One of the questions I often see aspiring filmmakers asking is whether filmmaking is a good career. The truth is, even after spending ten years in the industry, I still cannot give you a straightforward answer.
When people say “career,” they usually mean something that earns your daily bread. In that sense, I cannot say that filmmaking has become my career yet. I have been in the industry for ten years, but I still haven’t reached a point where I can sustain myself through filmmaking alone.
And strangely enough, I think that is exactly why I might have something worthwhile to contribute to this discussion. Many people can answer this question after building successful careers in filmmaking. I want to answer it as someone who has spent ten years in the industry but is still trying to make filmmaking his livelihood.
My Filmmaking Experience
Sometimes, when people hear that I haven’t made a living through filmmaking, they assume I simply haven’t done much. That isn’t really the case.
I am a filmmaker working in the Malayalam film industry. I made my debut feature film, Munnariv, on an iPhone and later sold it to an OTT platform. Over these ten years, I have made ten short films, won a couple of awards, published four books, worked as an assistant director on one feature film and as an associate director on another. I also have a YouTube channel with around four thousand subscribers where I talk about filmmaking and what I have learnt along the way.
I genuinely enjoy doing all of these things. That is perhaps what makes answering this question a little more complicated.
Is Filmmaking a Good Career Financially?
I left my IT job in 2015. At that point, after working for almost three years, I had saved around ₹3,00,000. I lived off those savings for a couple of years. After that, they ran out.
Since then, I have been doing occasional freelance work here and there. Some months that brings in around ₹5,000. Sometimes ₹10,000 over two months. It isn’t consistent. It isn’t something you can build a life around. If it wasn’t for my parents supporting me all these years, I honestly don’t think I would have been able to continue.
That has been my experience. It may not become yours.
Filmmaking as a Financial Career
So perhaps the answer depends on what you mean when you ask whether filmmaking is a good career. If you mean a stable income that pays your bills every month, a salary, office hours and a promotion trajectory, then I think it is very unlikely that you are going to get that from filmmaking right from the beginning. That doesn’t mean it is impossible.
In fact, I know people who have built comfortable lives working as assistant directors. They have supported families and spent many years working as assistant directors. So I am certainly not saying that making a living through filmmaking is impossible. And if it were so, the industry itself would never have survived this long.
I am only saying that you may, or may not, get there immediately. That has certainly been my experience.
Entering the Film Industry
The chances are that when you first enter the industry, you may have to begin as an apprentice. You may work without a salary. You may work simply for food while learning the craft. Again, that isn’t necessarily unique to filmmaking. In one way or another, most professions expect you to learn the job while doing the job. You learn the skills by working alongside people who already know them.
Of course, you can also go to film school. In fact, that is something I would definitely recommend. There are many mistakes that you don’t have to make yourself because you can learn from people who have already made them. Just as importantly, you build relationships with people who may one day become your collaborators.
Filmmaking as Meaningful Work
Maybe when you ask whether filmmaking is a good career, you aren’t really asking about salary or promotions. Maybe you are asking whether it is meaningful. Whether it is fulfilling. Whether it is the kind of work that makes you wake up every morning feeling grateful that you get to do it. If that is what you mean, if filmmaking gives you that feeling, then yes, perhaps it could be a good career for you.
Of course, that may not be true for everybody. Some have entered the industry, found success, worked for years, and eventually realised that filmmaking wasn’t for them. They moved on to something else. I think that is perfectly okay. After all, aren’t all of us trying to figure out who we are, what we enjoy, what the world wants from us and what we can contribute?
Maybe filmmaking is the right career for you. Maybe it isn’t. Only you can answer that for you.
Why I Still Think Filmmaking Is a Good Career for Me
What I can answer is why I am still here. Even though I still haven’t made a living from the decision I made back in 2015, I still love what I do. I still love waking up and writing stories. I still love the feeling of being on a film set.
“… And after all, if you do really like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what it is; you can eventually turn it — you could eventually become a master of it. It’s the only way to become a master of something, to be really with it. And then you’ll be able to get a good fee for whatever it is. So don’t worry too much…” — Alan Watts.
Maybe that is true. Maybe it won’t be. I don’t know. But for now, I still find joy in doing the work itself.
Rethinking the Question
So then the question really isn’t simply, “Is filmmaking a good career?” But if you are comfortable with the possibility that you may not make a living from it immediately?
Maybe you will. I am still not saying you won’t. I am only pointing out a possibility based on the life I have lived so far. Your experience may be completely different from mine.
Will you still find joy in staying with filmmaking for however many years it takes? Will you be okay watching your friends and relatives get married, have children, start families, buy houses and cars, while you are still trying to understand where your own life is going? Can you be okay not knowing if it will ever work out? Can you live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether you will become a failed artist or if you will succeed?
What if you find that you enjoy filmmaking, that filmmaking is a good career for you, but the world doesn’t accept your work? What if you do not get the opportunity you believe should have been yours? Will you be lucky enough to be in the right rooms and meet the right people?
And whether, through all of that uncertainty, you will still find enough joy in filmmaking to keep going.
I don’t know whether filmmaking is a good career for you. I don’t think anyone can answer that. All I can do is share what the last ten years of my attempts have looked like for me. Maybe, somewhere in that, you’ll find part of your own answer.
