A filmmaker is anyone who plays a major role in the making of a movie.

Some people use filmmaker interchangeably with director, but they’re not always the same thing. The main difference between a director and a filmmaker comes down to scope: a director has a specific role in overseeing the creative direction of a film, while filmmaker can refer to anyone who plays a significant role in the making of the film. This can include assistant directors, cinematographers, editors, and producers.

Other crew members like costume designers, production assistants, choreographers, and studio executives can also call themselves filmmakers, although it becomes rarer the more niche and specialized the role.

The advent of the smartphone and similar technology has made it easier than ever to become a filmmaker. Anyone can grab their phone, capture footage, edit it, and create a movie.

But a working filmmaker – someone who is able to make a living from their filmmaking experience and expertise – is a far more intensive and challenging undertaking. With time, dedication to one’s craft, and tenacity, it is possible to break into the film industry. But anyone pursuing a filmmaking career should prepare themselves for the inevitable instability that is inherent to it.

In order to get a fuller grasp of what it takes to be a filmmaker, we spoke with a range of working directors, writers, producers, costume designers, and more — all of whom you’ll hear from throughout this article.

While the word filmmaker can cover a variety of roles, it also expands across a number of mediums.

Some common types of filmmakers include:

• Narrative Filmmakers: Focused on fictional, scripted storytelling
• Feature Filmmakers: Create films that are typically between 80 and 120 minutes
• Short Film Filmmakers: Create films that are 40 minutes of less
• Documentary Filmmakers: Capture real-life unscripted documentaries in a way that blends journalism and art
• Experimental Filmmakers: Push the boundaries of technology or storytelling with cutting-edge, unconventional, and/or abstract approaches
• Digital Content Filmmakers: Create either narrative or documentary content that’s intended for digital platforms like TikTok and YouTube
• Branded Content Filmmakers: Specialize in story-driven videos for brands that seamlessly blend storytelling with marketing
• Virtual Reality Filmmakers: Utilize VR technology to create an immersive 180 or 360 viewing experience

This video provides a helpful breakdown of two unique types of filmmaking: documentary filmmaking and experimental filmmaking. 

There is no single way to becoming a filmmaker. In fact, the film industry is full of many vibrant and diverse fields, each with their own career paths. Filmmakers are tasked with building entire worlds from the ground up and sharing them with audiences — a process that demands a wide range of talents and expertise including writing, costume design, acting, business, cinematography, accounting, marketing, and much, much more.

However, most filmmakers pursue one of two broad paths: working on set or working within the studio system. Let’s break down both options.

For hands-on filmmakers that want to directly be involved in the production of a film, constantly developing their craft is key.

A typical career path might include:

• Film school: Some filmmakers study film production formally, gaining access to equipment, mentorship, networking opportunities, and academic instruction.
• Entry-level set positions: Many filmmakers start as interns, production assistants, assistant editors, or camera trainees to start gaining experience.
• Climb the production ladder: As they gain experience, filmmakers can ascend to roles with more responsibilities and a bigger paycheck, including assistant producer, assistant director, associate producer, co-producer, and beyond.
• Independent projects: Some filmmakers decide to make their own independent process, quickly establishing themselves as a producer or a director.
• Festival submissions: The film festival circuit is a great way for aspiring filmmakers to get their name out there, sell their project, or land representation.
• Continued growth: Eventually, as filmmakers gain more credits and recognition, they gain the freedom to choose their own projects and even lead productions.

No film industry connections? No problem! In this video interview, Writer and Director Jason Satterlund explains how to start a career as a filmmaker, even outside of Los Angeles.

Not all filmmakers work on set. Many build their careers behind the scenes, working in development, marketing, acquisitions, production management, or studio leadership.

A sample career path for studio filmmakers could include:

• Film school or business school: Depending on the role, film school and/or business school can provide the skills and fundamental understanding needed to succeed (as well as impress corporate hiring managers)
• Entry level positions: Most get their start in internships, creative assistant positions, and executive assistant positions.
• Climb the studio ladder: Career progression often involves moving through the titles of assistant, coordinator, manager, executive, and eventually VP or studio head.

