So last week I went to a film seminar (sponsored by the San Francisco Film Festival) where they screened a demo reel of films representing 13 film schools in the Bay Area, followed by 5 panelists/Bay Area filmmakers who attempted to answer the question I've been wondering a lot for the past couple of months: Can you make a living in filmmaking in the Bay Area without moving to LA or NY?
Well... they answered my question, but honestly this entire panel was extremely bias. They all have two things in common: 1.) They're all poor and 2.) they choose to be.
Choose to be poor? Yeah, because they're all those typical "artsy fartsy" artists who want to make films that speak to them, that are passionate and that basically don't make any money. A couple of the women on the panel do no-narration documentaries...
Though there is nothing wrong with "artistic" films, I was kind of hoping to get someone on the panel who is actually successful at filmmaking because he/she makes commercial things that actually sell and are marketable.
Don't get me wrong, I also want to film things I can be passionate about, but I also want it to sell to a broad, commercial audience.
Either way, these people are alive and didn't look like they're starving, so in a way, yes you can make a living here in SF in filmmaking.
Also, after watching the reel of different films from different schools, Academy of Art is by far the most professional in every sense of the word. Go us!
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