How to Become a Movie Director

Do you want to be a big-time Hollywood director, attending film premieres and hobnobbing with famous actors? Well, there are two ways to achieve this: the hard way and the harder way. First, here is what a director is. First, here is what a director is. A director is the highest authority besides the producer, and manages the production process of making a film, television or video project. They have been hired by the producer, and given a screenplay they must bring to life in moving image and written dialogue. They are very organized and thorough, and pay close attention to detail. A director carefully hires the crew they will work with, and prefers to work with former crew members. Directors are either disciplinarians, or a calm understanding diplomat, and everything else in between. Every director has a different formula, having their own artistic vision, and procedure of how they go about the application of directing.

If you are reading this article you are probably young, impatient, and thinking, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get to how I become one." Okay, but you are not going to like the answer, because it sounds like all you have ever been told by your parents. The answer is, stay in school and get good grades. Learn as much as possible about the art of filmmaking. Practice. Learn how to write with proper grammar, composition, form and spelling. Turn yourself into an organized and thorough manager. Get a degree, and show everyone you are serious about your dreams.

Name a famous top Hollywood director. Spielberg, Scorsese, Lucas, Altman, Carpenter even Corman. Do you know how they all became famous directors? They achieved this with a degree in filmmaking. Then they applied and were accepted into the Los Angeles Screen Director's Guild. After being accepted, they were assigned to a working director and learned even more about the practical application of filmmaking, hands-on as an assistant. From this experience each aspiring director was hired by producers who trusted them enough to help start their careers. They each eventually became successful enough to call their own shots. Some earned their degree in Los Angeles. Others like Scorsese (who earned his in New York and moved to Hollywood to apply) come from all over the country.

Now here is the reality of this industry. For every Hollywood director named, over a thousand applied to the same Guild each year. These directors are the few that were actually accepted by the Guild. Discouraged yet? Well don't be. There are those who fall through the cracks. A good example is the director John Waters, although he too has a degree. During the 1970's there was a trend known as 'Midnight Movies', in which local movie houses around the country showed independent cult films during the late hours to make some extra money. This provided an opportunity for John Waters to raise capitol (money) and make his own movies. In spite of the niche market, he was able to earn a profit for his investors.

Are you becoming aware that a big time Hollywood director is extremely dependent upon having a producer with the money to invest in their films? As for the independent director/producer/writer, they must hustle getting the money to make their movies. They put in a lot of time and effort into selling the idea to people reluctant to part with their money. A lot of networking, and a convincing personality are required. Very much like Ed Wood. These producer/writer/directors have to turn a profit for their investors. They have to learn the skills of a producer (another article of mine) to make their dreams come true. I forget his name but one director had to run up his own personal credit cards and go into debt to complete his movie, much like Disney did in his early career.

Sadly the midnight movie madness trend lost favor, and movie houses stopped holding them Even Waters himself admits that he could not make the movies he once did, because the market does not exist anymore. If you want my advice (and I am an old fart), the answer for independent directors is web videos. It is the new platform for independents. Look at it this way. In the early days of Hollywood, early filmmakers went there for the sun. Not so they could leisure in it, but because Los Angeles is sunny most of the year. Still don't get it? Electric lights were not needed to make movies. They could make them anywhere. Some even made open outdoor sound stages on top of buildings.

When Max Sennet moved to Los Angeles from New York, film was in its infancy. It was the new technology, and very few people knew what to do with it. Sennet brought along his troupe of crewmembers and actors to Los Angeles with him. The story goes that as soon as he and his troupe got off the train, they immediately began to film a scene for a movie out of the blue, and on the spot. The point of this story is to show that these days the Internet is the new medium. There are new ways to become successful because of the Internet, if you go about it in new ways. The Internet is also a perfect way to show your skills in organized, well written and well-produced projects for people in the industry to see. You never know, and it has happened before. They may be looking for some creative person disciplined and organized enough to handle the responsibility of an invested project. Those traits are what the industry is really looking for besides talent.

Do not forget about the script either. A great director is not necessarily a great writer. Most famous directors that you know of never even write the script for their movies. They are normally handed a script after being hired by the producer. They may help to work on the screenplay, but in most cases the screenplay is already written too. A director probably has input during the storyboard process because of their visual creativity. You must remember the director is in essence a machine that understands the process of how to efficiently create the vision of those they were hired by. The movie is not entirely what the director envisions. That has already been created and decided upon in the script and screenplay process. This is where most of the creativity is decided long before the director is hired and the camera starts rolling.

A director will have creative input during the production (filmmaking) process, with visual interpretation and to a certain extent the actors, but a director's role is much larger than that. What a director does is more like the manager of an assembly line, with attention primarily focused on efficiency, schedules, getting the product complete, on time and within budget. They constantly meet with the producers (investors) providing updates on spending, progress, and planning strategies. After the director does their part, the disassembled jigsaw puzzle is then handed to the editor. The editor, working under the direction of the producer and sometimes director, reassembles the jigsaw puzzle, adding their own input as they complete the film.

You want to be a famous Hollywood director, well there it is. It is like wanting to be a famous rock star, actor, author, athlete, scientist, or anything else you can think of that brings wealth, fame and security. To add further insult, you must wait in line hoping with the thousands of others wanting the same things. Then you are confronted each day on television with the 'creative artist' who somehow achieved this level of success without very much talent. Does this sound angry and bitter? Well, it is how you will sound if you set your expectations too high with your dreams. Here is some advice to the aspiring director. You should be realistic and not be overly optimistic. When times get tough, and they will get tough, or you do not achieve your high expectations, it can be a very long way to fall down emotionally. The trick is to not set your self up, and become discouraged enough to give it up when times are tough. How?

It is the same as anything else in choosing a career. It takes talent, determination, and hard work. Learn as much possible about the industry you want to be in. Practice your skills any way you can. More importantly, set realistic goals for yourself. If success and fame knock at your door, it is icing on the cake because you will be disciplined enough to handle the responsibility of the position. This is how to become a successful director.

Think about this. If I had my dreams, you all would be buying my greatest hits CD by now. Even though fame was never achieved, I happily made a good living performing in clubs for about ten years. During this time I found another creative outlet in photography, and eventually wound up in the television industry. From there I eventually became a vocational instructor of TV production for adults and high school students. After giving that up and moving to New Mexico, I work part time in government television, own a commercial web site, sell and auction vinyl records and collectibles, make recordings of my music, directed a jury orientation video for the county, wrote an unpublished novel, and write online articles like this.

I am not trying to show off, because none of these activities have made me rich and famous. Then again, that is not important to me, because I am still able to do these things and get paid for it. The point of this is that fame and fortune are for the few. If it happens to you, great! I am happy for you. For the rest of us, I would rather be directing and editing on a local level than not at all. The programs I have worked on will not win any awards, or be seen nationally. But I have been given opportunities to write, direct, work with talent and edit televised programs locally on a daily basis. Now I earn money to eat and pay bills for this experience. I ask you, isn't that why you want to be a director?