I hear from high school students, college students and others that are interested in breaking into the video production field but don’t know how to do it. There are several ways and some of them are more costly than others. Let’s go over a few of them.

College: Get a degree in a media related field.
Pros: It looks good on your resume and you can use that if you want to work at a production house and to brag to your friends (Hollywood may not be as impressed though). If you find the right school with the right teachers, you will come out knowing a lot and having a lot of real world experience.  I have plenty of colleagues that have gone this route and do quite well for themselves.
Cons: You pay a lot of money and might learn on outdated equipment…the teachers may not even know what HD is (High Definition for the unlearned). I have plenty of colleagues that have gone this route and do quite well for themselves.  I’ve heard plenty of students complain that they wasted money on the degree when they could have just learned and worked at a tv station or at an internship for a video production company. Which brings us into the next topic…

Internships, working for cheap and/or volunteering:
Pros: This can be a very wise choice as you are learning from the pros while in the field. You aren’t learning from a professor that was in the field 20 years ago (a lot has changed…think VHS was the king of media then). This is also a great choice because they can teach you while filming various types of videos. You can learn how to film: weddings, corporate training videos, promotional videos, infomercials, live events, and much more. After the internship you could walk away with a wealth of knowledge. You may not get paid a lot but money shouldn’t be the focus during this time. You can discuss the length of time that you would be working with the video professional. You cold also work with a wedding videographer, t.v. station, cable access station, court videographer, or any other professional that is offering work. Be clear that you want to work with them to learn all aspects of the biz. If you are lucky, they will let you on the inside and how to deal with clients, write proposals, edit, and deliver a great product to the client…but don’t assume they will give away their secrets. As you can tell, this is a great idea and something I would highly encourage.
Cons: You probably won’t be earning much money during this time and will be doing everything from learning the fun stuff (how to film, edit and work with clients) to the boring stuff (cleaning up after a shoot, setting up the equipment, filming stuff the owner doesn’t want to, and getting coffee). Overall, the cons for this are pretty short.

Learning on your own: teach yourself by learning online, from blogs, podcasts, magazines, etc
Pros: You can do this for a lot cheaper. There are plenty of sites (like this one), Lynda.com and VTC.com (online training for a small monthly fee) that teach you how to improve your skills as well as learn various video programs. Talk to video professionals and see how they got their start. They are always willing to talk the biz (just not during the shoot after they’ve yelled, “quite on the set”).
Cons: This may take you longer if you aren’t motivated and don’t do your homework (yes, you can still do homework while not in school, except this homework is a lot more enjoyable). Your family/friends may look down on you if you don’t go to school for your degree (no problem if you have a vision/passion and don’t need to go to school for it).

These are just a few options.  I just heard of a guy who went to Hollywood and learned everything from an incredible DP but then the DP died shortly after that.  Which means, this guy learned a bunch from the pro and was able to take over the biz after the death….I wouldn’t recommend counting on this to happen in your situation though.  You might have better luck doing one of the above approaches

Best of luck.  Leave a comment on how you broke into the biz.