Think about Jimmy- the kid who wants to go to film college. He has wanted to make movies since he was a young boy. His room is filled with posters of his favorite directors and producers. He has an old camera that he bought with money earned from an after school job and has shot more than a few, fairly ambitious movies on it, roping in his friends and family to play parts and help out with the “shoot.” Jimmy’s parents are worried about his future, after all, they, like so many other parents in the country, want Jimmy to earn a degree and then go on to have a career that he is going to do well in. Jimmy agrees that this is a good plan and announces that he wants to go to film college and earn his degree. It was inevitable.
Being a smart, ambitious child of the modern age, Jimmy logs onto the computer and starts investigating the many film colleges and universities that are in the local area as well as the name of a few prestigious schools that are farther away. Just like he knows that to make a film he has to plan ahead and know what is coming next, he starts looking at all of the expense that is involved in filmmaking, including the equipment, the travel to and from the school and the other associated expenses. He also starts gathering information for what he can do with a film college education; he knows his mom and dad will be asking this as well.
During his investigation, Jimmy also does some research for assistance in paying for the cost of film college, including whether or not it can qualify for grants and student loans. Because he has already made a few short films on his own, Jimmy will also try to get scholarships to several of the film schools that he has found to further assist his parents in managing the high cost of film college. He also weighs the pros and cons of doing a full film college education or simply taking film courses instead.
After finding out how much the film college will cost, Jimmy takes the information to his parents to discuss what he wants to do with his life. He shows them the full break down of the education and its costs, including the cost of travel and associated fees that he will have to come up with to get the film education that he would like to have.
Jimmy will also give his parents one more idea to mull over: No Budget Film Making, the low cost alternative to the high cost of traditional film school educations. Jimmy learned the information about low cost alternatives to movie training that can give him a head start in his career path without having to spend a huge amount of money. Jimmy is far more prepared than others with the same ambition which if nothing else, should help him get his parents to help him get to that film school.