The biggest mistake that aspiring filmmakers make is that they limit their education to the techniques and aesthetics of filmmaking. They fail to widen their academic perspectives to see how other life skills can and will address the real world challenges that they will face as an active participant in this very demanding creative industry.

One of the most important areas to master is how to manage and document your business related finances. Never forget that SHOW BUSINESS is not just a show, but a business. As a freelancer or short-term employee – it is now your annual business (regardless if you are considered a salaried employee or just 1099’d as an independent contractor).

Choose some basic accounting, business, and contract law courses as electives; or just spend some serious time on Google. You do not need to learn enough to be an expert authority; but do learn enough to know what questions to ask an actual authority! Make sure that you use the services of a full-time CPA accountant, not some high school teacher who took a short course and now calls himself a “tax preparer”.

There are excellent software programs such as Quicken that will facilitate keeping track and categorizing every penny that comes in or goes out. Even if you are salaried full-time, all year (highly unlikely in today’s workplace), there are employee/work related expenses that you may be able to deduct. If you bounce around multiple employers, mix in some independent contractor day-player gigs – you probably will have some Schedule C earnings/deductions along with your stack of W2’s.

And if what I have just said in the above paragraph sounds like Greek – you really need to expand your education before hitting the streets.

The good thing is that you do NOT need to learn advanced accounting. What you do need to master is the skill of good book-keeping and documentation. Learn how to keep track of everything; don’t worry about whether it is tax deductible or not. THAT is why we hire an accountant; let your accountant review your Quicken files and determine what things are legitimate deductions and what things are just everyday living. The big difference between a “tax preparer” and a full-time, certified accountant is that although both may be able to recognize a myriad of potential tax deductions – a good accountant can advise you when to ease back in order to stay within the normal accepted percentages and common categories that will keep you “under the radar”. Trust me, you do not want to submit a tax statement that shouts red flag because you got greedy and tried to claim too much based on your total salary and career. On the same token, there may be several areas that you did not realize that you could (partially) claim and not call attention to yourself.

Bottom line. Learn Quicken, and spend a few extra bucks on a good accountant, and meet with them early in the year so that they can help you set up your categories. What they save you in the long run will more than justify their higher rate over some kiosk in a shopping mall!

Here are some other useful skills that I recommend.

Guns. I have posted some articles already about Firearms Safety on the Set, but I will repeat myself because there are too many Alex Baldwin’s out there! Regardless of your personal views about individual gun ownership – if you are going to work in the movie industry, you need to learn about firearms. Do not make the fatal mistake of relying on other people on the set to verify that the weapons are safe. Learn about the types of firearms and how they work (matchlocks, flintlocks, cap & ball, revolver, pistol, rifle, shotgun); handle them; fire them; and be able to manipulate their actions in order to confirm that they are safe. Armorers and Props cannot be everywhere at every time; especially on lower budget indies. Every crew members is a Safety Officer, and needs to not just be vigilant, but pro-active.

Learn to pick a lock. Yes, I am serious. You can order lockpick sets on the internet, and watch internet videos to show you the basics. I have lost count how many times my James Bond skills have saved us while on small shoots. It is not necessary to become a master locksmith, you do not need to crack any safes nor defeat high tech locks. Most commercial buildings will have loose, inexpensive locks well worn by master keys, especially in the “common” areas such as conference rooms, classrooms, and supply closets.

During my sound mixing career, I have utilized my skills to gain access to breaker/fuse panels, conference hall p.a. systems (either hidden within a wall panel or tucked away in a converted broom closet), or to re-gain access to a room that had been locked to secure our equipment or the setup during lunch. You know the situation: your local “baby sitter” locks the door as you leave, but upon returning, the custodian is off somewhere else dealing with a leaking faucet or something – and your stuff remains inaccessible while the client is unforgiving.

“Hmmm, lucky for us, I guess the custodian forgot to fully latch the door…”

A word of caution. Never break into an area that you are not supposed to have access to. Only nefariously enter a room or facility that someone previously unlocked while you were observing, gave you permission to use, and is devoid of alarms. Certainly, never break into a closed building! Use common sense; areas could be alarmed before normal working hours. Don’t mess with private executive offices, server bays, or any “high security” areas.

Another valuable lifestyle skill is computer I.T.  Sure, you may be a master of the software, but can you find your way around the wires, boards, and electronic components of a computer? Most of what we do today (especially in post production) revolves around computers. Although you may not be able to do anything about servers in a studio-grade multi-bay editing or mixing facility – a lot of your early career work may take place in your home office or a relatively small production suite. If your machine stops working, you may have to rely on phone support from a colleague along with an overnite delivery from a computer supply house. Do you know how to trouble shoot, disassemble and then re-assemble your computer?

Something that will help you prevent many catastrophic software crashes is to never poop where you eat, so to speak. Dedicate one computer to filmmaking, and only populate it with professionally relevant software. Keep it physically disconnected from the internet. Disable the wifi function, and only risk hardwire connections as infrequently as possible. Keep a second computer close at hand for connecting to the outside world for normal office tasks such as email, browsing, researching, online ordering, games, etc. If you need to download any files or software for the (editing) computer, then use the everyday computer and store those files onto a thumb drive. Run a deep virus check on the drive before uploading it to your (isolated) computer. You will be surprised at how much crap gets onto your everyday computer, and how much more reliable your isolated, specialty machine will function.

Another skill that has served me well is to learn just a wee bit about make-up. We always bring a make-up specialist with us on larger shoots, but very often a lot of those “pay the rent” day gigs consist of camera, sound, and gaffer. I have found that on these corporate interviews and similar – women who expect to be on camera always bring a purse full of personal make-up. They are not our problem.

Men, however, rarely think about daily make-up. Shiny foreheads and noses crop up everywhere. And macho ego’s abhor feminine make-up. My solution was to transfer a few ingredients (such as face powder and some concealer) into chemistry lab bottles and a rugged looking carrying case. On industrial shoots, you do not need complete theatrical make-up. Just some simple touches to hide the zits or bad blemishes, and some translucent or appropriate face powder to get rid of the shine. You don’t need lipstick; though a little chapstick will prevent dry, cracked lips.

To steal a commercial phrase -- if you don’t look good, we don’t look good.

(And, this anecdote is actually true – I repeated that to Vidal Sassoon when he once asked the crew why the setup was taking so long prior to a video interview.)