Film School Secrets: Insider Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers Learn Filmmaking as Creative Professional, Not a Starving Artist

If you dream of making movies for a living, you should start by watching these 10 old, black and white films right now. Why? Very simple. Today, most new filmmakers are completely distracted by all the technology available. But we all know, Hollywood makes plenty of movies that look great buy have shitty stories and are painful to watch, even though they ...

Ever since “Die Hard” came out in 1988, it’s become an icon of cinema, inspiring tons of knock offs. It’s even inspired the Hollywood pitch adage “It’s ‘Die Hard’ on a _____ (fill in where this version takes place’)” ‘Speed’ was ‘Die Hard on a Bus’. ‘Speed 2’ was ‘Die Hard on a Boat’. ‘Executive Decision’, ‘Passenger 57’, and ‘Air ...

Just received this comment on the blog, though it warranted its own post: “I found your site incredibly accurate and inspiring. I myself did not attend film school and have disregarded all of the so-called experts who said I couldn’t direct a feature film because I have no formal training. I’m a firm believer that passion conquers all, and if ...

Robert Rodriguez, and myself, encourage young filmmakers to learn everything about filmmaking so you can handle any aspect of the product. Especially when you are starting out with no money, you definitely need to know how to produce, get favors, shoot the movie, even act, edit, write, and direct. Tyler Perry has been an example of that on steroids, churning ...

A student in Film School Secrets just told me about an impressive indie movie called “Monsters” by Gareth Edwards. The film is a sci-fi action flick about an alien invasion in the Earth. Now, that’s not a terribly original concept and would probably spell “crappy movie” for most indie filmmakers. What’s amazing about this movie is that is was done ...

I finally saw “Looper” this weekend and I thought it was awesome. Tight, imaginative exciting, plausible. All the best elements of sci-fi and even some great moments of humor. Joseph Gordon Levitt did a great Bruce Willis impression too. What’s interesting is that Rian Johnson who wrote and directed the movie consulted with the guy who made a feature and ...

This is a new video shot for skipcollege.tv. I think I’m close to achieving my dream of making videos that are a combo of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert: