Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Types of UCLA Film School Students...

Since I'm getting close to the end of my first year at UCLA, I can see that there are three types of UCLA film school students (at least in the screenwriting program). There are those who will go to film school, work on their scripts a bit after graduation, and then decide that writing isn't for them. There's also the type who will work exclusively on screenwriting, and will either sell scripts or get a job in the industry. And then there's the third type of which I belong. The third type want to sell scripts, yes, but they also are interested in every aspect of entertainment content. Yes, content. I know it sounds unromantic, but I think that the faster writers realize that they are in the content biz, the faster they'll be able to exploit their talents for mobile, Internet, gaming, etc. that goes way beyond the silver screen. In my producer classes, there's a small cadre of writers who are the third type. I have a feeling that we'll be doing business long after the first two types stop working in the industry.

1 comment:

David said...

Really well said. I hope to be working alongside you in Group Three many years from now.

You might consider taking a directing class. I was talking to a second-year tonight who is taking Directing the Actor and she said it's already proving to be a really valuable class for her. Plus it's another skill to put in your arsenal. I'm going to look into it next quarter. I was at first concerned that is a cinematography-oriented class and that I'd have to strap some sort of heavy equipment on my back, but nope.