Tara Said:

What kind of jobs could I get if I majored in Film Studies in college?

We Answered:

Administrative Assistant aka Secretary.

I know you´ll hate this answer, and I´ll probably get a lot of thumbs down, but I´m just trying to be honest with you. A field like Film Studies is flooded with many, many more graduates than available jobs, and it is extremely unlikely that you would be able to get a job in the field. I know, I'm supposed to say "Follow your dreams! Do whatever you want to do!". However, in five or six years, when you have a degree in Film Studies and $50,000 of debt and a job that pays $20,000 per year, you'll be wishing someone told you this now. So I'm telling you.

Steven Said:

How should I pursue a career in film?

We Answered:

Sarah, you're right to recognize that it's a very difficult and competitive career. Most people don't recognize this, and it gets them into trouble later.

There are two paths into film work - one that I call "bottom up" and the other I call "top down." There's a misconception that "top down" is easier - it's not, they're just different.

Bottom up involves trying to break into the market yourself. In most cases, this means moving to LA or New York and trying to get any job you can on a film set (usually getting coffee for people, really), and just learning all you can while working there. Then you keep getting jobs - slowly getting better and better jobs, until you've made enough friends in the business and done enough work to start getting real crew jobs. Then you can join the union and continue to work in the industry.

The problem with "bottom up" is that it usually doesn't work for writers. You don't have the contacts to get your scripts on the desk of the right people, so your scripts have to go through "readers" - people whose job it is to reject most scripts. One of my professors at film school was a reader - she told us all about the brutal truth of what they do. For example, she used to hold a script in her hand to see how much it weighed. If it was too light or too heavy, she would throw it out, without even looking at the title or anything. Her job was to say "no."

Top down involves going to some sort of film school and learning the craft that way. Like I said, there's a misconception that this is "easier," which it is not. But in the case of writers, it may be more beneficial. You have the opportunity to write stuff you can actually see get made (by other film students, of course, but at least you see it get made!) and you will make friends and contacts with other people who may someday be powerful in the business. Not all film schools are created equal, though, and most of them are very expensive.

I say that they are expensive because you need to be aware of something - film school is not for poor kids. I don't know anything about your financial situation, but it's something that no one said to me, so I'm making sure that someone says it to you. No matter how well you do in film school, you probably won't be making more than $30,000 when you start working afterward. And you won't be making much more than that for a few years, unless you get very lucky very early on. Some writers (real writers on TV shows who you might have even heard of) make less than $40,000 per year. And if you live in LA, that's barely enough to live on. I want to make sure you know this, because it's even harder to live on that little if you have a significant amount of student loans. A good rule of thumb is that you shouldn't take out more in student loans than your expected starting salary. That means don't take out more than $30,000 total to go to film school, or you will have trouble paying back your loans and making ends meet.

Best colleges: I'm afraid I'm not entirely well-versed in West Coast film school, but I do know the UCLA is a great choice, especially if you're already a California resident (tuition is cheaper for in-state residents). East Coast, the most well-known and prestigious (and hardest to get into) is Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. I really like the film school I went to - Rochester Institute of Technology. Their film school is very hands on, which is why I chose it. You make films as soon as you get there, learning theory at the same time, instead of learning just theory for two years before you ever touch a camera or try your hand at writing a script.

If you decide to go ahead with this career, feel free to friend me here on Yahoo Answers and keep in touch with me. I have quite a few friends in the industry now, and I have a soft spot for helping young people with a passion for the craft. I don't know why, but helping other people with film stuff is really fun for me!

Edwin Said:

Good internet-based jobs for film majors?

We Answered:

You can register at freelance websites below and start bidding for all video editing projects posted there.

Pedro Said:

Are there any jobs in film where you give story outlines but don't have to write the full script?

We Answered:

In the past people have (and still do) sell just a treatment to a studio and a screenwriter is later hired by the studio to write the screenplay. Heck, a guy by the name of John Long sold the Stallone movie "Cliffhanger" on premise alone. So, yes it can be done. It's not unheard of at all.

My question is why would you want to take that approach? Sure, you're not bogged down with writing all your ideas into screenplays but screenwriting is a blast! Even if you decide to sell just the treatment, you would still have to do the same leg work as selling a full screenplay. You'd still have to shop it around town. So, why not have a full screenplay ready? I say go with whatever approach you wish but I encourage you strongly to bang out the stories into full screenplays and take that route.

Best of luck.

Gary Said:

Jobs available with a bachelors in film.?

We Answered:

A degree in Film Studies will almost certainly lead to unemployment after graduation — unless you're willing to degrade yourself in a Ronald McDonald costume with red rubber nose, selling videos to parents at birthday parties.