How Can You Make A Career In Filmmaking

India is a country that is obsessed with two things - Bollywood and cricket. In such a scenario it is obvious that pursuing any career in Bollywood is bound to mint money for you. Another point in favour of all of this is the fact that this is one field that does not require tons of experience or prior qualifications.

The world of filmmaking is one that has the potential to accommodate people irrespective of their qualifications. Also, other than Bollywood itself, there are tons of regional cinema industries, each of which has the potential to be the means of livelihood of hundreds of people. Thus, if watching films has been your passion all along, you can now take a step further and make this passion a full-time career. This article explores the various ways in which you can make a career out of filmmaking in India.

• Start Off Early - Screenwriter

It is important to realise that this is a creative field and the earlier you start off the more are your chances of shining. Thus, if you are planning to become a screenwriter, one of the best things that you can do is take up a screenplay writing course in the initial days of your college life.

This will give you ample time to work on your screenplay writing skills before you graduate from college. Remember that writing is an art that can be mastered only with regular practise. Thus, if you start off early, by the time you complete your academic studies and go out job-hunting you will be industry-ready and finding yourself the assignment of your choice will be a cake walk.

• Networking - Video Editing And Audio Engineering

These are professions for which a number of freelancers are available in the market. Thus, irrespective of how good you are, chances are that someone will be better than you. In such a situation, the only way of making it big in your career would be by making your presence felt.

Come up with innovative marketing techniques to project your work. At the professional level, try to be in good terms with as many people as possible. For video editors and audio engineers the role of networking is way more helpful than that of a formal degree.

• Collecting Valuable Feedback - Writers

As writers, people often find it difficult to find faults in their writings. That is when the concept of feedback comes in. Try to build a network of people who can review your work and provide feedback on the same. Make sure you keep this group of people as diverse as possible (it will be nice if these people can come from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds).

The reason for this may be attributed to the fact that when a film is made it is expected to cater to the needs of a wide section of people. Listen to the feedback that all of your reviewers have to offer and then choose which ones to accept and which ones not to.

• Donning Multiple Hats - Production

If you are passionate about making a career out of production, there are two qualities that you need to master. First and foremost, you need to ace the art of time management. As a producer you will have the responsibility of multiple tasks at the same time and if you fail at prioritising the same, you will never make it big in your career.

The other thing that you need to be good at is the ability to substitute for someone. Remember, no job is too low for you, and the greater number of tasks you can perform, the more independent and self-sufficient you will be and higher will be your chances of succeeding in this particular profession.

• Understanding Money - Financial Adviser

The making of a film involves a huge sum of money. There is money needed to procure the props, get the sets in order, pay the artists and other people involved in the process of filmmaking. The money for the same often has to be procured from banks in the form of loans. Other than this, there are taxes to be paid and money to be given to distributors.

The handling of such huge amounts of money forms an essential part of the process of filmmaking and is handled by financial advisers. These are usually people from the commerce background having a graduate or postgraduate degree.

• Designing Throughout - Costume Designers

This is another section of people who have enormous career scope in the world of filmmaking. These people are responsible for getting the costumes of all the characters in the film in place. If you are looking for a career in this field, what you need is a thorough knowledge of history, sociology and an open mind.

Once the director or screenplay writer tells you about a particular scene, you should be able to picturise it and come up with the appropriate costumes so that the scene appeals to the audience as a whole. Hence, it is advisable that you work on your general knowledge if you want to pursue a career in this field.

• Managing It All - Film Direction

Most people are of the opinion that creativity is the most important skill of a film director. However, the fact is that in the process of filmmaking, the most important skill that a director needs is to manage all the resources that are available on the sets.

Thus, experience in organising events and plays will go a long way in making one the film director they always wanted to be. If you want to take it a step further, you can consider pursuing a professional bachelor's degree in human resource management before you plunge in the world of filmmaking.