Is Film School Worth It? & The "Joyful Chaos" of Agency Life

People tell us all the time they’re jealous of our jobs - how fun and exciting video production seems. While our jobs are fun and exciting, in the latest podcast episode of The Great Take, we stop pretending the creative industry is effortless magic and start pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to run a creative agency.

If you are a filmmaker, a marketing director, or one of the thousands of hungry creatives scouring the internet for jobs in video production, you have likely asked yourself the ultimate, polarizing question:

Is film school actually worth it?

In Episode 2 of The Great Take, we didn't just scratch the surface; we dug a trench. We hosted a "spicy" cage match between two very different paths to the director's chair. In the blue corner, we have Keegan Cook, our in-house Video Director and proud graduate of the UT Austin Radio-Television-Film (RTF) program. In the red corner, we have Andrew Bennett, CEO of Bennett Creative, a history major who graduated into the recession and attended "YouTube University."

But we didn't stop at diplomas. We also unpacked the reality of commercial directing, the "grocery list" approach to pre-production, and the beautiful, messy reality of running an agency.

Grab a coffee (or a stiff drink). We’re doing a deep dive.

Is Film School a Waste of Time for Aspiring Directors?

Let’s rip the band-aid off immediately. Andrew Bennett opened the episode with a direct hit: "Keegan, is film school a waste of time?"

It is a question that haunts Reddit threads and family dinner tables alike. With tuition rising and camera gear becoming cheaper, the barrier to entry has never been lower. So, why pay for a degree?

Keegan’s answer was nuanced, honest, and refreshingly self-aware.

"I think 'No' is the short answer. But that answer comes from a privileged position. You know, someone who has the money to go, has the time to spend not really making an income… I think in that circumstance, it’s not a waste of time."

This is the first major takeaway: Film school is a luxury product. It buys you time. For four years, you are not required to survive on your art; you are only required to learn from it. If you have the resources to pause your income-earning years to focus on craft, the ROI can be massive. But if you are going into crippling debt expecting a diploma to hand you a job? That is a different calculation.

The Two Things You Actually Pay For

If the degree itself doesn’t guarantee a video production job (spoiler alert: it doesn’t), what are you actually buying? According to Keegan, the value proposition of film school boils down to two intangible assets: The Network and The Freedom to Fail.

1. The Network (The "90%" Rule)

You have heard the cliché: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. In video production, this isn't a cliché; it is the law of the land.

"I would say 90% of the folks that I would work with professionally after school, I met them in school." — Keegan Cook

When you are in the throes of a 12-hour shoot, you want to be surrounded by people you trust. Film school acts as a four-year vetting process. You learn who shows up on time, who cracks under pressure, and who has a good eye. When those classmates graduate and get jobs, they hire their friends. If you skip film school, you have to build that roster from scratch in the wild, which is significantly harder.

2. The Freedom to Fail (The "Dumb Stuff" Factor)

This is the hidden gem of a formal education. In the professional world, whether you are working for a creative agency or freelancing, failure has a price tag. If you experiment on a client’s dime and it flops, you lose the account. You might get fired.

In film school? The stakes are zero.

"You can fail as much as you want. You can make the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen. Nobody cares."

Keegan reminisced about his time at Texas Student Television (TSTV), making sketches that were broadcast to empty dorm rooms and nursing homes. Because no one was watching, they could try anything. That "purity" of creation allows you to find your artistic voice before the market forces you to fit into a box. He wasn’t thinking about how to maximize the content or if it would go viral on social media - he was only focused on creating.

What Won’t Film School Teach Me That I Actually Need to Know in the Real World?

If you are currently in film school, or thinking about going, pay attention. Keegan pointed out some glaring holes in the curriculum—knowledge gaps that hit fresh graduates like a freight train the moment they step onto a real set.

1. The "Below the Line" Blindspot

Film schools love the glamorous roles: Writer, Director, Cinematographer. These are "Above the Line" positions. But the industry runs on the backs of the "Below the Line" crew: Grip, Electric, Art Department, Props, Hair & Makeup.

Keegan noted that he had to learn these roles on the weekends, volunteering on other student films. The classroom didn't teach him how to properly set a C-stand or organize a props table. If you want to be employable immediately, learn a trade. Directors are a dime a dozen; a good Gaffer is worth their weight in gold.

2. The Vocabulary Gap

Imagine walking onto a construction site and not knowing what a "hammer" is called. That is what it feels like for many film grads walking onto a professional set.

"I started as a PA (Production Assistant) and just knowing like, what is Crew Parking? What does Base Camp mean? What does First Team mean?"

Pro Tip for Job Seekers: If you want to impress a Producer on day one, learn the lingo. Know the difference between a "Stinger" (an extension cord) and a "Stingle" (a single-shot scene). It saves time, and time is money.

3. The Budget Reality Check

Andrew posed a "True or False" question that cut deep: Do film students graduate thinking every set will have 30 people, only to realize real budgets only allow for 4?

Verdict: TRUE.

In college, labor is free. You have 20 friends with nothing to do on a Saturday. In the professional world, every human body on set costs $500 to $1,500 a day. You move from focusing on the poetic beauty of the shot to how to get it done with as few people as possible. You learn to multitask and do a handful of jobs.

Adapting to the restrictions of a budget is the first major hurdle for film school grads entering the workforce.

The Counterpoint: Can I Learn Filmmaking on YouTube Instead of Film School?

