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Film school didn’t really teach me producing. A lot of it needs is just instincts.
However - UCLA has some great extension courses:
The Art of Line Producing
Producing Commercials for all Platforms
Intro to Cinematography
Craft of the Director
The Art and Business of Producing
I didn’t take a producing class in film school. It should be offered more often. In any case, you work your way up and learn it practically. You benefit tremendously from the experience of working in production before you jump to producing.
I was in film school with a producing focus, and I think I adjusted fairly quickly to agency production. The hardest part to adjust to was handling how much slower things move compared to being on a film set, and I guess some legal considerations which as a student they don’t really have you focus on.
Best producers fall into the job unintentionally. School for (agency) producers would be pretty useless imo.
courses on things like excel and film (or tech or whatever is more relevant to what you produce) will help along the way, but learning how to be a producer at a school would either be useless or would break students and no one would graduate. 🤷♀️
Ok. My response wasn’t very positive.
I think my conclusion is that, if you want to produce you’ll find a way. That’s what producing is, figuring it all out. 👍🏽
Trial by fire. Sink or swim.
All the best producers are forged in the fires of production battle.
Trial by fire usually ends this way. My last agency lost a few clients the same way.
Film school?
Film school. It’s good to know good craft even if you are making Tik Toks.
A few places have great graduate producing divisions, Tisch, Columbia, USC has the Starck producing program and a few others like UCLA. My teachers were working artists and producers including big festival winners and big budget line producers, that insight is different than my HOP or Business Manager advising on residuals.
Become a PA. Hardest lessons are learned fast.
This is the advice I’d give my younger self. Because that’s what I did. Film Schools do little in the way of prepping producers for Agency Production.
School of Life!
I believe CalArts has an MFA producing track. More focused on theater/live than film.
AFI and USC have good film programs.
NYU (just sayin’)
I’m a grad of Full Sail University
The “school” is going to have a difficult time replicating what it’s actually like producing with your career on the line every time out.
The skills and lines to know are different than dealing with a real agency who’s also worried about losing their client.
Someone here said it, forged in the fire 🔥 lol
AICP holds a production seminar a couple times a year: https://aicp.com/education/aicp-seminars/