I started Film School

Back in April 2024 after reading Tim Ferris’s 4 Hour Workweek in my Denver, CO apartment and honestly going through some really tough times for myself, I decided to start making videos for other people. I was not looking to be an influencer, but rather the person behind the scenes making the video happen.

Thanks to Thomas Im who inspired me to just get started, I obsessively applied to jobs on Upwork and landed some gigs as a video editor. Slowly thereafter I realized that full video production made more sense financially and what I’ve realized over the past year and change is that I’ve been in film school without realizing it. Let me explain.

I’ll jump to Monday. First video shoot on a Full Frame Video Camera and despite the 3 hours of YouTube videos, ChatGPT and presets on the new camera / tripod configuration, the second I got to the shoot, I realized the mounting bracket to the tripod was left home. Bummer. Thankfully I brought another tripod so all was well.

The real education happens when you fuck up. That’s how you learn. You can watch 27 hours of videography YouTube but I promise you the only way to learn is to get out there and perform.

YouTube and ChatGPT have expedited my learning process to a point that I feel anyone can be a videographer — all you have to do is try.

The difference between this and film school is you either get a scholarship or pay to go to film school. This freelancing whatever you want to call it is how I make my living — so I’m getting paid to learn, watch YouTube, prompt ChatGPT, fuck up, sell my services, deliver work on time, fuck up again, work with editors and other filmmakers, fuck up a third time just hoping the client won’t notice, and giving me more guidance than school could ever provide in the path I want to take in my career.

5 minutes is up. We actually got to 8 minutes today.

-Jack

PS Don’t suppress that side hobby you spend time on — it feels good to provide others that service especially when you have time on your hands. Happiness isn’t purchased through money. Money helps, but it’s only a slice of the pie.

PPS Industry City Brooklyn is awesome. What a place for an industry show. Shot at Permissionless NYC today. At 6:30pm got into a Happy Hour and had a solid 8 mini lobster rolls. Incredible :)