A friend of mine recently got a job at a prestigious investment firm and I saw a post on Facebook where she was discussing economic trends and what the smart investments were to be had.

There was a lot of data backed by historical market trends and I started thinking about where I would invest extra cash should I ever be so lucky to have it. Obviously the conservative amongst us would advise real estate and the risky would go for crypto and everything in between is fair game. Then a thought struck me. So much of our investment is centered around the notion of currency and how to make more of it. It’s investing in acquiring bits of paper so that the score card of success, namely your bank account, is higher than the next person who you are comparing yourself with. 

What about people though – what about relationships – what kind of investment opportunity is there and what are the returns of investment?

Student loans are traditionally high because there is no real collateral other than the person’s will. You never know if once embarked on the journey of self-improvement a person will complete it and what will that person’s worth be after a degree. We all know that these days a piece of paper does not guarantee a job. In fact more often than not companies hire people with less education so that they can train them to the needs of the work required rather than have a college graduate with no life experience coming in expecting to run the company on his/her first day. 

In our industry it’s the people that count.

You can have the best equipment in the world, the most money, the best cast but without a qualified crew to facilitate the vision of the creatives, there is nothing. This is being realized more and more so in the industry due to the voracious demand of content from the emerging streaming market. Qualified crew are getting harder and harder to come by and as a result, rates are soaring through the roof without a thought as to who is the best person for the job at hand.

Filmmaking is a collaborative process and it involves many people with a shared vision to execute a final product. 

So this year I’m going to actively be investing in people without caring what the return on investment is. Some people will sink – others will swim – all I can do is show them the pool. After two years of a pandemic, it’s time to bring FilmForge back.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all soar. 

You can learn more about the Professional Training Programs at FilmForge for 2022 – here!

If you are looking for a career in the movie industry, contact us at [email protected]