The thing that helped me get into the film business was that I went to school in Athens, Georgia and managed to get on, um, working on music videos for a band called R.E.M. and that kind of opened up a lot of doors for me.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I almost became a music major, but somehow I was so enthralled with the camera and becoming a director that I stuck with film school and theatrics.
I studied business and also studied film, then I graduated, and I worked at a network. I was able to use my business skills there - I was an associate producer for a little bit.
I sort of grew up doing theater. And that's how I got into film, actually.
I started missing acting when I was in school, and I realized after being in the business after however many years that I was really interested in film.
The secret to the movie business, or any business, is to get a good education in a subject besides film - whether it's history, psychology, economics, or architecture - so you have something to make a movie about. All the skill in the world isn't going to help you unless you have something to say.
I didn't start out thinking that I could ever make films. I started out being a film lover, loving films, and wanting to have a job that put me close to them and close to filmmakers and close to film sets.
I started off in a small theatre performance company and worked my way into commercials.
I took myself out of the business to study film at NYU and the School of Visual Arts. I grew up on movie sets and was fascinated with the camera and behind-the-scenes work. I felt it would help my career as an actor if I knew all aspects of film.
I graduated from UC San Diego, wanted to work in film to get my hands-on real experience, did music videos, TV, feature films, all kinds of stuff.
The whole year I was in LA I got into telemarketing and learned how to make money. Five years later that skill helped me make my first film.