Verne Andru: In Vancouver, Canada.

Here's my...dilemma. I'm graduating from high school this May, and have been accepted to a university already. It's not purely a film school, like in the vein of Full Sail or the New York Film Academy or anything. They do have a great film program; I visited, and they have a lot of great equipment that the west coast doesn't even have. I'm pretty set on going there. But I know that a degree is generally worthless to this industry. It's typically about who you know and what you're good at, correct? Has anyone heard of Film Connection, filmconnection.com? Tuition is $9,800 for 6-8 months of one-on-one mentorship with a working industry professional near your hometown. So you work with a filmmaker that professionally does what you want to do (for me, it'd be producing). Plus, for those 6-8 months, you're working on an actual set/project; whatever your mentor's working on, you're working on it too. So you make real-world connections on a working set. Which is crucial. So...you can probably guess my question, but here it is anyway: which sounds like the more beneficial to a fledgling producer? Student films don't count as real-world experience, and I'd be spending 2 1/2 years of my life at a real university learning in a classroom when compared to 6-8 mo. on a real project(s). My parents are kinda set on the current school I'm accepted to...and I am too. But I also want to do what's best for my career. I don't want to join the masses of graduated film students that are struggling to find real-world work.

I'm new to this site, but have been around the block a few times LOL. I started in comic books and animation back in the 1970's and have since been a writer, director, producer and even executive of a production studio doing live-action as well as animation. I'm a systems analyst and the person who designed the BC Film Commission's online location library system [it was manual when I started]. Most recently I've taught animation, comic books and storyboarding at VFS [Vancouver Film School]. I am currently busy with pre-production on the project that got me into this crazy business in the first place. I took a hiatus for almost 20 years to raise my son so I'm looking forward to connecting with like-minded industry folks and this looks like the place to do that. You can find out more about what I do from www.verneandru.com and IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3252989/

Hi Verne. I'm RB, co-founder and CEO of Stage 32. As an actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work and attracting attention to their projects. That's why we created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 150,000+ members strong spanning 180+ countries making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth. This is a network for you, built by you. Like most things in life, the more you participate, the greater the rewards. We ask all new members pay it forward and invite at least 5 fellow creatives and to spread the word of Stage 32 through other social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also invite fellow creatives through the site by using the "Send Stage 32 Invites..." button on the upper right side of your profile. The more creatives, the stronger the network. The stronger the network, the more opportunities. Thanks for joining the movement and for being a part of this most talented and inspiring community. PS - Please take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @Stage32online.

Hey Verne, I'm the CTO and lead developer at Stage 32. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about the site. I'd love to hear your comments! To get started with Stage 32 and understand all the features and resources the site has to offer, please check out the Getting Started section and our FAQ.