What is the best way to get a grounding of the film industry?

My sister in 20 and wants to get into the film industry with the intention of moving into the fx side of it, animation, 3D modeling, rendering etc. She has a university foundation course in mind,but i was apprehensive that there is other ways of entering into the industry. I, myself, being in the games industry as an animator know of several ways to gain a grounding knowledge of the industry without 2 year long courses? Do you have any ideas, or am I just being silly.|||(I am in the US)


Your sister could get into the business simply by meeting the right people who are willing to give her a go. If she is outgoing and knows how to network, knows how to meet people that is always helpful. Not sure if it would be a paying job, but it could be some sort of position where she could be learning about the whole process. She might also be able to get unpaid work on student or amateur productions, via something like Craig's List.





Now, the advantages of taking classes, is that she will be learning some of the basic skills. Plus, the schools have some connections with internships. Some companies only take on interns if they are in school--that way they can get away without paying, by simply saying it is an internship. That there is an exchange of value, class credit for her work.


(Has she looked into if FX houses are hiring now? With the economy, she should think about that too. It might be worth it to take 1-2 years to go to school, then when she is done, there might be more jobs out there. If they are hiring now, they might expect a lot from a new employee, that they have a lot of other skills too.)


Also, lately, it seems like many companies who hire interns really do expect them to have a set of basic skills already--know how to use software, know how to edit, photoshop, have sculpting, painting, framing experience, Which is all the opposite of what an internship is! The idea is that the intern actually learns something! In some states (I am in the US) that is actually against the law, but not really enforced.





Anyway, she needs to look up all the possible FX houses nearby, and start calling, or emailing resumes. If she doesn't have any software experience, then she might also just try to ask these companies for advice on what software she needs to learn. Of course, it changes quickly, and some FX houses create their own proprietary software. I am assuming that your sister already has basic drawing-photography-sculpting experience? If she doesn't then she should think about that too.


In the US with the bad economy, there could be lots of competition for positions, even internships. People might have the same basic art and software background, but they have other skills too, like production or finance even. Companies might see that as a plus, knowing that person could help out in the billing department a few times a month. Seriously.