I didn't always want to be a director. But I always wanted to be a creative. My gravitation towards film as my primary medium was a gradual process, the result of my lifelong passion for storytelling and a steady diet of film watching throughout my adolescence. There was a time when I was intimidated by the small percentage of people who seemed to achieve notable success in the film industry. I thought being a director was one of the dream jobs that many aspired to but few ever achieved. However, as I have learned more about the film business, I have found that there are more opportunities available in this field than ever before. Like many others, cinema is a profession that rewards in proportion to the time and dedication put into it. More than any other participant, except probably the writer, directors are responsible for guiding the creative direction of a film. In many cases, the director is the screenwriter of the film, or at least works closely with him. Directors are responsible for organizing the shooting of a film or other video production; determine how the shots will be set up, instruct the actors on how to play their roles, and put the various shots together into a complete film. Much of a director's job is delegation and collaboration: They work with actors, cinematographers, editors, composers, and hundreds of other talented people, bringing their contributions together into a finished production. In many ways, directors are more like managers, albeit in a specialized field. Directors can come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. There are a multitude of dedicated film schools operating in the United States today, and most colleges and universities... halfway... project every few years. As long as I can work with talented actors and film professionals to tell interesting visual stories, I will be satisfied. Works Cited: Levy, Frederick. Hollywood 101: The Motion Picture Industry. Los Angeles: Renaissance Books, 2000. Print. Rodriguez, Robert. Rebel Without a Crew: How a 23-Year-Old Director with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Actor. New York: Penguin Group, 1996. Print.Jarecki, Nicholas. Breaking In: How 20 Film Directors Got Their Start. New York: Broadway House, 2001. Print.Edgar, Tom and Karin Kelly. Confidential on film school: the insider guide to film schools. Revised ed. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print. "Actors, producers and directors". Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 edition. December 17, 2009. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. March 6. 2010.