How to Be a Film Director

Co-authored by Kendall Payne

Last Updated: April 19, 2024 Approved

Becoming a film director is a dream job for many people. If you're ready and willing to put in the time, have creative vision and an impressive ability to make something out of nothing, then becoming a film director might be the perfect job for you. Just keep in mind that film directing jobs are highly competitive and it may take years or even decades to accomplish your goal. However, if this is your dream, then you should go for it!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Starting Your Career

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1
Watch films critically. You have probably seen lots of films if you are interested in becoming a film director, but you can start to use your film viewing experiences as a way to learn about film making. Watch as many films as you can and pay attention to the details.
- Try to count at least 15 mistakes in each film you watch. Look for acting errors, editing errors, storyline continuity errors, etc.
- Develop your awareness of storytelling as you watch films. Try watching movies with the sound off and pay attention to how the story unfolds through images as well. Or, you can also listen to the dialogue, soundtrack, and other sounds in a film to see how the story unfolds through what characters say.
2
Start making short films. To become a director, it is important to get started right away and use any means necessary to make your own films. Get a camera if you don't already have one. Although a quality camera will help you to produce better quality films, start with any camera you can find.
- Write your own screenplay or work with a friend who writes.
- Get a group of friends together on the weekend and shoot scenes for a short film. Over time, you can edit the scenes together using a program like Adobe Premier.
- Making short films will force you to start learning the technical aspects of directing. You'll need to know how to edit, write, and do everything else, too. Making your own short films will give you a chance to wear multiple hats and develop different skill sets.
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3
Learn how to act. The best way to learn to direct actors is by getting experience acting, whether this is by acting in your own films or being part of a drama group. Learning more about acting and doing some acting yourself will give you a greater appreciation for the actors that you are working with and it may make it easier to communicate with them.
- Try to learn the lingo of actors. For example, you can learn about different acting strategies or techniques, such as classical acting and method acting.
4
Read other people’s scripts. While you will probably start out writing your own scripts, you may need to work with other people’s scripts later on. Reading scripts that other people have written is a good way to practice bringing someone else’s story to life. When you read other people’s scripts, try to think about the details of how you would shoot each scene.
- For example, if two people are having an argument in a scene, how would you position them? What camera angles would you use? What kind of lighting would you use? What sounds would be in the background?
5
Consider going to film school. Though it's totally not required, film school is great for three things: forced experience, access to crews, and networking. Plenty have made it who did not go to film school, but plenty more have made it who have. You'll have access to internships, workshops, and, most importantly, names, names, names. If you have a project, you can get a crew handed to you and you can network by helping others out, too.
- Although highly competitive, NYU, USC, University of California at Los Angeles, AFI (Los Angeles), and California Institute of the Arts are some of the top schools. Several well-known directors have attended these schools, such as Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Ron Howard, George Lucas, John Singleton, Amy Heckerling, David Lynch, Terrence Malick, Francis Ford Coppola, and John Lasseter.^{[1]
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6
Work as part of a production crew. Becoming a film director doesn't happen overnight. Most directors started out working as runners, camera operators, or performing other roles as part of a production crew. No job is too small. Whether it's filing paperwork, making sure the actors have their bagels, or watching over the camera equipment at night, it's a step in the right direction.
- If you're in film school, look into internships. If you're not, check your local Craigslist, get in the know with the creative types in your area, and offer to be of service. If you're amicable and trustworthy, people will want to work with you again. And the gigs will get bigger and better each time.
- A production company is more likely to give a chance to someone with five years of production assistant experience over some kid fresh out of film school. Try to find a production assistant job or another entry level production crew job and do your best.
7
Start networking. Long story short, you won't become a director without a reel. That is the most important thing to have. That being said, this is definitely an industry where it's a lot easier to show said reel if you have an in. To get an in, you need to start networking right away. The more people you know, the more opportunities you will have.
- Attend industry events, such as mixers, conventions, parties, premiers, etc. Introduce yourself to people and try to develop good relationships with the people you meet. Offer to help out on future projects or invite others to work with you.
EXPERT TIP

