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Becoming a filmmaker means more than fame: 7 reasons why
Becoming a filmmaker has been attracting creative souls from all over the world for decades, making it not only one of the most profitable and well-established industries on earth but also one of the most loved, both by professionals and the public alike.
What is your favorite movie? This is probably a question you’d ask your partner, friends, boss, or practically anyone you’d like to get to know better. Movies unite people of all ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds.
We laugh, and we cry at the cinema, we contemplate new ideas, and we discuss them later with friends and family. Movies can help us relax after a hard day at work and help us forget our worries. No wonder so many people at different stages of their lives have thought to themselves- how cool it would be to become a moviemaker.
If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking about film-making and editing, read through this article. We have prepared the top 7 reasons to become a moviemaker. No doubt, these will inspire you to pursue your dream and make the best of your imagination.
Reason Number 1: The Movie Business is the World’s Top-Selling Industry
According to Forbes, the film-making industry is making record profits, reaching 100 billion dollars in the year before the pandemic. The global box office brought in 42 billion dollars, and online movie platforms like Netflix and Amazon earned another 58 billion.
It is a very lively business, growing each year and bringing billions of dollars to moviemakers, directors, and editors around the globe.
This year, when the global economy suffered a massive blow with the beginning of the epidemiological situation, movie-making has managed to stay afloat, seeing a decline in profits projected to be fully compensated for by the end of the crisis.
Cinemas are presenting movies online, and digital platforms are struggling to keep up with the increased demand on their servers.
The film industry never loses its relevance, not even in the hardest of times. It is still a great way to make money and become famous despite the obstacles.
Let’s take a look at some examples to prove this point. According to CNBC, James Cameron, whose movies include Avatar and Titanic, has a net worth of 670 million, and this is just the start of the rich list. Take a look at how much the world’s best-known moviemakers can make:
- Jeffrey Katzenberg, known for “The Lion King,” “Shrek,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and the “Little Mermaid,” has a net worth of 910 million dollars.
- Steven Spielberg, famous for “E.T.,” “Jaws,” Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and many others, has a net worth of over 3.3 billion dollars.
- Arnon Milchan, who made “Pretty Woman,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Fight Club,” “Gone Girl,” “Birdman,” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” has an estimated net worth of 5.2 billion dollars.
- George Lucas, whose films have been seen by practically every movie lover, has a net worth of 5.4 billion dollars. No surprise here, his movies such as “Star Wars” have become legendary.
Reason Number 2: Filmmaking Has Never Been Easier Than Now
If you’ve always dreamed of making movies but never known where to start, don’t worry. Thanks to new technology, movie-making has become incredibly accessible. Our advice to beginners is to experiment with video editing programs to help you explore your potential and create your first project.
The best example of such programs is Movavi software. Movavi can help you do video editing, converting, slideshows, and a broad range of special effects. Basically, everything you need to create a movie can now be found in one place.
Even newbie filmmakers who are just starting to learn how to make a movie can create something special without expensive equipment or creative software.
There are also plenty of online courses to help gain skills and develop the necessary competencies to make their first movie. Coursera and Udemy are just two examples of such platforms.
At Udemy, you can find a “Complete Filmmaker Guide: Become an Incredible Video Creator.” The course creators promise to teach you how to create videos from scratch, shoot and edit a project, and make the most of your talent. There’s a chance to learn the secrets of production and how to manage post-production effects.
Even though an online course will never be a substitute for formal education and training, it can be a good starting point.
Reason Number 3: Filmmaking Provides an Opportunity to See the World
If you are a moviemaker, you can present your work at international movie competitions and festivals and win global awards. Yes, there are more awards out there than just the Oscars. Some famous international film awards are:
- FIPRESCI Assigned by the International Federation of Film Critics
- OFCS (Online Film Critics Society) Awards
- Hollywood Foreign Press Association
- Golden Globe Awards
- IOFCP (International Online Film Critics’ Poll) Awards
Participating in international film competitions and festivals is not only a path to becoming famous but also a chance to travel and see the world. Rome, Venice, London, Los Angeles are just a few cities that host international movie contests.
Moreover, the network of international moviemakers is a network of open-minded and highly creative individuals. International competitions are a way to make new connections in the industry and spread the word about your ideas.
Reason Number 4: Fame
Some people dream of being famous. They want other people to know their name and to impress the public by being the star at all the social events. People asking for your autograph on every corner, paparazzi following you, and offers to participate in your favorite T.V. shows can all be quite appealing.
