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Straight Outta Film School - PT1

and life after...

By Michelle KaldyPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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Straight Outta Film School - PT1
Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash

It's been a hilly journey, from unemployment, constant rejection, a freaking pandemic! and so much more. But in reality, what has actually come out of it?

I had mixed reactions from people when I said I was making the change from Ancient History to Film all the way back in 2016. My grandparents seemed disappointed. My parents were happy with anything I did as long as I finished it. In all honesty, I needed to feed my soul and follow what I knew I wanted out of life; to create content and live creatively.

Sure, my goals and ambitions changed. I still dream of making documentaries about all sorts and travelling the world. But in my final semester at film school, it was the most challenging. Not only because the project was MASSIVE and full-on. No, there were pressures in other aspects of my life as well.

I had moved out of home earlier that year with my partner at the time and then broke up within a month. It would have been fine had it not been for the toxic atmosphere that was produced after that. During this time I met someone else who had and still does feed my soul.

I had friends completely turn there back on me for the choices I made for myself and my own well being. I had lost my job (mind you that was another toxic environment) and things just... changed. I got stronger and more sure of what I wanted in EVERY aspect of my life.

In my final semester, we had to produce an industry-standard film. Myself and a friend of mine chose to do a documentary on women in the SES (State Emergency Services) and it was a huge hit! We won a nomination, an award and had major exposure. We were so proud.

Our teaser poster for our film

However, during this time I was exposed to the many elements of film that wasn't covered in my 3-year degree. The marketing, the promotional work and general PR that comes with it all.

It was almost a culture shock. I had been pushing through with high grades, priding myself off my knowledge and skill.

And now, I was being challenged. I almost felt like a failure. A fraud.

But it was a challenge nonetheless and I took it on. I learnt about how to market yourself online and how to gain a decent following for a project. I worked my freaking ASS off to learn about content strategies, basic graphic design, social media analytics, and reading your audience.

And you know what? I liked it. And I was good at it. We smashed through our content and launched our film with huge success. But this opened my eyes. We hadn't touched on marketing. That back end of marketing, sure, about how to read data and crap. But film school was preparing us for a Hollywood-esque happy ending, not for anything else.

For most of us, it wasn't like that at all. After graduating some of my classmates spread to all sorts of professions. But none of us ended up in Hollywood or the Aussie equivalent.

An excited me at my graduation ceremony

We felt severely underprepared for working in the industry or even working for ourselves (which we didn't even learn we could do). We didn't learn about how to apply for funding, film festivals, how to network. We didn't learn about how to utilise social media, or about publishing platforms for our content.

I remember thinking why there were no subjects regarding freelancing, contracting, and indie film work. Because honestly, these courses would have been incredibly beneficial to all of those I had graduated with.

There were instances when we had all been sitting together enjoying our lunches and catching each other up on the films and shows we'd watched over the weekend and the topic of what we found lacking in our education would almost always make an appearance. We would then all sit in a moment of silent contemplation.

It was rough for some of us to come to terms with all this in our final semester. But we all pushed through and did such an amazing job. However, it left me thinking.

I don't think I'm made for Hollywood. The politics, the constant battle for women to be recognised, the constant battle for diversity to push through the white cracks. The old white guys sitting on their oscar golden thrones making the decisions of who succeeds and who doesn't.

Nah.

So, I looked into what I'm good at. Marketing. And I looked into how I could implement my degree using Marketing, got my diploma in Marketing and here I am now, trying to figure out how I can help small businesses. Meanwhile working a job that I love and trying to make other content on the side.

A BTS of me doing some BTS

I think doing as much as I could was almost in defiance for the lack of things we learnt in school. I want to learn as much as I can outside my degree to show them what they failed in with us. It may fall on deaf ears, which I'm OK with. But I'm here to help and educate people on what they should know before getting involved in the creative industries through formal education.

And I realised something. The overall conversation I was having with others from other film schools was linked back to their degree having many holes which would only be filled with experience and self-teaching. We're paying for degrees which feel like they are ill preparing us for the industry we wish to be a part of.

A.K.A, it wasn't just my school and we weren't the only ones feeling like this. This was almost a universal issue.

Despite all of this, do I regret going to film school? No, surprisingly. Yes, there are many aspects that could improve however my overall experience was positive. I also met some off the most talented people and that's something to definitely take away.

Check out part two for some of my advice!

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About the Creator

Michelle Kaldy

I am a photographer and content creator, here to educate and take you on my post film school journey. With a BA in Film and Video Editing, I survive the big bad world with my wits and camera in hand. Straight Outta Film School!

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