As a recruiter I have seen where non-post secondary graduates have suffered when compared to their counterparts who hold a college or university degree.

I have worked with companies who won’t hire citizens who don’t hold a university degree so not having one can certainly hold you back.

The rise of the Internet has of course opened up many new options for citizens and online education is just one of them.

I’ve read statistics that show that college and university graduates earn an average of 75% more income than high school graduates so certainly the value of a degree is obvious but what about a degree earned online?

I know a job searcher who I helped place in a large multinational corporation and she completed an online degreea Masters in Business Administrationsomething she wouldn’t have been able to do through a regular university considering of her busy life.

As a individual mother who was working she simply wouldn’t have had the date to complete a regular degree during daytime hours so the online option worked for her.

Her example shows how pursuing an online degree can supply flexibility that a traditional university degree might not.

Since the degree that she ended up getting actually helped her get her next job, it was certainly something that paid instant dividends and is something that will continue to pay her dividends into the future.

Here are some considerations regarding the online degree option that you might think about when deciding whether or not to pursue one:

Are you motivated enough?

People that pursue an online education must be self-motivated considering you’re not attending classes and do your work from home by the Internet. You don’t have a professor or fellow classmates pushing you so you need to motivate yourself. Can you do this?

What is the quality of the school and program you’re interested in?

The online degree option has a bit of a stigma attached considering they are a relatively new learning option and many citizens might not fully understand how they are delivered. Plus, whether you’ve ever received a spam mail advertising an online degree (I received two such emails that week alone) you might be turned off by a product that advertises by spamming.

Like anything else in life, there are good and poor options so the key is to find a school and program that is well-regarded. Long-distance education isn’t new but delivering it by the Internet is.

Long-distance education is simply just a different option for citizens to consider and an online degree is simply using the latest technology to deliver it.

Do you require flexibility in order to complete a degree?

If you have a family, attending classes during the day or evening might not be an option for you. Therefore, the flexibility that an online education offers you could be the option you need to continue your education but still keep the other parts of your life organized.

Are you already working and can’t take the date off to complete a degree?

If you are already working and can’t quit your job, the option of an online degree can be very tempting since you can often structure things so that you continue working as usual but complete your degree in your own time. You can’t beat that!

Are you happy to work at your own pace?

One of the benefits that an online degree affords is something that will be very appealing to citizens that prefer to work to their own timetable and don’t like the structure that traditional classroom learning dictates.

Some citizens might prefer to work to deadlines set by other citizens to keep them motivated and on track but pursuing an online degree enables you to finish your work at your own pace for the most part.

One of the things that citizens often complain aboutespecially after they’ve left schoolis the rigidity of traditional educational outlets ie. going to classes at assured times, completing assignments by assured dates, traveling to and from school, etc.

Some citizens simply get used to working to more flexible schedules once they get into the work world and find that the thought of going back to school to pursue a traditional education defined by schedules that they didn’t set up is difficult to imagine. For these and other people, an online degree is certainly an option that is worth at least looking at.

Carl Mueller is an Internet entrepreneur and professional recruiter. Carl has helped many job searchers find their dream career and would like to help clear up some of the job search myths that exist while helping job searchers avoid common job search mistakes that cost them jobs.

Visit Carl’s website to find your dream career: http://www.find-your-dream-career.com

Ezine editors/Webmasters: Please feel free to reprint that commentary in its entirety in your ezine or on your website. Please don’t change any of the composition and please ensure that you include the above bio that shows my website URL. If you would like me to address any specific career topics in future articles, please let me know.

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Completed in 2002, the Comcast Center is where Maryland’s Terrapins battle on the hardwoods for basketball dominance. The Comcast Corporation — known for cable, Internet and other communications services — paid $25 million to have its name affixed to the arena for 20 years.

The Comcast Center has been home to many exciting college basketball games already, including the January 2003 game in which the Terps beat then-No. 1 Duke University. The center additionally has a 1,500-seat gymnasium used for Terrapins wrestling, volleyball and gymnastics, as well as several other smaller facilities for use by students, administration and the College Park community. Special university events are held in the Comcast Center, too.