Kendall Payne
Writer, Director, & Stand-up Comedian
Kendall Payne is a Writer, Director, and Stand-up Comedian based in Brooklyn, New York. Kendall specializes in directing, writing, and producing comedic short films. Her films have screened at Indie Short Fest, Brooklyn Comedy Collective, Channel 101 NY, and 8 Ball TV. She has also written and directed content for the Netflix is a Joke social channels and has written marketing scripts for Between Two Ferns: The Movie, Astronomy Club, Wine Country, Bash Brothers, Stand Up Specials and more. Kendall runs an IRL internet comedy show at Caveat called Extremely Online, and a comedy show for @ssholes called Sugarp!ss at Easy Lover. She studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and at New York University (NYU) Tisch in the TV Writing Certificate Program.

Kendall Payne
Writer, Director, & Stand-up Comedian

Our Expert Agrees: If you want to be a filmmaker, make as many connections as you can, because you never know when someone may be able to help you later. For instance, you might not know anything about lighting, but you might find someone who can help you out in return for your help on a project they're working on.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Making the Cut

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1
Find other gigs to get by. On your path to become a film director, you will need to develop your resume with other types of directing jobs, like directing music videos, TV shows, and commercials. The paychecks you receive for these jobs won't be in the millions, but these jobs will help to fill out your resume with directing experience.
- Some of these gigs will pay well and you may even enjoy the work, so don’t turn down a directing job just because it is for a commercial and not a feature length film.
Making short films with friends you have made in the industry is the quickest way to bulk up your reel. Work with the friends you've made, and with others who are also trying to break into the industry. Sometimes the budget will come out of your own pocket, sometimes it won't, but it's a necessary step on the ladder to success.

Steven Spielberg, Film Director

Keep honing your talents and be proud of your growth. "Whether in success or in failure, I'm proud of every single movie I've ever directed."
3
Enter your shorts into film festivals. If you have a film you're particularly proud of, then you can enter it into a film festival. The great part about it is that you can enter a film festival anywhere. There are probably some film festivals in your state or region that you can participate in.
- Sundance receives 12,000 submissions per year, so it is competitive. You may want to start smaller and work your way up.^{[2]
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  Research source} Just make sure you meet the deadline and formatting requirements!
- Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" was discovered at Sundance Film Festival and Steven Spielberg stumbled upon a then unheard of film called "Paranormal Activity" at a film festival.
4
Assemble your reel. Your reel, or portfolio, is what you'll be submitting to any project that's looking for a director, so it is important to make sure that it is impressive. Models submit their modeling portfolios, actors submit their headshots and resumes, and directors submit their reels. Your reel should include information about your education, professional experience, and films. Here's what you'll need:
- Information on your educational experience
- An accompanying resume showing your experience to date
- Your contact information
- Clips that also show your skills in editing, writing, animation and cinematography
- A list of film festivals participated in and awards won
- Miscellaneous experience -- music videos, commercials, animated shorts, TV shows, etc.
- Stills and storyboards showing your process
5
Work on your people skills. Even after you become a director, you're not necessarily on the top of the totem pole. You'll have to work with lots of different people and sometimes people will clash with each other or with you. As the director, keeping everyone happy will often be your responsibility. Start working on your people skills early on so that you will be well-equipped to handle different problems and personalities later on.
- Keep in mind that you may have to deal with some really frustrating situations. Imagine that your producer calls you and tells you he doesn't like the scene you filmed at 5 AM in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas to get the exact perfect shot at the golden hour. The actress changed a few of her lines to give her character more depth and the money's gone. You'll spend the entire night reworking the script to make room for something that can be filmed tomorrow at the studio.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Hitting the Big Time

