How to Become a Film Director

Directing has no required degree or exam; a director becomes a director through the films they make. The road runs through two doors: making your own short films, and learning the job from the inside by working on a set. Most directors walk both at once. Film school can give you theory, equipment and your first crew, but it isn't required. In the end, what you can show is your finished work: two or three short films, a director's statement and the package for your next project.

What does a director do?

The director is the person who turns the script into a film. The screenwriter writes what happens; the director decides how we see and hear it: where the camera stands, how long a shot runs, how an actor says a line, where the scene cuts.

That's why directing means making hundreds of small decisions every day. On set, everyone comes to the director with a question: the light, a costume, an object in the location, the tone of a line. A good director answers every one of them from the same place: what is this film about?

In the diagram below, a single line of the script is shot with two different framings. Both are faithful to the line, but they tell two different things. Choosing between them is the director's job.

The screenwriter writes a line; the director decides which frame we see it in. The frame on the left tells the man's loneliness, the one on the right the care he gives his work.

Which stages of a film does the director work on?

All of them. Most of the crew arrive for one stage of the film and leave; the director is there from the writing to the screening.

Writing and prep: breaks the script down scene by scene, casts the actors, scouts the locations, prepares the shot list and storyboard with the cinematographer, rehearses with the actors.
The shoot: runs the setting up and playing of every shot, decides whether a take is good enough, chooses what to cut to make the day's schedule.
The edit: builds the order and rhythm of the scenes with the editor; signs off the sound, music and colour.
Screening: is the person who speaks for the film at festival submissions and screenings.

It varies from film to film; the lighter colour shows partial involvement in that phase. But the two people present in every phase, from writing to release, are always the same: the producer and the director.

Do you need film school to become a director?

No. Directing isn't a profession that requires a degree; a jury, a producer or an audience doesn't look at which school a director went to — they look at the film.

Film, film production and directing programmes exist at universities and film schools in many countries. How you get in — a portfolio, an interview, a short film of your own — and what they cost vary widely from school to school and from country to country, so check each programme's own admissions page. We don't put figures on this page because they change every year.

A school gives you three things: equipment, time and your first crew. You can build all three without it, but then you have to build them yourself: a phone, a weekend and three people who want to make a film with you.

Two roads: your own films, or working on set

The first road is making your own films. You start with a one-minute film on your phone, then shoot your first short with a small crew and send it to festivals and competitions. Each film fixes the mistakes of the one before.

The second road is working on set. You come in as a production assistant or intern and work your way up through the directing team: you see up close how a shoot is planned, how a day gets rescued, how a director talks to an actor. Some directors, in television especially, come up this way — though on many productions the assistant director track is a career in its own right, not just a waiting room.

The two roads don't exclude each other. Set work gives you income, contacts and discipline; your own film gives you a voice. When they run together, the day you have a project to pitch, both your films and your years on set stand behind it.

The two roads don't exclude each other: most directors make their own short films while working on set. Set titles and their order vary from production to production.

How to direct your first short film

Keep it short: one to five minutes. The point of a first film isn't to tell a big story; it's to finish a film from start to end.
One location, two actors at most. Every new location and actor is another day you have to plan.
Write the shot list before you shoot: which scene, at which shot size, in which order. Thinking on set is expensive.
Rehearse. Play the scene with the actor before the camera rolls; most problems show up in rehearsal.
Take care of the sound. An audience forgives a blurry image; it doesn't forgive sound it can't understand.
Finish it and show it. A film with an unfinished edit doesn't count; finish it, show it to someone and listen to what they didn't understand.

Directing actors: ask for the intention, not the result

The most common mistake a new director makes is asking an actor for a result: “Play it sadder”, “be a bit angrier.” When an actor tries to play an emotion directly, what comes out is usually an imitation.

Instead, you give the character an intention or an obstacle. Think of the scene in The Last Watchmaker where Halit won't give his son the key to the shop. Instead of “be sadder”, you say: “You don't want your son to leave, but you can't tell him that. Find an excuse to keep him at the door.” Now the actor has something to do, and the sadness shows up on its own, inside that effort.