One of the notable elements of the arena at Comcast Center is a portion of the seating called The Wall — a steep seating area behind one of the baskets. There are 2,600 seats here reserved for University of Maryland students, and it puts them in an intimidating position to taunt the opposing team’s players when they’re shooting free throws.

When you first enter the facility, you’ll see the Terrapin Walk of Fame and History, where pictures of previous University of Maryland seasons are displayed, along with the men’s national championship trophy from 2002.

There are luxury suites in the Comcast Center, too. Here guests who want to splurge and enjoy college basketball games in style can enjoy cable TV, private restrooms, a wet bar with refrigerator and ice maker and Comcast Internet access. There’s even a suite-holder basketball tournament each year, held right there in the Comcast Center (because plenty of basketball fans fancy themselves basketball players, too).

The Comcast name is nearly everywhere these days, thanks to the company’s tireless efforts to bring dependable and affordable communications technology to as many customers as possible. As a result, there will soon be two buildings called the Comcast Center: That is the name of the skyscraper under construction in Philadelphia, scheduled to open in 2007. When completed, the 57-story Philadelphia Comcast Center will be the tallest building in Pennsylvania and the tallest skyscraper amidst New York and Chicago.

The Maryland Philadelphia Comcast Center buildings will have only their name in common, but they both symbolize a commitment to quality and excellence, whether in sports or in business.

Christopher M. Luck has an extensive background in working exclusively with the Comcast Centers and is now offering his personal comcast center secrets to the public. If you are at all interested in Christopher’s advice, tips, or secrets, you can visit his secret blog

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A traditional degree requires a student to be physically present for a class at a predetermined location at a specific time. An online education in an accredited institution like the University of Phoenix has been able to assemble that a non-requirement. You can be anywhere in the world and still access your learning material whenever you find date to do it, thus making it possible for you to pursue your career and maintain a full-time job.

A regular classroom allows a vibrant discussion and proactive learning process through face-to-face interactions with colleagues and guides. Although an online education is unable to ensure the vibrancy and spontaneity of a classroom, it allows interaction with guides and classmates in a virtual classroom situation.

A classroom situation is date bound and chases strict schedules, pressurizing students to meet deadlines and submission dates, unlike the online course that sets flexible date schedules according to students requirements. Whereas that enables working learners to fit in education in their busy schedules, it could additionally prove to be deterrent for those learners who perform better under stricter timelines.

Although an online education might not be the same college experience as a traditional degree, it meets the most critical goal of education and should be considered by aspirants who do not find more traditional colleges appealing. The University of Phoenix Online offers a curriculum that fits nearly every student’s timetable, with the backing of a strong faculty.

Hal McIver is a proponent of higher education, particularly at online universities. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/the_university__5.html for more data on The University of Phoenix degree program.

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After enrolling you will typically be given easy-to-use Internet access software to facilitate quick and smooth retrieval of lectures, questions, and assignments. Since there are no date schedules and frames, the instruction material can be downloaded anytime and reviewed offline at your convenience.

Online research libraries and services are available from the university to cater to the students research requirements. The programs are designed to fit in interaction with other students and professionals from the field. This helps the students enrich their assignments before they discuss it in an academic environment with their instructors. Instructors additionally guide the students through the courses to avoid any learning hitches.

Although that multi-interaction offline scenario enriches the student’s learning experience, the spontaneous classroom scenario is lost in an online course. For some students, the class interaction could be more invigorating than learning online.

However, an online program offers you nearly unlimited flexibility. Each course is completed by five to six weeks and students can take breaks amidst courses. Since the interaction is asynchronous, as in mail messages, there are no schedules or fixed timings for classes either. A student doesn’t have to rush from work to meet a class time. Whereas that could additionally serve as a demotivator for assured students who perform better under strict schedules and timetables, it is advantageous for citizens with hectic work environments, and for citizens who can exert self-discipline in setting an effective timetable.

Hal McIver is a proponent of higher education, particularly at online universities. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/what_is_an_onli.html for more data on how an online university course works.

