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Ways in that actually work

• Assistant directing

  Running the schedule on set. You watch directors work all day and you learn what a day costs.

• Editing

  Editors understand coverage better than anyone. A lot of directors came up through the cutting room.

• Commercials and music videos

  Short, paid, and the fastest way to build a reel that looks professional.

• Documentary

  You can start one alone with a camera. It is the cheapest way to direct something real at 19.

• Television shadowing programs

  Networks and studios run schemes where a new director shadows an episode, which is a common route to a first credit.