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What To Learn

High School

What high school courses should you take if you're interested in this career? Get your answers from the Arts, Audio-Video Technology and Communications cluster Audio and Video Technology and Film pathway.

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Mark Moran is a film producer. But his first career wasn't in film production -- it was in video games. He started a video game company when he was in high school and designed games for five years. His first taste of film production was when his company did a large film shoot for a game.

"At 19 years old I found myself being the technical director of a million dollar film shoot that went on for 22 days and had 30 actors," says Moran. "That was my first exposure to film."

In 1998, Moran moved to New York and went back to school. He wanted to switch careers into film. He earned a BA in literature and creative writing while taking film classes. He also did internships with various producers and production companies. He graduated from university in 2001, which was when he started working full time in the film industry.

Moran says most of the people working in the film industry do not have a film degree. "It's certainly not a requisite to do any job in the film industry," he says.

In the film industry, it's all about who you know. But that doesn't mean you can't find a way in. Moran is a case in point. "I started off with no connections," he says.

Moran says the film industry has always been difficult to break into. So many people want to be part of what's seen as a glamorous and fun industry that they're willing to work for nothing or almost nothing.

"It used to be even harder," says Moran. "In the old studio system they said the only way you could possibly become a cinematographer was if your father was a cinematographer and his father was a cinematographer."

Nowadays, talent and education are more of a factor. But it's still essential to build connections in the industry.

"The film industry has no headhunter services, it has no referral services, there's no agencies that post your resume in any real way," says Moran. "Any job you get in the film industry will always be by word of mouth."

Lola Davidson is a documentary film producer. Her first exposure to film production was after her third year of university, when she did a co-op position with a film company in Toronto.

Since graduating from a film program, she has had three professional production jobs. She is currently doing production coordination on a documentary television series and is raising funds for an independent documentary.

Davidson says there are some important qualities to succeed as a producer. Directors can get away with being introverted. But a producer, no matter how talented and how much education they have, has to be able to relate well with people.

"If you're going more into the production/producing side, there's no way you can do it without being able to speak to people, without being personable and keeping up those relationships, because it's all about who you know," says Davidson. "It's 99 percent who you know, one percent if you can do it."

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