However, with fame does come responsibility. Many celebrities get disappointed after achieving what they have craved for so long. Fame can break up relationships and even cause mental health problems due to privacy invasion and social responsibility issues.
As long as you know the downsides of being famous – it is undoubtedly a journey full of pleasant surprises.
Reason Number 5: You Can Share Your Ideas with The World
Money and fame are not the only reasons people dream of entering the movie industry. Film-making provides a valuable opportunity to make your ideas heard or better said “seen” by the public.
You can express your vision on art, morals, friendship, love, and pretty much anything worth something to you. It is a chance to tell a story, to express your views, to teach and learn.
Every filmmaker has a huge variety of genres to explore throughout their career. Comedy, romance, drama, horror, science fiction, or documentaries are just a few examples.
There is no limit to creative expression in this field. Moreover, a film director gets to choose their own team of screenwriters, actors, music composers, special effect producers, and designers. The degree of control that can be achieved is phenomenal.
You can guarantee that the end result will be as close as possible to what was envisioned and desired. A successful film director needs to have something more than film-making skills. Excellent communication skills are the key to uniting the team and making everyone perform to their maximum.
Reason Number 6: You Can Get a Scholarship to Study Movie Making
Unlike many other fields that require you to have perfect grades and exam scores to enter college, becoming a filmmaker is a whole different world. In this field, to enter a program and get a scholarship, you will need something unique: an idea and a demo.
The world’s top universities help film students pay their tuition fees if they win a selection process based on the following elements: motivation, ideas, and your work sample. In the U.S., a bachelor’s degree in visual art can be pretty expensive.
Luckily, we prepared a list of organizations you can contact to find the right scholarship, grant, or award that will cover your higher education and help become a filmmaker.
- Women in Film Scholarship Program. This scholarship is designed to support female participation in movie-making college programs of up to four years in length.
- Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Visual Arts Scholarship. This scholarship is the perfect solution for students interested in video production, illustration, graphic design, and photography. This organization is dedicated to African-American U.S. citizens.
- The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Scholarships. This organization offers five funding streams to students who want to link their future to T.V. and media industries or movie making. The average grant that a student will get is worth 10,000 dollars.
International scholarships in visual arts include the following options:
- New York Film Academy Scholarships for International Students. This award is designed to support candidates from developing countries who wish to study film-making in New York.
- Toronto Film School Scholarships. This merit-based scholarship aimed to fund prospective students with the best ideas.
- Voices That Matter Scholarship. Met Film School in Berlin. Do you have a story that the world desperately needs to hear? Met Film School could be an option for you.
- Paris School of Film and Media. Who doesn’t want to study Arts in Paris? Luckily, there is a chance to get a grant to make your dream come true.
If you thought that you’d never be able to afford a degree in movie making, look at some of those options, and you’ll definitely find your inspiration.
Reason Number 7: You Will Have a Chance to Leave Something Behind
What do you think when you look at a Van Gogh painting in your favorite museum or read a book written hundreds of years ago? Art is surely a way to leave something behind. Your voice can remain loud even when the generations pass, and this is one of the most beautiful yet controversial reasons to become a filmmaker.
Some legendary figures in the international film industry live on in their masterpieces.
We can all remember Alfred Hitchcock in “Vertigo,” Andrei Tarkovsky in “Autumn Sonata,” Ingmar Bergman in “Scenes from a Marriage” or Federico Fellini in “The Voice of the Moon.” Film-making will not just make you famous. It can also make you remembered through what you have created.
Takeaways on Becoming a Filmmaker
The film industry attracts talent and admirers worldwide, making it one of the most profitable industries out there today. It can bring as much as one hundred billion dollars annually and make you a fortune after one good movie. Film directors wake up world-famous after just one premiere and get their autographs requested at every social gathering.
But there is much more to becoming a filmmaker than financial incentives and fame. It is a way to spread your ideas to the world using a visual imagination, meet like-minded people, see the world, and leave something behind.
In addition, all doors are open for fresh talent in a way we’ve never seen before. There are easy-to-use software packages and special effect applications that will help you record, edit, and add special effects to your videos. It is now possible to edit videos, record the screen, create video blogs, customize the production shot lists and storyboards using just one program.
Finally, suppose you dream of becoming a movie director but fear that you can’t afford a college degree. In that case, there are plenty of organizations and schools worldwide that sponsor students with great ideas.
Film-making is a field of immense opportunities. It requires determination and talent from those who want to pursue it. Our top 7 reasons to become a filmmaker will help you to stay focused on your dream.