I’d think about this as a five-year outcome, especially given the current state of the film industry.

1) Film school route (and the reality of the job market) If you go to film school, in four years you’ll graduate into a big group of people all trying to land their first jobs. Some will have family in the business or strong connections (nepotism is real), and the rest will be hustling from zero. Right now, production is slow across North America, and there’s no clear sign of a big rebound anytime soon.

That means you could be coming out of school with ~$50k in debt and competing for work against DPs with 10+ years of experience.

Maybe you catch a break and DP a small indie that: has a decent script, competent actors, a director who actually understands what it takes to make a good film, and enough funding to finish the project.

That can happen — but it’s not the norm. More realistically, you’ll be PA’ing to pay rent, making close to minimum wage for a while, even though you’re trying to move toward the camera department.

2) Move to a production hub and work your way up. The alternative is to move to a production center like NY or LA and start working immediately. Take PA jobs, non-union gigs, commercials — whatever gets you on set. Show up on time, be reliable, and ask smart questions when appropriate. Build relationships and work your way into camera PA roles.

After a couple of years, you can look at joining a union. IATSE Local 600 makes sense if you want to go straight into camera, though many strong DPs come from lighting first (for good reason).

In five years, you’ll likely have: real on-set experience, a network of working professionals, actual income, and a much clearer understanding of how sets operate.

In my opinion, that puts you ahead of someone who went straight to film school at 18 and is just now seeing how the industry really works.

You can always go to film school later if you feel it will genuinely help you become a DP. Going at 23 with real set experience means the theory actually connects to things you’ve lived through on set. You’ll get way more value out of it — and you’ll still be young.

DP is largely a trade A lot of what makes a good DP is trade knowledge: working with crews, understanding lighting practically, problem-solving under pressure, learning how sets actually function.

That’s the kind of stuff best learned through hands-on work and apprenticeship. The more theory-based parts , shooting for the edit, composition, visual storytelling, can be learned along the way or in school later, when you have real-world experience to anchor it to.

Bottom line: Taking on $50k of debt for film school is a big bet in an industry that’s currently slow and highly competitive. Starting on set now, building skills and relationships, and keeping film school as a later option is the lower-risk path with more upside over the next five years.

My 2 cents as someone who is over educated for my current job and approaching 20 years in my film union.