The beautiful thing about the career path of a filmmaker is its flexibility. Many filmmakers transition to the studio environment, bringing their hands-on knowledge and expertise to a corporate environment, and vice versa. Depending on your goals, needs, and lifestyle, there are countless ways to build a meaningful career as a filmmaker.

This is surely the case with Angela Mancuso, former President of the Cable Production Group at NBCUniversal turned executive producer of hit films like Happy Death Day. “I did the executive thing for many, many decades before I decided to jump ship and just start producing,” she explains. “When I started producing, I already had all the knowledge about production and all the knowledge about development, budgets, and distribution.”

Simply put, a filmmaker uses their creative and technical skills to help make a film. Rather than working alone, they are a part of a large team of filmmakers collaborating together to create the best movie possible.

To fully understand what a filmmaker does, it’s helpful to break down their role across each stage of production, from pre-production to post-production.

Before the glitz and glamor of premieres, accolades and awards, filmmakers always start at the beginning, with the ideation of a story conceit. Filmmakers don’t necessarily have to be writers (although many are); their first responsibility is to interpret the words of a script into the creative vision for the movie.

Their job is to conceptualize the entire cinematic experience from its inception, and discover how their role can advance the storytelling. This means digging into a story’s themes, tone, mood, pacing, plot twists, emotional beats, character arcs, and visual style that will best serve the movie’s narrative.

While a filmmaker may be the chief creative voice behind a project, no movie is made without a team effort. Filmmakers need to coordinate with various departments of other filmmakers, from wardrobe and makeup to production designers, in order to ensure there’s a unified intent and aesthetic behind the film.

While the director of photography oversees the camera department, it’s their job to execute the filmmaker’s aesthetic vision to the screen. Filmmakers work closely with the director of photography (the DP) and their crew to create a distinct, unique and signature color palette and style for the movie.

Ultimately movies are a visual medium and stories are best told through images. Decisions such as camera angles, composition, framing, color palate, and lighting are all carefully designed and planned out in a collaborative effort between the DP and filmmaker. Other decisions, such as performance, costumes, props, music, sound design, and set design, should also complement and advance the aesthetic.

In addition to technical knowledge of media and production, a filmmaker needs to know how to effectively communicate with others and lead teams through various pressure-filled situations. They need to have initiative, be able to handle criticism, and most of all, have the ambition to succeed.

Some filmmakers, like the director, choreographer, or intimacy coordinator, guide the cast through essential moments in the movie. They help actors find their characters and coach them through their scenes, ensuring the on-camera talent is staying true to the film’s intent and their fictional personalities. Filmmakers need to be supportive but also firm, as too much or too little direction can lead to problematic performances.

In essence, filmmakers help actors find the truth not only in the written and designed character, but in the scenes as well – everything ultimately contributes to the overall tone and theme of the film.

A filmmaker’s job is nowhere near over after filming is completed. Post-production is an enormous, crucial step in the filmmaking process, and movies are often made or broken in the editing room.

Some filmmakers like the director and producers will typically guide their editors, adhering to thorough, precise, and detailed standards, or they’ll actively edit the film themselves. A film’s pace, tone, performances, and even entire plot can be altered in the editing room and filmmakers need to be present for every tiny, detailed iteration. Additionally, they may oversee visual effects, sound design, and color grading, ensuring a seamless final product that aligns with their creative vision.

Marketing campaigns for films are often creative endeavors, so it would stand to reason that some filmmakers, like directors, producers, and editors, are also heavily enmeshed in this stage. They’re typically involved in the creation and/or approval of promotional materials like posters, trailers and press kits.

While different jobs in the film industry requirer a variety of technical understanding and experience, there are several core skills that can benefit any filmmaker.

These skills include…

In order to turn ideas into actual visual film, it requires communicating your vision with other members of the film crew, and understanding the perspective of other filmmakers.

In our interview with Movie Director Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn, V/H/S/85, The Domestics), he explained, “Being able to communicate your ideas well is one of the biggest things, both verbally and visually.”

And what makes a good communicator? Understanding. Nelson continues, “Coming up in filmmaking, I wanted to learn how to do it all so that I understood it all… Understanding all those departments and what they do so that you know how to communicate with those people: that’s been invaluable.”