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There are many universities offering different programs. Doing some research of the official websites of the many universities, colleges, and schools offering online degree courses might be particularly helpful to see which institution and program suit your date and work schedule. It is additionally critical to ensure that the university program and the university itself is accredited and recognized by the industry. You might want to consider the University of Phoenix since it is both trusted and accredited. In fact, an online education from the University of Phoenix qualifies for most employer reimbursement plans.

Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the University of Phoenix is trusted by students around the world to fulfill their career goals. The university has been able to meet the students expectations owing to:

1. Its policy to continually update courses to meet industry requirements and growth.

2. Its emphasis on courses simulating real-world scenarios.

3. Its emphasis on application of learning material with assignments that boost use of newfound skills.

The University’s has a large faculty and all members hold a master’s or doctoral degree and work in the fields they teach. The University of Phoenix ensures that the student’s marketability increases with each program that he or she undertakes.

Hal McIver is a proponent of higher education, particularly at online universities. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/choosing_an_onl.html for more data on an online university degree program.

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To enroll, you need to ensure that you have the basic configuration set on your computer, a dependable Internet service provider, and a phone connection. The entire process is online, from registration to the completion of the degree program. This places an added responsibility on you because, unlike a classroom situation where the learning process is set, in an online situation you have to decide the pace at which you want to complete the program.

All the study material is in the anatomy of text only, and it is critical that you save the material for review later. The advantage of the online medium, however, is that you do not miss any part of the learning process. All your interactions will be in the anatomy of mail messages, and most of them will be with your instructor directly. The instructor is a member of a highly qualified faculty at the University, and is a practitioner in that specific field. Since the only channel of communication is through the internet, you will not have any face-to-face interaction as you would expect in a classroom situation. Therefore, you need to assemble the most of the mail exchanges with your instructor as well as other professionals in course of the online discussion forums and question-answer sessions.

Each course has duration of 5-6 weeks, and you can opt to take breaks within that duration. However, you must avoid a situation where the breaks prove to be detrimental to the progress of the course. To a considerable extent, the success of an online degree at the University of Phoenix depends on your skills to think creatively and communicate effectively with the faculty and other professionals online.

Hal McIver is a proponent of higher education, particularly at online universities. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/the_university__3.html for more data on a University of Phoenix Online degree

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The University operates on three educational platforms, ground, FlexNet, and Online. Students studying through the ground or FlexNet mode take a number of their classes at one of the many University of Phoenix classrooms located all through the US and even the world.

As the largest private university, Phoenix has 170 brick and mortar campuses located all through the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. While by half of the school’s 230,000 strong student body studies purely online, by 100,000 attend at least some of their classes at the brick and mortar campuses.

These campuses are in many cities located in industrial parks. While that image doesn’t conjure up the grassy quads many envision when they think of the college life, their location is normally based on population density and accessibility. As a consequence, Phoenix campuses, although not always beautiful, are certainly accessible.

While the University of Phoenix is famed for its wide variety of courses and degree options, it is less widely known that only assured campuses offer specific degrees. This is particularly true of those degrees which contain elements which simply cannot be translated online.

That is to say, while e-Business, a part of the College of Undergraduate Business and Management can be accessed from every campus considering of its technological basis, other programs like Nursing which may require some hands-on learning are simply unavailable at assured locations.

When you consider a primarily Online University like that of Phoenix, students often fail to consider the relative strengths of programs at different campuses. While Phoenix employs a sophisticated oversight system to ensure that the level of teaching is relatively constant all through its 170 campuses, that does not eliminate all dispersion. For example, students have stated that its Texas campuses offer a very high quality education in health, due to the strength of teachers and administrators at that campus. Similarly, students attending the University of Phoenix in New York have remarked that the quality of their education degrees was quite strong relative to the experiences of other Phoenix students located all through the country.

Hal McIver is a proponent of higher education, particularly at online universities. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/the_university__4.html for more data on The University of Phoenix campus.

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Being able to attend a regular class is, however, not possible for every student. You might not have the resources in the initial stages of life, and at a later point in life date might become a constraint. Hence, to complete your education, you need the flexibility of date and place and the convenience of doing it from anywhere in the world. The University of Phoenix is perhaps one of the best options available to you today. The University has earned repute for excellence and success. In fact, according to a student survey, there is 95 percent satisfaction level amidst students who earn their online degree from the University of Phoenix.

