The Traditional Film School Model is Broken

Film schools—especially private schools—are stealing the dreams of aspiring filmmakers. It’s unethical and must be addressed. A striking claim? Yes. But unfortunately, it’s true. This comes from someone who moved to Los Angeles and attended film school myself. The picture below shows me eagerly directing an actor during midterms.

Aspiring directors are unique individuals. They’re artists so consumed with movies they’ll gamble their life future to pursue the craft. These visionaries, if they succeed, gift us extraordinary films that whisk us away in a darkened theater, sparking joy, shivers, or deep reflection. The sad news? We’ll never see a film from most aspiring directors. And film schools are a large part of the problem.

Hollywood and Graduate Degrees

The entertainment industry shrugs at degrees and prestigious pedigrees. It’s a sea of hungry artists vying for attention. To stand out, you’ll need a towering peak of talent and grit, far grander than the mere molehill of a film school diploma.

Have doubts? Simply hit up IMDb Pro and begin calling studios. Tell them you graduated from USC or UCLA as a directing major and you were at the top of your class. See if it lands you a job anywhere in the same vicinity as directing narrative film. If you’re lucky, you can work as a PA and get coffee. But don’t get excited as there is no path from PA to director.

The Sobering Film School Statistic

What actually happens to directors when they graduate from film school? This obviously varies by individual, but someone who graduates from a well-known private film school will spend roughly $200K on their education. They’ll graduate with a thesis film that nobody cares about, and a shiny degree that will do nothing for their career.

At this critical moment reality clarifies in a way it will not have during school. The primary way forward as an aspiring director is to start making movies—But they’re self-funded.

The fancy equipment of film school is gone. Students willing to crew for free are also rapidly disappearing in their own scramble to make ends meet. All that remains is rent, bills and the financial vacuum of film production. And heaven forbid an aspiring director has school debt!

I will never forget seeing an upperclassman from film school serving sushi in Malibu years after graduation. This guy was no slacker. Everyone at school knew him as someone dedicated to the craft. Passionate about becoming a filmmaker.

But there he was, serving sushi.

This isn’t a slam on him. It’s the unfair reality of the film industry.

How Do You Become A Filmmaker?

What gives? How does anyone do this? Early on in film school I saw the proverbial writing on the wall. I quickly switched to a double major in editing and sound design. Editing was still story telling, and working as crew was at least an action plan vs an attempt to self-fund movies. This helped but still delayed me by years in my goal of directing my own movies.

If someone came to me today and said, “Yo, Kyler! I wanna be a director.” I would tell them this: Learn this craft of filmmaking from development through post production, but don’t spend a lot of money doing that. This will produce two monumental benefits:

1) Learn Everything About The Craft

If you’re self-funding your films, scraping up the money to afford crew day rates is tough. In fact, messing around with that has a price tag of years. “No, you don’t understand. I’ll get people excited about the project who will work for credit or back end points.”

Nope, this isn’t a good strategy. Trust me. I’ve been in the trenches of indie filmmaking a long time. Crew have to make rent just like directors. If your gaffer gets paid gig, they have to bail. If you don’t know how to light your set when that happens, your production stalls. Multiply this across all the crew who makeup pre-production, production and post.

Directors who learn how to do it all are not reliant on crew. And this single discipline will place you light years ahead of other aspiring filmmakers. There are many times where I’m on set with only actors. This means I’m lighting, running sound, camera and directing—to name just a few of the tasks. Yet this is freedom because I can move forward without sinking financially or waiting on favors.

2) Don’t Spend Much Money On Film School

The problem with traditional film schools isn’t the education—it’s the crushing financial weight required for the education. Aspiring directors must learn the craft and learn it well. Sporadic YouTube sampling isn’t enough. Guided education is paramount, but it can’t be the primary financial requirement. Money must be saved to purchase gear and make movies. I can’t stress that enough.

With modern pricing on film gear, you can purchase a cinema camera, prime lenses, gimbal, lights, mics, editing suite—everything needed to make movies for substantially less than one year at a private film school. ZERO exaggeration. If an aspiring director can learn the craft of filmmaking without nuking tens of thousands of dollars, they can use the money to greenlight their career.

“Spectacular! I’ll simply access stellar training without spending much money. Is that even possible?”

Now it is—keep reading.

The New Write & Direct Online Film School

I’ve painted a dismal yet accurate picture of the film education industry. But this story has a good Act 3! And that’s the new online film school created in partnership with Theater Eleven Pictures called Write & Direct.

Write & Direct is online yet a very hands-on school that teaches aspiring directors the craft from Development through Pre-Production, Production and Post Production. Students will come up with an idea and step it through the entire filmmaking process. They will graduate with a thesis film that will have taught them more about the craft than many who sink tens of thousands of dollars into their education.

And that’s just the beginning! The school has a private community for help at every stage. It will also launch with an online studio platform for connecting with other filmmakers.

But most important? Write & Direct isn’t just about saving dreams and money. It’s about teaching the craft of filmmaking in a way that truly empowers directors to push the needle on their career and become one of the future directors who treats all of us at the cinema!

We are so excited to announce Theater Eleven Picture’s involvement with this school. Our latest production RECKONING is the guide used to help aspiring directors go from idea to end credits. Write & Direct launches summer of 2025. The above video talks about it more, or simply visit the school’s website: The new online film school.