How to write a director's statement

A director's statement is a short text about why and how you'll make your film — half a page to a page. It isn't a synopsis; it doesn't retell the events. It answers these questions: why are you the one telling this story, why now, what should the audience feel as they leave, and how will you build that in picture and sound?

Festivals, competitions and funding applications often ask for it. But its real work happens on set: every time you're unsure, you go back to it. Avoid big words; be small and concrete. Further down this page you'll find two director's statements for the same film side by side: one all big words, one concrete.

Your portfolio: what a director can show

Two or three finished short films, each with a watchable link (password-protected if needed) and short credits.
A director's statement for each film.
A short filmography: which role you had on which film, and where the films were shown.
The package for your next project: logline, synopsis, director's statement and a few visual references.

What this page leaves out on purpose

We don't write a salary table, admission requirements or a promise like “finish this course and you'll be a director”. Pay varies from job to job and contract to contract, admissions change every year, and no course on its own can promise a directing career. We'd rather leave out what we can't verify.

What we can write is this: how to finish a film from start to end, and how to make that film something you can show. The rest depends on your films and your timing.

Wrong / Right

Big words

This film questions the values being lost in the modern world and the deep lack of communication between generations. A universal and moving story that invites the audience to reflect on the meaning of time.

Concrete and personal

My grandfather was a watchmaker, and on the day he closed his shop he didn't say a word. The Last Watchmaker is about that silence. I'll keep the camera fixed, always at the height of Halit's workbench; the world is only as big as he can see. No music: only the ticking of the clocks, and clocks falling silent one by one as the film goes on.

How to do it

Watch and analyze films — Watch a scene you love with the sound off and count the shots: where is the camera, and why there?
Write something short — A script a few minutes long, one location, one or two actors.
Plan — A shot list, a storyboard and a director's statement.
Shoot and finish — Rehearse, record clean sound, take the edit all the way to the end.
Show it — Show it to someone, then send it to festivals and competitions.
Work on a set — Start as an assistant on a set; learn the job from the inside.
Build your package — Your films, your filmography and the package for your next project, all in one place.

Checklist

Do you have at least one film finished from start to end?
Can you say what your film is about in a single sentence?
In every scene, can you explain why the camera stands where it does?
Did you give the actor an intention or an obstacle rather than a result?
Does your director's statement describe your intention rather than the events?

Download as Word and PDF

Open the Word version and write straight over it; the PDF looks the same on every device and prints as it is.

Shot list templateThe order of a shoot day: an empty table with scene, location, shot size, cast and notes.Word (.docx)PDF

Storyboard templateFrames to draw in + shot, size, movement and timing columns. Print it and fill it in by hand.Word (.docx)PDF

Synopsis template + exampleWhat a short synopsis is, a complete example and a blank template to fill in.Word (.docx)PDF

Frequently asked questions

What should I study to become a director?

No particular degree is required. Film, film production and directing programmes are the closest fit, and many schools and universities offer them; entry requirements vary from programme to programme, so check each one's own admissions page. What decides it isn't the diploma but finished films.

How much does a director earn?

We don't give a single figure, because there's no average we can verify. Pay varies a great deal with the kind of work (commercials, television, feature films, short films), the producer and the contract. Most short films are made with no budget at all; directors don't earn from those films but from the doors they open.

What's the difference between a director and a screenwriter?

The screenwriter turns the story into a text that can be shot: they write what happens and who says what. The director turns that text into a film: they decide how we see and hear it. One person can do both; on short films that's very common.

How do you become a TV director?

It depends a lot on the country and the production, so there's no single route. Some TV directors come up through set work, some through their short films, some from other crafts such as editing or cinematography. Whichever way you come, your short films help here too: next to the discipline you've shown on set, they show your own voice.

Is a directing course worth it?

A course can give you technical knowledge, shooting practice and people to work with; those are valuable. But no course on its own makes you a director. When you're deciding on one, ask: will I have a finished film at the end of it?

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