[juanuys]

Just this weekend, I read this passage (p.219) in Making Of Prince Of Persia, by Jordan Mechner [1], where his colleague tries to dissuade him from tuition, and rather learning on the job:

Deborah had this to say about NYU: "They say it's a three-year program, but it really takes five years. You can expect to spend $2000 on your first-year film, $10,000 second year, and $20,000 third year. Add that to three years' tuition, and you've spent a hundred thousand dollars. What I would do, if you have the wherewithal - I mean, three years and $100,000 - is spend those three years working for free on every film shoot you can. At the end of it, you'll know how a film gets made; everybody will owe you favors, so you'll have a crew; the equipment rental places and the labs will know you, so they might give you a deal too. Take the $100,000 and make a feature! Then you'll be a filmmaker." She sighed and said: "But no one ever does that. They come around like you're doing, and ask a lot of questions, and I tell them what I just told you, and then they go off and enroll in the program."

1. https://jordanmechner.com/store/the-making-of-prince-of-pers...