There are thousands, if not millions of people around the world who want to become a filmmaker. To stand out from the crowd and prove you have the vision and creativity to lead a department or a project, you must have a strong voice.

You must have an opinion and an internal hunger to tell certain kinds of stories. Filmmakers with a stronger style or perspective are more likely to assemble the teams and resources needed to bring a film to life.

“I wanted to break into the film business so badly. In my mind that meant that I needed to write a script that somebody out in LA or Hollywood was going to like and going to help me break in,” explains Nelson. “That was the wrong move. As soon as I left all that behind, as soon as I sat down and realized that I just needed to tell stories that I liked, that’s where my voice started to come through. That’s when people started to notice.”

Early in their careers, filmmakers have to stretch limited funding and equipment as far as possible. Yet heir passion for storytelling and filmmaking drives them to keep creating.

This resourcefulness is especially crucial when filmmakers make their first independent films. For Writer and Director Cassius Corrigan‘s first independent feature Huracán, he had to jump through a lot of hoops to make things work. “What I would say is you have to find a way to deliver value to the other people that you need to help bring your movie to life, and that goes to your locations people, that goes to your vendors, that goes to your collaborators.”

For Corrigan, this included convincing a gym owner to let them shoot at the gym at night for free. He also found actors and crew members with some minor credits who were thrilled at the idea of working on an actual feature film, even if the paycheck was small.

He explains, “The truth is, as much as you want to work with people who have some kind of clout or experience, on these low-budget or no-budget movies, you really are gonna be way better off [with] people who maybe have a little experience, but who buy into the process of making this movie, who have a passion, and are really incentivized by the project.”

To be fully transparent, it’s extremely hard to become a filmmaker. Even once filmmakers land a job, the work requires early call times, long weeks, harsh set conditions, and a whole lot of stress. After a production wraps, they may face months (or even years) of unemployment, relying on other jobs to make an income, It’s not a profession for the faint of heart.

Cinematographer Nick Matthews (Saw X, Bone Lake, Mob Land) is no stranger to the resilience required to be a filmmaker. “The job becomes the cinematographer’s life… It also poses a strain on friends and romantic relationships because directors of photography must leave for months at a time when working on feature films,” he explains. “There is a lot of mental anguish when not working. It takes a lot of courage and self-belief to maintain a personal life as well as a professional life.”

Yet for those passionate about filmmaking, these obstacles are worth every moment. The opportunity to collaborate with creative teams and bring stories to life can be endlessly rewarding, both emotionally, and, with some luck, financially as well.

Filmmaking is, at its core, storytelling through characters and visual images. Aside from the need to empathize with crew members they’re collaborating with, filmmakers must empathize with the story and characters they’re trying to share with the world.

This skill doesn’t only help screenwriters, actors, and directors who are constantly creating and exploring characters –  but it extends to every crew member. Editors, for instance, have to recognize which takes, music cues, and cuts will best capture the storytelling vision behind the scenes.

Even costume designers like Susan Lyall (Being the Ricardos, The Trail of the Chicago 7, Molly’s Game) find a way to empathize with and relate to the story and its characters. “It’s very important that you work your way through the script and break it down by character. You need to understand the arc of the character’s journey,” she says. “You may be able to draw upon your experience… The more you are out in the world trying new things and being open to ideas, the better.”

“When we tell a story in cinema, we should resort to dialogue only when it’s impossible to do otherwise. I always try to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and bits of film in between.”¹

Sir Alfred Hitchcock, also known as the “Master of Suspense,” is one of the most renown filmmakers of all time. The director of such landmark films as PSYCHO and VERTIGO, he’s considered one of the most influential figures in cinema.

One of the most iconic scenes in motion pictures occurs in a motel bathroom in Hitchcock’s Psycho. In the film, protagonist Marion Crane has made off with some stolen money. She stops at a motel, speaks with the proprietor, and then takes a shower where she meets a terrifying end when a knife-wielding maniac enters the bathroom. The scene is a masterclass in suspenseful filmmaking, as close-ups, rapid edits, screams, and music coalesce into an unforgettable sequence that never ceases to leave audiences stunned and terrified.

