Dave Basulto of the most badass Filmmaking Central podcast, on which I had the pleasure of appearing at the end of last year, has been featured in a very interesting New York Times article. If you don't have an account, the entire text is available here. Here's a taste:
When David Basulto decided to become a movie producer, the first thing he did was enroll in a class at a film school in Los Angeles. The second thing he did was drop out.
“I absolutely didn’t learn a damn thing from the course I took, so I went out and bought a couple of books,” Mr. Basulto said. Home-schooling worked where the classroom failed. After 45 days Mr. Basulto, who is 41, had raised enough money to produce his first feature...
And so on. Like I said, good stuff.
Personally, I had a great time at film school. I met friends who went on to become luminaries in the animation and effects worlds, some of whom I still work with today. I made movies with borrowed equipment and got internships at Oscar-winning effects houses. I saw plays and concerts and bootleg John Woo movies, had formative social experiences, and most importantly learned that wherever there was a system—even one designed to help you—true success is only to be found by working around, not within, that system.
But that was before thousand-dollar HD cameras, and before any cheap computer could be an onlining station capable of mastering a film. Has the equation changed? Seems to me the answer is yes if you're focused on results, but what about the journey itself?