So, what if you don't have the money for film school or don’t want to go back to school? Enter Andrew Bennett.

Andrew didn’t study Citizen Kane; he studied Casey Neistat. Graduating with a history degree during the dawn of the YouTube vlogger era, Andrew took a completely different path.

"What I really learned from Casey Neistat is that it didn't matter what kind of gear you had... If you could just tell good stories with a little point-and-shoot camera, then you could at least grow a YouTube channel."

How to Get a Video Job Without a Degree: The Apprenticeship

How does a history major become the CEO of a video production agency? He traded skills.

Andrew realized he had a skill that most creatives lack: Marketing and Sales. He approached a local video production company owner with a proposition: "I can sell. I can do customer service. Let me be your apprentice."

He worked for three years, trading his business acumen for technical knowledge. He learned lighting, editing, and audio not from a professor, but from a mentor who was doing it for a living.

Film School vs. Self-Taught: Which is Better?

This was the lightbulb moment of the episode. Whether you go to UT Austin or YouTube University, the critical success factor is the same: Mentorship.

"You need to immerse yourself with other creatives and preferably with creatives who are a few steps ahead of you." — Andrew Bennett

You cannot learn this industry in a vacuum. You need someone to tell you why your lighting looks flat. You need someone to show you how to bid a job. Film school supplies mentors automatically (professors), but the self-taught route requires you to seek them out aggressively. But no matter which side of the argument you’re on, everyone agrees mentorship is how you make it in this industry.

Learning to nail commercial directing after film school takes time and talent but especially on sets like this, it's all part of the joyful chaos.

What is the Difference Between Narrative and Commercial Directing?

One of the most interesting parts of the conversation was the transition from "Art" to "Commerce."

Keegan noted that film school is 95% Narrative (storytelling) and maybe 5% Documentary. Commercial filmmaking? It wasn't even on the syllabus. Yet, that is where a majority of video  jobs are. 

Key Differences: Pacing and Objectives

• Narrative: You explore emotions. You take time to "find the scene." The look is often moody, dark, and atmospheric.

• Commercial: You sell a solution. You have strict time limits (15s, 30s, 60s). The look is often brighter, cleaner, and more rigid.

"In the commercial world, there’s just like no room for error... You have to really time things out or do it a specific way so that it cuts exactly right."

However, Keegan argues that the skills transfer. Whether you are directing a dramatic short film or a commercial for attorneys, you are still blocking actors, managing a crew, and manipulating light. The difference is the pacing and the objective.

What is the Pre-Production Process for a Commercial Video?

So, how does a professional Director tackle a commercial project at Bennett Creative? Keegan broke down his pre-production workflow, and it’s a masterclass in organization.

Step 1: Identify the Audience and Brand Voice

Before looking for cool shots, you have to ask: Who is this for? What is the brand's voice? Is it funny? Serious? Tech-forward? If you skip this step, you’re making art for yourself, not the client.

Step 2: Create a Mood Board

Keegan doesn't always start with a storyboard. He starts with a "Mental Mood Board," pulling references from other commercials, movies, or art he’s seen. He visualizes the "vibe" before the specifics.

Step 3: Create a Shot List (The "Grocery List")

This is Keegan’s secret weapon. He describes his shot list as a grocery list for the brain.

"It’s like a mental grocery list... It takes some of the mental load off while still just really being a bullet point of what we want to get that day."

When you are on set, chaos reigns. The sun is moving, the talent is tired, and the client has notes. If you have to invent shots on the fly, you will fail. A shot list ensures that even if everything goes wrong, you know exactly what ingredients you need to cook the meal.

Our fearless leader, Andrew Bennett, has a PHD in YouTube University and is a professional cat herder.

What Is It Really Like Running a Creative Agency?

Then, Keegan turned the tables on Andrew. What does it actually feel like to run Bennett Creative? Andrew’s response was poetic and accurate.

"It feels a lot like herding cats... Running an agency has a joyful chaos to it."

Working at a Creative Agency: A "Cultural Taster"

Why put up with the stress? Why deal with the deadlines and the demands? Because working in a creative agency is the ultimate “cultural taster”.

One week, we are at Dell Diamond filming a baseball commercial for sports medicine. The next week, we are in the studio creating custom sets for a vitamin company. The next, traveling for edu-tech startup explainers.

"You get this portal into many different worlds... which is a real privilege of being in the agency world."

The Challenges and Rewards

The challenge of agency life is consistency—how do you apply a creative process and aesthetic  to such wildly different industries? But the reward is seeing the final product go live. Seeing a social media video go viral, seeing a client’s sales spike, or just knowing your team knocked it out of the park—that is the fuel that keeps the "joyful chaos" moving forward.

Conclusion: Should You Go to Film School?

So, back to the start. Is film school a waste of time?

If you go in expecting a degree to hand you a career, yes. If you go in to build a network, fail safely, and learn the history of your craft, no.

But whether you are a film school grad like Keegan or a self-taught hustler like Andrew, the destination is the same. You need to tell good stories. You need to respect the crew.

You need to find mentors. And you need to embrace the joyful chaos of the work.

At Bennett Creative, we love that chaos. It’s where the magic happens.

Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to the nuances, the jokes, and the deep cuts in Episode 2 of The Great Take Podcast.

Are you looking for a creative partner who can navigate the chaos and deliver results? Or maybe you're a filmmaker looking for your next gig? Check out Bennett Creative and see what we’re cooking up.