“The best director is the one you don’t see.”²

A brilliant and versatile filmmaker, there seemed to be no genre Wilder couldn’t master. As the artist behind The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard, and Double Indemnity, he left his mark on cinema in countless ways.

One of cinema’s most resonating and sobering conclusions comes at the very end of Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard. The film, which is the tragic story of a washed-up screenwriter who becomes entangled with a delusional former silent film star is one of the greatest satires and statements on Hollywood ever put on film. In the final scene (spoilers!), the silent film star shoots and kills the struggling screenwriter in a rage of jealous madness. Soon, her house is swarming with police, journalists, and photographers. Norma, by this point, fully disconnected from reality, believes that the attention is for her big, much-awaited return to the movies. As the star descends the staircase towards the waiting crowd, the audience is haunted by her final line of dialogue, which encapsulates her spiral into insanity.

“There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.”³

Like Hitchcock, Kurosawa is considered one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. With classics like Seven Samurai and Rashomon, his style had an enormous effect on Western cinema, yet was uniquely distinct from it.

Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is the story of villagers who hire seven samurai to protect their homes from a band of bandits. The film, considered by many to be the first truly great action film (and one of the greatest movies of all time), is filled with terrific character moments, emotional payoffs, and groundbreaking action. The final battle, a sprawling, extended sequence that takes place in the rain, is rife with innovate cinematography, breath-taking fight choreography, and strategic depth. It’s a sequence that has influenced action for decades to come. Kurosawa’s precise editing and incredible staging put the movie years ahead of its time.

“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”⁴

While the majority of films Kubrick directed are adaptations of novels or short stories, his work manages to eclipse almost every medium. He covered a wide range of genres, from the science fiction landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey and the dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange. His meticulous attention to detail elevated the work well above his peers.

Perhaps no sequence time jumps in cinema so effectively and memorably as the one in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The iconic scene, which happens at the end of the “Dawn of Man” sequence, depicts the first time a group of hominids learned how to use bones as tools and weapons. The sequence culminates with the one hominid’s realization of the power the bone holds. It’s essentially the beginning of human technology. The scene ends when the hominid throws the bone into the air, it tumbles upward, and that’s when the film cuts to the distant future, to a shot of an orbiting spacecraft. The transition uses images to connect the beginning of human technological advancements to its future explorations.

“The camera was my pen. I wrote my stories through the lens.”⁵

The most commercially successful director in history has made more than his share of landmark films. Covering a wide range from Jaws to Schindler’s List to Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg has time and again pushed the limits of filmmaking to bring some of the most unforgettable stories into focus.

In E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, a film packed with striking, storytelling visuals, and an iconic score, a plethora of moments stand out. But the film’s most iconic scene comes halfway through the movie, as Spielberg uses every filmmaking tool in his arsenal to transport his audience directly onto Elliot’s bicycle and across the moon with ET. The sequence is as thrilling as it is informative, teaching the audience about ET’s skillset through showing, rather than telling. Have a look at the Across the Moon sequence.

“If the film isn’t suspenseful, i.e. the pressure cooker situation of what’s going on in the movie, if that’s not part of it, if the threat of violence and the temperature isn’t always going up a notch every scene or so, then the movie is going to be boring. It’s not going to work.”⁶

Although his films are often characterized by pop culture references, snappy dialogue and stylized violence, Tarantino’s work goes far deeper than that. He’s managed to change the cinematic landscape by breaking rules and inventing new ones when he made Pulp Fiction. He’s continued on, rewriting ways to make movies and world history itself through his movies.

Tarantino has always been outspoken about his love for cinema. Kill Bill was his two-part love-letter to Japanese samurai and action films. Through frenetic camera work, versatile soundtrack, and vibrant set pieces, he elevated a revenge tale into a dizzying work of inspired art. In this, the climactic showdown of Part One, Tarantino gives audiences a relentless, adrenalized action set piece (arguably the greatest action scene the director has ever done) that gets the audience’s blood pumping while also holding true to character.