The alumnae from the University of Phoenix have seen a marked increase in their marketability. They have been able to secure jobs that they desired, or have received promotions in their present jobs. Many full-time homemakers have been able to complete their education, which has helped them not only with their self esteem but has additionally prepared them for job markets once they decide to move out.

The flexibility offered by the University of Phoenix is a major advantage. Each course can be taken by a period of five to six weeks and students can take a break amidst courses. They do not have to be present for any classes and can review the downloaded learning material offline at their convenience. Additionally, the University of Phoenix Online education is recognized for most employer reimbursement plans. For these reasons among many others, the University of Phoenix is perhaps the best place to start looking for the means to fulfill your career goals.

Hal McIver is a proponent of higher education, particularly at online universities. See http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/a_university_of.html for more data on The University of Phoenix online degree.

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There are many advantages of choosing to receive your education through an accredited online college or university. Studying for a college education online allows you to achieve your educational and professional goals at your own pace, whether you want to get a 2-year Associate’s degree, a 4-year Bachelor’s degree, or take an accelerated course program to receive a professional certificate. There is no need to live near or commute to a college when all classes can be attended and all work submitted online. Attending school online is a great option for those who might have uncertainties about going to college as an older student or returning after many years. Studying for a college education online can be an easy way to ease into the routine of class work and projects, and can reduce the stress of feeling the need to fit in with younger students. Further, course availability is often convenient for those who work full date or care for a family. Often, colleges offer evening and weekend classes.

There is an online college education available for just about every professional and academic discipline out there. Fields of study include Business, Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, Nursing, Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, and various Healthcare programs. These are but a few of the subjects in which you can earn a college education by choosing an online program. Many online programs are delivered through colleges and Universities accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation is an critical credential to look for when choosing an online program whether you have prior college credits you wish to transfer. Accredited institutions are additionally more readily recognized and accepted by employers and professional organizations.

You might be concerned about affording an education through an accredited online college or University. You have options. Often, financial aid is available to students in the anatomy of grants, loans, even scholarships. Also, many employers are willing to pay for part or all of an employee’s tuition and fees. Investing in an employee’s future reaps benefits for everyone involved.

The misconception of receiving your education from an accredited online college or University is that the experience might not be as enriching or valid as attending campus-based courses at a traditional college or University. This just isn’t the case. Programs offered online present the same opportunities for group work, independent study, and interpersonal communications as their traditional counterparts. While it is true that being an online student requires a assured amount of self-discipline and organization, receiving your college education online will probably help to facilitate the learning process as well as develop your date management and self-motivation skills. With the prevalence of the Internet and advancements such as teleconferencing in both education and the business world today, it is possible to come away from the experience not only with a college education and your dream career, but additionally with greater knowledge and comfort with technology.

Receiving your education through an accredited online college or University is a valuable, convenient, and flexible way to broaden your career opportunities, and have the career you have always dreamt about.

Learn the fundamental data for picking the right online degree course at College and University Programs

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There are many advantages of opting to get an education from a program offered through an online community college. Earning an Associate of Arts degree, Associate of Science degree, or a certificate in a specialized field from online program allows you to study at your own pace. There is no need to live near or commute to a college when all classes can be attended and all work submitted online. Attending school online is a great option for those who might have uncertainties about going to college as an older student or returning after many years. Attending community college online can be an easy way to ease into the routine of class work and projects, and can reduce the stress of feeling the need to fit in with younger students. Further, course availability is often convenient for those who work full date or care for a family. Often, community colleges offer evening and weekend classes.

There are many subjects offered to study online at community college. Associate’s degrees and certificates available include General Studies, Accounting, Computer Networking, Information Systems, and various healthcare programs. These are but a few of the subjects in which you can earn a college education by choosing an online program. Many online programs are delivered through colleges and Universities accredited by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation is an critical credential to look for when choosing an online program whether you have prior college credits you wish to transfer. Accredited institutions are additionally more readily recognized and accepted by employers and professional organizations. And whether you are concerned about affording community college, don’t be. Often, financial aid is available to students in the anatomy of grants, loans, even scholarships. Also, many employers are willing to pay for part or all of an employee’s tuition and fees.