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1
Get an agent. Once you have a decent reel, an agent may want to represent you. An agent can negotiate your contracts for you and help you to decide what is and what is not in your best interest. However, you should never pay money up front to acquire an agent. An agent should only charge you if you make money as a result of his or her efforts.
- A large part of an agent’s job will be to negotiate your "gross points." This is a fancy term for however much money the movie makes, you get X percent of it. When a movie makes $100, it's not that big of a deal. But imagine if your next movie rakes in $1 billion! Those gross points matter and they matter big time.
2
Try not to get discouraged by a lack of recognition. Get ready to take none of the credit and all of the blame. When a movie does well, it's rare that the director gets seen as the reason why. But when a movie does poorly, it's always that the director gets blamed. If it's a flop, you'll be hard-pressed to get another parallel gig anytime soon. Even if a movie that you direct is successful, you may not get as much recognition as the actors in your film.
- Maybe not for you, but for the average Joe on the street, directors aren't seen as the amazing film visionaries they are. It's the actors that make the movie. So when it comes to the public, you'll go unappreciated. And when it comes to your crew, it's no different. If your movie is bad, your producers will blame you. If the actor is upset about how their hair looks, they'll blame you. It's a cycle you'll, best case scenario, grow to tolerate.
3
Become a part of the union. After you have had a few directing jobs, you can become a part of the Director's Guild of America (DAG) (provided you're US based, of course). By becoming a member of DAG, you're guaranteed a $160,000 salary for 10 weeks.
- In most cases, you must be hired by a signatory company to be eligible. Or you make it big out of nowhere.^{[3]
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  Research source} The initial fee is a few thousand dollars and you pay minimal dues beyond that. It's completely worth it, especially if the projects are not constant.
4
Enjoy your awesome job. After you achieve your goal, make sure that you enjoy and appreciate your job. It will be stressful sometimes, but it should also be quite satisfying. You will always be doing something different depending on the stage of the film that you are working on.
- In pre-production, you're translating the script into a movie. Something visual. You're figuring out all the logistics, the casting, and the real nuts and bolts of it all. This is arguably the most important.^{[4]
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- In production, you'll be doing what everyone pictures directors do. You'll let the actors know what you see for them and how you want the scene to play out. However, you'll also be on a massive time crunch to paint a masterpiece. It will be chaotic, but also thrilling.
- In post-production, you'll sit down with editing team and piece it all together. Make sure that you develop good relationships with your editors to ensure that you are on the same page. In post-production, you'll also figure out the music and all the other finer points to draw it all together.
Michael Rabiger, Distinguished Film Director and Professor

A director must thoroughly understand the screenplay, collaborate with actors to draw out nuanced performances, and translate their creative vision into tangible aesthetic elements like shot composition, lighting, and editing.

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Can I create films on my smart phone? I don't have much money.

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You can start creating films on your smart phone. All you need along with the phone are some actors and a good story idea.

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What age can I start training to become a film director?

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You can start training at any age! Keep in mind, however, that if you wish to attend film school, you will need to finish high school first. Other than that, you can make films at any age.

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How do I convince my family that I should pursue being a film director?

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Let them know that you are much more interested in doing this than any other thing in your life. Show them that you have enough knowledge about film making by talking about it in an authoritative and learned way. Ultimately though, you make the decision about your career, not your family, so look around for a suitable film school and talk to them about your hopes.

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Be very visual with your directing and spend as much time as needed on your short films, and only when you are truly ready, try to make your full-length.

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Try something simple for your first movie.

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Build relationships with Cinematographers, Producers, Production Managers and Production Designers. Without them you are nothing.

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Watch behind-the-scenes features from movies that are in the genre you would like to direct—you can pick up a lot of cool tricks from great directors.

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Warnings

Be nice to everyone. The film industry is smaller than you think and people talk.

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This is a very difficult to achieve career and may take you well into your mid-thirties, if ever, to achieve it. Keep on pursuing your dream though, and if you want it badly enough, you'll make it.

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