“You’re never going to learn something as profoundly as when it’s purely out of curiosity.”⁷

Christopher Nolan has become one of the most important filmmakers to study due to his incredible storytelling acumen coupled with his precise cinematic technique. From Memento to The Dark Knight to Oppenheimer, he always finds ways to elevate the genre and give his audiences something new.

In a film that plays with perception and reality, Nolan brings it all together in a dizzying sequence that exists as a dream within a dream. The perfect synchronization of choreography, stunts, camera work, and compelling narrative coalescences in this mind-bending how-did-they-pull-this-off scene that requires multiple viewings to be fully appreciated.

“Here’s my philosophy in life: If there’s a fire, you put it out. If there’s a flood, you fill sandbags and you build a dike. You roll up your sleeves and you get to work.”⁸

Considered one of the greatest visionaries of all time, Cameron manages to reset the cinematic bar every time he makes a new film. From his early work in Terminator to Titanic all the up through Avatar, Cameron is constantly pushing both the technological and storytelling envelopes to deliver audiences something they’ve never before experienced.

In the 1986 pulse-pounding, sci-fi action film Aliens, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) returns to the planet LV-426 with a team of marines. There, they discover a human colony overrun by xenomorphs, the deadly creatures Ripley encountered in the first film. After escaping the planet, Ripley makes it back to the escape ship with a few cohorts, one of them being Newt, a young child Ripley has taken on the role of surrogate mother for. Just as we think they’re safe, the Alien Queen emerges for one final battle, pursuing Newt. Ripley refuses to stand idly by as the massive creature attacks, so she suits up in a power loader and fight backs, but not before delivering one of the movie’s most indelible lines of dialogue. Watch it all here.

“The question is: Where would it get you if something that’s a little bit ambiguous in the movie is made clear? It doesn’t get you anywhere.” ⁹

To call Joel Coen (who until his most recent film collaborated on all his movies with his brother Ethan) a filmmaker of quirky movies is to miss the point entirely. The Coens have a unique ability to work in almost any genre and then subvert the expectation for said genre. From acclaimed works like Fargo and No Country for Old Men, they’ve proven to be trailblazing marvels of the filmmaking profession.

No Country for Old Men is a masterwork of filmmaking, stripping down storytelling tools to their essence. The movie tells the story of a hunter named Moss (Josh Brolin) who stumbles onto the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong in the Texas desert and subsequently finds himself pursued by a remorseless hitman name Chigur (Javier Bardem). In one (of many) particularly tense sequences, Chigur tracks Moss to a hotel and a game of cat and mouse ensues. Watch the scene, paying particular attention to the way sound design and wordless images build an almost unbearable tension.

“There’s a little thing on your shoulder called intuition and it whispers in your ear. Everyone has that, there is a voice telling you to do something. Most people ignore it – but you must listen to it. I do it every day, all day.”¹⁰

Ridley Scott is a filmmaker who has also managed to cross genres with great success, leaning heavily into stylized aesthetics and rich atmosphere across his many diverse, dramatic films. Blade Runner and Black Hawk Down are two marked cinematic achievements that couldn’t be more different.

The dinner scene in Scott’s Alien is famous for its nerve-wracking tension, cutting-edge effects, and the jarring twist we’re discussing here. The scene starts with the crew of the Nostromo having a casual meal, celebrating the recovery of Kane (played by John Hurt) after an alien parasite had attached to his face. The relaxed atmosphere creates a stark contrast to the horror that is soon to unfold, making the subsequent events even more disturbing. Everything takes a horrifying turn when Kane begins to choke violently. The scene climaxes when an alien “chestburster” explodes from Kane’s torso. Via Scott’s craftsmanship, the moment is gruesome, terrifying, and resonating, leaving an indelible mark both on its audience and the cinematic landscape. Fun fact – the cast reportedly wasn’t informed exactly what was going to happen during the scene and as a result, their shocked and horrified reactions are all genuine.

A filmmaker’s role is a blend of artist, technician, and visionary. They navigate the complex landscape of storytelling, using a diverse skill set to bring narratives to life. Getting the job done requires a good collaborative sense, a tough skin and a clear vision.