The misconception of attending an online community college program is that the experience might not be as enriching or valid as attending campus-based classes at a traditional community college. This just isn’t the case. Programs offered online present the same opportunities for group work, independent study, and interpersonal communications as their traditional counterparts. While it is true that being an online student requires a assured amount of self-discipline and organization, receiving your Associate’s degree online will probably help to facilitate the learning process as well as develop your date management and self-motivation skills.

With the prevalence of the Internet and advancements such as teleconferencing in both education and the business world today, it is possible to come away from the experience not only with an Associate’s degree or certificate in a specialized field, but additionally with greater knowledge and comfort with technology. Receiving your Associate’s degree online from a community college is a valuable, convenient, and flexible way to broaden your career opportunities, and have the career you have always dreamt about.

Learn the fundamental data for picking the right online degree course at Community College Online

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Schools are granted accreditation by the U.S. Department of Education for meeting or exceeding assured criteria for excellence in quality of education. It is no different whether you choose an online program than whether you were to go to a traditional college or University. This accreditation falls under two categories: institutional and specialized. Institutional accreditation pertains to the college or University as a whole, where specialized accreditation pertains to the individuals academic programs within the college or University. Accreditation affects the funding that a college or University receives from the Department of Education. The Department of Education does not govern the colleges and Universities that achieve accreditation. Rather, it works with them to assemble assured they maintain their levels of excellence and assists them in assured ways to advance.

Choosing an online college or University that has accreditation anatomy the U.S. Department on Education is the most sensible choice. The benefits for you, as a student, are numerous. For example, transferring prior college credits from one accredited college or University to another is easier. Accredited colleges and Universities have agreements with one another to supply smooth transitions for students. Another huge benefit of selecting a U.S. Department of Education accredited college or University is that you will be able to apply for federally funded financial aid in the anatomy of grants, loans, and scholarships. As a student of an online program, you are entitled to financial aid. This obviously makes attending college more affordable, as well as an attainable goal.

Yet another benefit of attending an online college or University accredited by the U.S. Department of Education is the legitimacy of the degree that you earn. Holding a degree from an accredited institution will be more recognized and accepted by potential employers when applying for jobs. In addition, many professional organizations do not acknowledge degree from colleges and Universities that are not accredited, the implication being that the academic standards at a non-accredited institution are not held at as high a standard.

There are so-called online colleges and Universities that do not operate within the limits of U.S Department of Education’s guidelines. They essentially take students money and award phony degrees to them with little or no regard for academic achievement or mastery. Often, these schools do not require a lot coursework and analyzing on the called for subjects. Therefore their graduates are not truly educated in the fields for which they hold degrees. These degrees are not held in high esteem, and falling victim to one of these fake schools can assemble the road to gainful employment very bumpy.

Online learning has become a legitimate, flexible, and convenient way to earn your degree, and improve your life professionally. If you are considering one of the many online college and University degree programs out there, remember to do your research. Make the benefits of online education worth the hard work you put into it by choosing a college and degree program accredited by the U.S. Department of Education.

Learn the fundamental data for picking the right online degree course at Department of Education

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As you’re combing through your search results, remember that there are no guarantees! Think about it: the Web gives every Joe Schmoe with a bit of ‘Net savvy the opportunity to publish and distribute his work, regardless of its quality or truthfulness. There is no standard that Web authors must adhere to - and the end aftereffect is that there’s a wealth of fallacious and even malicious data to be found on the Internet. Even academic databases - those produced and maintained by data specialists and provided by your library - are subject to mistakes and biases! When reading through your sources, it’s vital that you critically evaluate every word - even whether the book or commentary looks scholarly at first glance.

Always regard your sources with a touch of skepticism. Even whether they are from reputable news outlets or scholarly journals, they could contain mistakes or falsehoods, or even be skewed by their authors’ own personal biases. Just considering something is written in print or available on the Internet, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the truth.

Here’s a list of questions to ask of each of your sources. Carefully evaluate all your resources, including those found in academic databases, journals, and newspapers. If you are suspicious of a specific book or article, either throw it out entirely or address your concerns in your discussion. When in doubt, do not be afraid to turn to your professor for guidance!

