Hi all, I'm usually in the screenwriters lounge, but I have a question for the producers and directors today! Have any of you been through a program as a teen that prepared you for film making? An arts high school, on line program or summer school/camp? I went to RISD, which has a great film program but nothing for pre-college..any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
Filmmaking / Directing : Starting young. by Lisa Gold
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Hi Lisa, when I was a teenager I had no idea filmmaking courses existed, I just grabbed a video camera and shot videos with my friends, fiction with some kind of plot and story all the time. The first one that I made was called "The Touchables" as in "The Untouchables" and it was 60.minutes long, no script because I had no idea what that was, I just made up the scenes as we were shooting and then edited everything... The point is that maybe if I had known there were books about filmmaking or courses or seminars, I think I would've definitely joined a course or bought a book... But I did this until I was 26 years old, when I found out that this things existed... Anyway, courses and seminars sometimes can be expensive, but there are many books out there about the craft of filmmaking that are great.
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I was lucky enough that my high school (Annandale High School in Northern Virginia) offered an International Baccalaureate Film class in both Junior and Senior year. There was had a great mix of studying classic films as well as making your own.
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I have spent countless hours on the internet. The web is overflowing with information. If you're interested in searching for specific information regarding the craft, that's probably the place to start. If you're looking for something more disciplined, than signing up for some kind of a course of some kind would be beneficial.
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I made my first film when I was 16 for a U.S. Government class. I've never really stopped since. Just do, and be humble and surround yourself with people who will do a great job with their tasks. If you need any pointers, or just want to hear a few stories, hit me up.
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My director on Bike Shop TV just showed me a short clip edited by a local 16 year old he's thinking of mentoring. It was awesome! There are, of course, always issues surrounding employing minors, which it's a producer's job to address. I'm hoping we can have him come in to cut episodes of Bike Shop TV's first full season. I'd encourage any producer, especially indies, to bring in interns whenever available. You have to surround them with veterans who can, and are willing to, mentor them in the mechanics of whatever they're asked to do, but its good for them and good for the production. It's especially good for the producer to connect with bright young minds who will grow into outstanding professionals ready for future projects.
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Charles, I wish I had the opportunity of being an intern with a working director right after film school. I don't think I would have made so many mistakes as I did while producing and directing my first few projects outside of school. That kind of one on one support would have been too valuable for me.