Part 8
Education and Starting Your Career

How and where you learn to make documentaries depends on your resources and learning style. Every so often someone writes to say they have just won an award and this book was their main teacher. So you may be holding all the academy you need in your two hands. Most, however, will prefer schooling for its structured educational path, equipment, and teammates. The subject of this part is choosing the right institution, making the most of your educational path, and getting established in a film career. For this you can lay the groundwork from the very beginning:

• Use the teaching and facilities above what the college demands for a passing grade.
• Read everything you can about those whose work inspires you.
• Read novels, newspapers, and nonfiction in pursuit of the subjects that fire your imagination.
• Write and write until it becomes a pleasure. Only in this way can you dump out what’s in your head and improve it. Write academic papers, criticism, a blog, whatever you can.
• Talk about your film ideas with anyone who’ll listen.
• Cram in all the filmmaking experience that you can handle as a student.
• Use teachers and contemporaries by actively seeking help, ideas, and criticism. Don’t let shyness or sensitivity to the opinions of contemporaries hold you back.
• Ask all the questions you need answered, even the really stupid ones.
• Find which festivals interest you and plan films you’re going to make as entries.
• Compile a show reel of your best work to prove your employability.

On graduating, few emerge as fully fledged documentary directors. Most realize that directing professionally depends on acquiring more experience in the field. Prepare for this during your schooling by developing a specialty such as camerawork, sound, or editing. Then you’ll have marketable craft skills and can gain a foothold in the industry. For more on this see Chapter 36, Getting Work.

At school and beyond, festival awards represent the clearest path to your future, but you must plan for this. The last chapter in this part is about leveraging yourself into employment. Your success depends heavily on what you’ve planned to accomplish during your schooling.