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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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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

What this course was written from

Every link checked 19 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Directing. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: DirectingTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. Find your role in the career plannersEvery entry-level job by department, with a three-stage planner for each.
  7. Read the career guidesWhat each job is, the day, the way in and the pay: one guide for every role.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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