My Independent Life - TylerLeisher.com

So, I’m still unsure which, if any, Film School I’m going to attend. I grabbed Wikipedia’s Top 50 Highest Grossing Films of all time and compiled a list of the directors of those films in the same fashion as yesterdays chart. This is what I found:

• 24 Directors Featured
• 59% of Directors Majored in Film
• 71% of Directors Went to college
• Youngest Directors Start was 22
• Oldest Directors Start was 38
• Average Start Age was 30
• 2 Directors Attended USC
• 1 Director Attended UCLA
• 1 Director Attended LMU
• 1 Director Attended CSULB

I am leaning towards attending school, and trying for USC… but I’m not entirely sold on it yet. Many film makers (29% to be exact) were very successful without any degree or any college. Ron Howard (The Grinch, American Graffiti, A Beautiful Mind), Jon Favreau (Elf, Ironman), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong), Larry Wachowski (The Matrix), Sam Raimi (Spiderman 1, 2 and 3), Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye, The Legend of Zorro), et al.

But does that mean I shouldn’t try because of them, or try harder despite them? It’s true, they aren’t the majority, 29% is in fact the mintority.

The old saying goes that if you are talented and have the desire, discipline and dedication to be successful in this business, you will be.

What do you think? Do you plan to attend film school, or the school of life?

This originally started as a document for my own personal use. It was a spreadsheet used to find out how many major directors went to college, how old they were when they started their first major film, and how they started their careers.

The following information was obtained from Wikipedia:

• Birth Year
• College
• Major
• Degree Type
• Age When they had their first hit

For the purpose of this spreadsheet, and the purpose that it is supposed to serve. The Director MUST have been born AFTER 1944, and must have had at least one film that had a wide theatrical release. For this reason, directing legends such as Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, et al. have not been included.

The reason for this is that during their era of film making, Film School was not an option. The best way to get into the industry at the time was an apprenticeship at a studio, or lower level job.

For the purpose of the graphs and stats below, the term “of Directors” really means, “of Directors featured in the survey.” For a full list of the directors used, as well as seeing the raw data, visit the link at the end of the article.

• 45 Directors Featured
• 69% of Directors Who Attended College Majored in Film
• 64% of Directors attended College
• Average Start Age (No college) was 29
• Average Start Age (College) was 29
• The Youngest Director Started at Age 23 (Ron Howard)
• The Oldest Director Started at Age 38
• 82% of Directors Born Between 1930-1949 Attended College
• 85% of Directors Born Between 1950-1959 Attended College
• 40% of Directors Born Between 1960-1969 Attended College
• 40% of Directors Born Between 1970-1979 Attended College

If you take away anything from these stats it should be this, those that went to college and those that did not were just as successful as those who did not go to college.

I’ll be doing some more in depth look at the differences between those who attended and those who did not attend. What’s your opinion of Film School? For or against it? Post a comment and let me know!

For a full look at the data, check out this spreadsheet.

Dare is officially completed! No more than a days rest went by before my next project is under way, gotta love being a Producer-Director. Below is the trailer for Dare, as well as the full length film. You can’t vote yet, but I will repost a blog when you can vote, I can use all the votes I can get… the more votes, the more likely I am to win one of the Peer awards.

My next project is untitled as of yet, but is being written for the next Filmaka contest, the topic? “On The Road”. It is being written by an up and coming writer, Ryan McLeod. With almost the same crew as last time, I’m really eager to get started, unfortunately the ball has just started to roll and it’ll be a few days before anything comes my way.

This morning I had a bit of a heart attack, aside from trying to track down a talent release form from Jessica Montanez (Officer Miller in Dare), my bank decided to temporarily delete my checking and savings account, which held my entire life savings in it. After a few phone calls, getting the run around and sitting on hold for 45 minutes.. I decided to become a member of Washington Mutual… screw Bank of America.

I’m filming a short film on July 20th, and while we don’t NEED these positions it would be nice to have them.

I need a 1st AC familiar with focus pulling on the HVX 200, slating and helping the DP. We’ll be shooting to digital so tapes wont be an issue.

I also need a 1st AD, someone who can make a schedule and make sure I’m on it (I’m coming from an AD background so I’m usually good, but just in case).

We’ll be shooting at 4 locations, all on Sunday. Hopefully we can make it in 10 hours but we might run to 12.. nothing more than that.

Students are absolutely welcome, if not preferred. This should be a really fun shoot, you’ll learn a lot and get to work with some great people. If you’ve never 1st before and want to, now is your chance!

This is a short film (4 pages) for Filmaka.com, the director is an award winning new media director making the jump to narrative films.

Food will be provided, but no pay, we’re all working for free. I know, it sucks, especially with the SAG strike looming, but if this film is chosen as a jury level winner you will receive a portion of the $500 as well as paid work on the 2nd level project ($1,000 budget).

If you have questions, feel free to email (spam@leisher.net) me and we’ll discuss.