did, however, get on an internship for a documentary which was being filmed / edited in NYC and Washington DC, along with another girl in her program and other people from colleges elsewhere.

She's a lot happier with it because she now has at least one "solid" connection in the industry.

I am not at all familiar with Rice's film program, but I will say that it sounds to be a more reputable name than Ohio University - with that, you might want to check out the campus and such first, have a talk with the professors and heads of the department to get a feel for it.

Even trying to find some notable alumni and trying to strike up a correspondence with others in the program could be extremely helpful.

I think NumberNineDream studies film, but she isn't around atm :/

A good friend of mine went to film school and now works in the AV department of a university, which is not a very appealing or high-paying job. My personal take on it is being a film major is something you should only do if you really love it because I don't think there are many jobs out there for editors. I'd also guess that you'd probably need to move to LA or NY if you intend to try and make a go of that career.

Thanks for the info. That is pretty much what I am trying to do with regards getting at least a step into the industry.

I may have to track her down, then.

Hmm. Well even a job like that is O.K. if I can get commissions for editing jobs on the side. And the great thing about living/studying in Houston is there are a lot of jobs, but you're just a stone's throw from Austin, which is one of the biggest Independent Film cities in the country. So as far as moving to LA or NY, I don't think that'll be necessary unless I get to the point of working on Hollywood projects.

It goes beyond Hollywood I think. Just from my limited exposure of working with editors and the like in an advertising context, I've found that the companies that do that stuff tend to be clustered around NY and LA because those are the places with the infrastructure for it.

Hmm. Do you think that would include local (Austin) filmmakers, too? I mean, I guess I could understand getting editors who live in LA or NY to work on your project, but I could also see them wanting to work with people closer. I just don't know. I wish this industry wasn't so vague.

I don't know. I'm sure there's some editing work in most cities. But the question you have ask yourself if you're going to rely on Austin's independent filmmakers for your income is: how many movies actually get made in Austin in a given year? And how many other editors are around competing for that same trickle of work? A lot of independent filmmakers also probably edit their own stuff, so there's that to consider too.

But why do you have to stay in Austin? If there are opportunities in other places go for them! :)

I think the best places to go are New York, Chicago or Toronto. (I'm not a fan of the West Coast).

Yeah I think the east coast has a bunch of colleges with great film programs. Though the west coast is still awesome (San francisco:love:)