Film School to Film Making: Painting Rocks and Making Films with Paige K Boudreau
The journey of an artist and filmmaker is rarely linear. Paige K. Boudreau has built a successful career as a showrunner, producer, and director, but her path involved as much dreaming as doing. In this video, we discuss her journey from film school to feature filmmaking, all while enjoying one of her favorite pastimes—painting rocks.
During our conversation, Paige shared a few insights that every aspiring filmmaker or film student should take to heart:
“In film school, I majored in editing because I thought I’d never get work as a director.”
This kind of calculation is common among film students. While Paige and I are both dreamers, I don’t think it was a foolish choice. I took the more confident route: “I’m going to be a director, so I’ll study directing.” But in the long run, I learned most of what I know about filmmaking through editing. Plus, Paige was right—if you want to make money after film school, learn how to edit.
“After film school, I got a job editing a TV show, and I thought, ‘This is the end goal—how is this already happening?’ Then I got laid off. I got laid off three times in the first two years after film school, and I thought, ‘How is this sustainable?’”
Her observation is refreshingly honest about the fickle nature of the film industry. There will be times when the work you’re doing will make your friends jealous, and there will be times when you’re embarrassed to admit you haven’t worked in months. The key to surviving this rollercoaster (and paige goes on to talk about this) is “ride it with friends.” The people in your graduating class or those working alongside you as PA’s on set aren’t your competition—they’re your lifeline to good mental health. They’ll offer advice, encouragement, and a place to vent after another rejection. More often than not, they’ll also be the ones who refer you for your next job—Paige has referred me for more work than anyone.
One of the most valuable lessons Paige shared came from shooting her micro-budget feature, a project that took years of dreaming and personal risk to realize:
“It was an incredible professional and creative step, but also a personal and cathartic experience.”
this is the most important lesson about working in a creative industry that feeds on your dreams. If you do it for “them,” they’ll always let you down. But if you create for yourself, the work will be better, and you’ll find sustainability in the industry. You can’t control how your work is received, but you can control the experience of making it and your reasons for doing it. Focus on those things, and you’ll never make a bad film.
You can learn more about Orphanhood and where to see it at: https://www.paigekb.com/work-avenue#/work-orphanhood/.
by Eric Pauls