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Directing · Stage 1

How to Become a Director

From Day 1 to Getting Paid

Nobody hires directors. Here is how they get made, what it costs, and how the first paid job arrives.

There is no trainee grade for directing: directors make things, step across from a department, or write. From never having made anything to the first paid job: what a director does, seven routes priced in years and money, making a short that gets seen, where the first cheque comes from, and a plan.

2 hours · 6 modules · 18 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Be able to describe a director's job across prep, shoot and post, name the four relationships that carry a film, and explain honestly why nobody is hired as a director.
  • Have priced the seven routes to directing in years and money for your own life, and chosen a reel route and a paying route on purpose.
  • Have a one-page plan for the next film you will make, and know how a short gets crewed, funded, made safely and seen at festivals.
  • Know where the first paid directing work comes from, the difference between a day rate and a fee, when an agent takes you on, what Directors UK is for, and how to read Stage 1 to Stage 2 honestly as a director.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

What a director actually does, and how directors get made

20 min

The job day by day across prep, shoot and post, and the honest truth about how anyone ends up doing it.

  1. readThe job, day by day: prep, shoot and post8 min
  2. readThe honest truth about how directors get made7 min
  3. checkCheck: the job and how it starts5 min
Module 2

The routes, and what each one costs

20 min

Seven roads to the same job, each priced honestly in years and money, so that you can choose one on purpose rather than drift.

  1. readShorts and self-funded work, the AD route, and the writer-director8 min
  2. readCommercials and music videos, television, documentary and theatre7 min
  3. taskTask: price each route for your own life5 min
Module 3

Day 1 to year 3: what to make, and how to make it count

20 min

The first thing to make this month, the short that gets seen, where the money for it comes from, and the craft to study while you do it.

  1. readWhat to make first, and how to make a short that gets seen8 min
  2. readThe craft to study: script, blocking, actors, coverage6 min
  3. taskTask: your first short on one page6 min
Module 4

Getting paid

20 min

What the first paid directing work actually looks like, how directors are paid, when an agent takes you on, and what Directors UK is for.

  1. readWhat first paid directing work looks like8 min
  2. readDay rates and fees, agents, and Directors UK6 min
  3. checkCheck: getting paid6 min
Module 5

The industry around you

20 min

Producers, writers, festivals, funders and competitions: the map of who can help, what each one wants, and the library to work from.

  1. readThe map: producers, writers, festivals, funders, competitions8 min
  2. resourcesThe director's library7 min
  3. checkCheck: the map5 min
Module 6

Your plan: from here to Stage 2

20 min

The plan you take away, how you know you are moving, and the honest reading of Stage 1 to Stage 2 for a director.

  1. plannerYour directing plan9 min
  2. readHow you know you are moving, and what Stage 2 means for a director7 min
  3. checkCheck: ready to move4 min

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Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Directing. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to.

  1. Find your role on the career mapEvery entry-level job by department, and where each one leads.
  2. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  3. Speak to an MFJF mentorAsk someone who does the job what they wish they had known.
  4. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.
  5. Industry ResourcesCareer guides, CV advice and example CVs for every department.
  6. See what entry-level jobs ask forThe job board, updated daily: read the ads before you apply.

Matching Directing right now

Live from the job board, the Academy, the mentor programme, the film-course directory and the reading list.

Jobs on the board

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MFJF Academy workshops

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MFJF mentors

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Film courses

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Reading and links

All Industry Essentials →