study in usa film schools

[sandeepg]

hi i am from Hyderabad, andhra Pradesh, india
i am studying b.tech 4th year{,final year} in jntu ...university
my career objective is to get into film industry...for that i what do master of fine arts degree in usa and mean while earn an amount of 50lakhs rupees = $125,000 to produce a film by my own after 4,or 5 years.. my mfa course will be completed with in 2 years. later can get any job based on that so that i can earn money in 3or 4 years in usa?? will visa be permitted even after my course.??.are there any job opportunities after my mfa course in usa so that i can earn money??Is visa permitted for mfa degree??
thanking you
sandeep g......waiting for reply.

[Bruce Allen]

Sandeep, if your objective is to earn a stack of money with which to produce a film, USA film school is not recommended. There are much better ways to do this - including probably just investing in something in your own country!

Bear in mind cost of living is very high in LA so in order to save up $125,000 you will have to be clearing $200,000+ for a few years (tax gets high too) and making good investments. Chances of doing that fresh out of film school are low.

There are lots of reasons to go to film school but making money is not one of them, IMHO. I went to USC to do my MFA, dropped out and am making a very good salary, but I am an exception. A lot of people in my year are heavily in debt after film school and not earning six figures now - it'll take them years to pay it off.

On the other hand if you want to gain access to $125,000 of investors' money, want a bunch of good contacts, etc, then maybe it's worth a shot doing something like the Stark Program... schmoozing, etc. still it's TOUGH.

What are you currently studying? Surely you can leverage that knowledge (which is hopefully in a more profitable field) instead?

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com