Traditionally, there are five criteria than are often used to evaluate print resources: accuracy, authority, objectivity, coverage, and currency. These can be adapted and applied to online sources as well those in print.

1. Accuracy

Does the book, commentary or web site contain a number of spelling and/or grammatical errors?

Does the source supply footnotes, endnotes, or citations, as well as a reference list or bibliography? If so, are the author’s resources reputable?

Does the author assemble any outlandish or inaccurate statements or claims?

Are the author’s views consistent with those you have already found in the literature? If not, does the author offer documented evidence that supports his perspective?

Do the author’s conclusions follow logically from the rest of her statements?

If you are evaluating a research article, does the author describe his methodology and results?

2. Authority

Does the author of the document plainly identify herself?

What are the author’s credentials? Are they clearly stated, or did you have to search to find them?

Do the author’s credentials include a degree? If so, is it in the field in which the author is writing about? Was he author’s degree granted by a reputable university, or a ‘degree mill’?

Is the author affiliated with an academic institution?

Does the author supply his contact information?

Who is the intended audience of the paper - the author’s peers or the general public?

In the case of web sites, what is the top-level domain?

3. Objectivity

What individual, group, or organization sponsored the publication of that source?

Is the sponsor of that research/publication clearly listed? Is its background and mission divulged?

In the case of journals, is it a refereed journal that has a peer review process?

Was your source written to sell something or support a specific point of view?

In the case of web sites, is the site a commercial, academic, or personal one?

Are the urls restricted on web sites appropriate for the material?

4. Coverage

Is the topic of the book, article, or site covered in detail, or is it just a superficial review?

Does the author seem aware of all the pertinent research in that area?

Does the source cover the same date period that you’re researching?

5. Currency

When was the source written and/or published?

If it’s an older source, have there been many major developments in the field since it was written that would render it outdated?

If you’re evaluating a book, has it been revised? If so, do you have the newest edition?

If you’re researching a current topic, is that the most up-to-date resource you could find?

If you’re evaluating a web site, can you tell when it was last updated? Does it have many ‘broken’ or invalid links?

You should ask these questions of each of your sources. Even academics aren’t immune to personal biases, which can in turn affect their work. When used consistently and diligently, that checklist will help you weed out any suspect sources - and produce a quality paper yourself!

Copyright Kelly Garbato, 2005
Kelly Garbato is an author, ePublisher, and small business owner. She recently self-published her first book, 13 Lucky Steps to Writing a Research Paper, now available at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) or through Peedee Publishing (http://www.peedeepublishing.com).
To learn more about the author, visit her web site at http://www.kellygarbato.com.

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With the advent of digital equipment the scope of film and video production has widened. The usual Hollywood styled film production is no longer the only route to a career for film graduates. There are a multitude of opportunities in audio and visual applications all through business, government and the entertainment industry. That means OPPORTUNITY for the keenest graduates to produce their own film and video projects, or to land the most interesting positions with leading film and video production companies.

Financing has been a dirty word for years in the film industry. The ‘Blue Suits’ and the cold heart of the banker are synonymous with the enemy of the creative. However, in that new era of opportunity you need to be both the ‘Blue Suit’ and the creative.

How do you find a way to learn about film financing, film budgeting, etc.? First let’s look at Film Studies programs.

There are so many Film Study programs available now that I find it confusing, and I’ve worked in the film industry for by 20 years. The Universities are taking a Liberal Arts degree approach to their curriculums, and the Colleges/Schools are primarily taking a hands-on technical approach. In either case, it is unarguable that Film Studies is big business. The following excerpt from The New York Times Company, published March 6, 2005, made it clear to me how big a business Film Studies really is:

‘Some 600 colleges and universities in the United States offer programs in film studies or related subjects, a number that has grown steadily by the years. At the University of Southern California, whose School of Cinema-Television is the nation’s oldest film school (established in 1929), fully half of the university’s 16,500 undergraduate students take at least one cinema/ television class.’

Which College, School or University will best prepare the graduate for a career in film and video? If a student has invested 2 to 4 years of their lives in that degree, how can they turn it into a worthwhile career?

Let’s see what the Universities say about their own programs, and the kind of results they expect - that is, what the Graduate will be capable of when entering the work force. This promotional letter, posted on one University’s web site, says it all:

‘A major in Film Studies is not an occupational or professional degree. A sound program of studies in that discipline, however, should qualify a student for a variety of vocational possibilities. Obviously an individual will need to employ his or her knowledge about film in either a creative or a practical capacity and, in either case, exercise the judgment and initiative that a rigorous pursuit of a major in Film Studies should develop.’

The use of ’should’ twice in three sentences tells the story - it’s up to you, Bud!

Film Studies programs (at any level) either don’t address, or don’t address strongly enough, the major force behind all film and video production - the MONEY! If the word money is brought up at all, it’s only a handshake and a nod. Most undergraduate programs have very little mention of Film Budgeting, and such things as Cost Reports and Business Plans are treated as foreign topics entirely. The Masters programs are only slightly better.

The reason for the void of data on such things as Film Budgets, Cost Reports, etc. in the academic sector originates from the big Hollywood production machine. The perpetual negotiations with the three big guilds (SAG, DGA and WGA), as well as with the IATSE and Teamster crew unions has forced the producing studios to be extremely confidential.

That era of total confidentiality isn’t over, nevertheless there is a huge demand to know more about film financing, film budgeting, etc. The new crop of Independent Film and Video makers want to assemble their own projects, find their own financing and do their own film budgeting and reporting of production costs. It is even increasingly possible for producers to distribute their own projects by the internet.

Believe me, the film school graduate who has a thorough understanding of their Film Studies program, AND understands the basic processes of Film Budgeting, Cost Reporting and Business Plans, is light-years ahead of the pack. A film studies graduate who can help prepare a financing package (that is, help to prepare a Film Budget and a simple Business Plan) would absolutely blow away any Independent Film and Video Production company. Can you imagine an Independent Producer who wouldn’t LOVE to have help with preparing and presenting a financing package?

I used to assume that the film students had a lack of interest in Film Budgeting and Costs (of any kind). Not anymore. I recently did a survey of film students at a respected film school. Here are the results of the survey:

Over 80% of the students said they felt it was critical to know more about budgeting and how it affected their careers as filmmakers.

Film and Video production is one of the biggest industries in THE WORLD (next to weapon manufacturing, of course). The wide spread use of digital medium has created a new opportunity. That opportunity, although less expensive than the Hollywood style film productions we’ve grown used to, is still costly and requires financing. How do you get that financing? Where do you start?

Answer: You start with the basics of Film Budgeting, Cost Reporting and very simple Business Plans. If you can calculate a focal point, or learn how to operate a video camera, a Film Budget is a piece of cake.

Based on my experience by the past 20 years in the film industry, I can confidently say:

1. Graduates from Film Study programs who know the basics of film and video production money (Budgeting, Cost Reporting and Business Plans) will find they can take on more responsibility in their film and video projects, and

2. as a aftereffect will have more successful careers than their peers who haven’t learned to prepare Film Budgets, who don’t understand any production’s Cost Report and who never saw a simple Business Plan.

So how does a film student get familiar with Budgets, Cost Reports and a simple Business Plan? I’ve been a Production Auditor for 20 years and I’ve NEVER shown a crewmember a Final Budget or a Weekly Cost Report (the universally standard financial report card issued to the Financiers and Producers every week) in that entire time. They are considered sacrosanct by Studio Executives, Producers and Financiers everywhere.

Well, I’m about to tease you with some relevant articles that will open the door abundant to let you walk through. They’re written for the complete novice, so be patient whether you’ve already been exposed to budgets and cost reports.

Written by John Gaskin - With 20 years experience in the Film Industry as a Production Auditor, John has managed by 40 major films all by the world. John has worked with some of the industries top professionals including academy award winning producer Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Walter Salles, etc. John is the author of several articles as well as a book,’Walk The Talk’. See more ‘About the Author’ at http://www.talkfilm.biz.

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Called the College Level Examination Program or CLEP for short, these exams were designed so that you can prove you have the knowledge to carry on into upper level classes.

CLEP exams are offered for just about every type of course. From English composition, to calculus, and next back to American