Chapter five
For International Students
The United States has the largest and most powerful film industry in the world, one that draws talent from across the globe. As a nation, the United States also has a very specific culture, immigration policy and financial system that is probably quite different from that of your home country. I am not an immigration attorney or an accountant, but it’s important to understand some basic characteristics of the American system. This chapter is based on extensive conversations with international students about the things they wish they’d known before they lived and studied in the US.
1. American Basics
As an international student, you will be facing a host of issues that most Americans never consider. Here are a few basic points you’ll need to understand for your transition into the United States.
1. Visas
As an international student, if you want to stay in the United States after graduation, you must accept that dealing with visas will be a huge part of your life. From the moment you arrive in the United States, your student visa will be a ticking clock for your ability to stay in the country. When your visa expires, you will need to transition into your next one, be it an O1 (for artists of extraordinary achievement), an H1B (for employees sponsored by their company), or one of several other options. At the end of your program you will most likely be eligible for Optional Practical Training (OPT), which will allow you to work in your field of study (and only in your field of study) for 12 to 18 months after you graduate. A final consideration is that many visas will not allow you to work jobs outside of your university while you are a student there.
The visa question will be an added pressure for you. You’ll need to make connections, find a job, and get your projects going on a fairly tight deadline, because if you don’t, you won’t have a way to stay in the country legally. Your program will be stressful on its own, so it’s not worth having a panic attack right up front. Don’t obsess over this initially, but do keep it in mind. One way to approach this early on is to ask any young, professional foreigners you meet how they went through the visa process. Their experiences may help you create a mental framework for your own situation. Carefully research and examine your options and what you need to do to prepare. If you are serious about staying in the United States after film school, this will be a project like any other.
Also: Do not overstay your visa. If you are declared unlawfully present in the United States, you can be barred from reentering the country for periods of several years to a decade.
2. Credit Record
The United States is a country driven by debt, also known by the friendlier word credit. Every American has a credit score, which rates their reliability as a borrower. The scale itself ranges from 150 to 800, with 600+ rated as “average,” 700+ as “good,” and 750+ as “excellent.” Credit scores are problematic for a foreigner because, having never lived and borrowed in the United States, you don’t have one. This is especially difficult because a person’s credit score is used for everything from apartment rentals to buying a car. As a foreigner, you will thus need to plan ahead carefully.
It takes time to build a good credit score, so you will need to get a credit card as soon as possible upon moving to the US (yes, this might be part of why we had a financial crisis). To get a credit card with low credit, you will probably have to give a bank cash as a deposit, against which they will give you a credit card. You should immediately start using it and paying it off monthly. As you adjust to the system, you can open more credit accounts to build your score. Again, play it safe: if you fail to pay your credit card payments, or overborrow and can’t afford it (a favorite American pastime), it will hurt your credit score and thus become self-defeating. Welcome to the land of the free.
3. Social Security Number (SSN)
This is a nine-digit number that identifies you and will be used for countless tasks in the United States, such as getting paid and getting a driver’s license. The paradox here is that as an international student, you will likely not get a social security number until you’re on your OPT year. Not having an SSN will make certain things more complicated, like buying a car (almost essential in Los Angeles), activating a utility account, or finding an apartment. The solution for this problem will generally be cash. If you have some ready, you will be able to deal with some of these problems. Just know that some landlords will demand a higher security deposit, and you will probably need to pay for your car in cash.
4. Health Care
Although things are slowly changing with the Affordable Care Act, health care is still very expensive in the United States. This is not something the government takes care of for its citizens. Individuals have the responsibility for understanding their coverage and paying for it. As a film student, you will most likely be covered through the university during your enrollment (for a fee). The Affordable Care Act makes many people with a low income (read: recent film school graduates) eligible for substantial discounts on their health insurance premiums. But as a foreigner, depending on your legal status, you may not be eligible for them. Use your time in the States to familiarize yourself with how your policy works and basic American health care concepts like HMO, PPO, deductible and out of pocket, so when you have to choose your own policy you’ll know what the hell people are talking about.
Again, this is meant to be a simple primer in some of the issues you will face as an international student living in the United States. You must do your own research as well.
2. Special Financial Considerations for International Students
As an international student, many film schools will require you to prove in advance, through bank statements, that you can afford their tuition. This means that you will need to provide a bank statement that has all of the money you need for the year, or a combination of a bank statement and a letter from a funding board like the Fulbright Commission, to prove you will be able to afford school. This is something else to consider while preparing your applications (which may include applications to funding sources).
If you apply to a funding board like the Fulbright Commission, it becomes a bit of a chicken-and-egg battle: you can only get the funding if you get into film school, and you can only afford to pay for school if you get the funding. Unfortunately, unless you’re independently wealthy, there’s not a lot that can be done here. Also understand that the funding amounts for scholarships like the Fulbright vary from country to country; be sure to understand how much you will actually receive. Even with scholarships, the high cost of American film schools often requires international students to take loans in their home countries to cover the full amount of attendance.
Be sure to do extensive research on any possible funding opportunities to study in the United States. Many governments and cultural institutions support at least one year of study abroad. Any financial help you can get will not only allow you to attend, but also keep you out of debt when you return.
As an international applicant, it’s thus important to add a period of funding research and applications to your film school application calendar. The application deadlines for these funding sources are separate from the ones for film school, so give yourself adequate time to prepare.
3. Learn Really Good English
This may seem like an obvious point, but in the United States you will be studying and communicating in English. America is not a nation of polyglots; do not expect anyone to speak your native language at your university, except perhaps the odd international student.
As an international applicant you will most likely be required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). This will test your basic ability to study in the US; it is no guarantee that you will thrive at a party among 20 drunk Americans arguing about HBO. Any class you can take to improve your speaking and listening abilities will be essential. Many film school classes consist of “war stories,” where successful Hollywood and independent filmmakers come into the class and talk about how they got their films made, usually very quickly and using a lot of industry lingo.
One way you can prepare for these situations is to listen to podcasts in which filmmakers share their war stories. This has the twofold benefit of increasing your knowledge of the US film industry while also improving your listening comprehension.
Americans will always tell you that you speak great English; this is because we come from a country where foreign language classes are generally slept through between the ages of 12 and 17. Anyone who speaks English remotely well thus seems like a mini-Mozart to us.
All this is to say that you need to make sure that you actually speak great English; film school is not designed to teach you a second language, though it will certainly improve it. Language classes in your home country will be more productive and less stressful than trying to figure out what a Hollywood producer just said about his Ferrari.
On a final note, though excellent English is absolutely mandatory, you don’t necessarily need to lose your accent. The American film industry has been fueled by a constant influx of foreigners. A corollary to our relative provincialism when it comes to speaking foreign languages is that we are an immigrant nation, often fascinated by people from foreign countries. Your home country is an indelible part of your identity; use it as a strength.
4. Catch Up on American Pop Culture
Americans watch a lot of television and movies, generally of a very specific kind. At any given film school party right now there are probably four circles of people discussing the same line from the same obscure television show. To a foreigner, it can be disorienting.
Take some extra time with the resources and publications in this book to catch up on the major films and television series in America at the moment. They will shape the discourse of your fellow students and faculty when you arrive in the United States. This knowledge, combined with your awesome English skills, will go a long way toward helping your transition into your new motherland.
5. Keep a Foot in Your Home Country
As an international student it’s very important to understand that you are building a professional network in a country you may be forced to leave. It’s thus important to build and maintain a network in your home country, all while learning as much as you can about the US industry. An international education at a prestigious US film school can be a great selling point for you later on as you seek jobs and collaborators in your home country.
Try to send occasional updates on your progress to your network back at home, and always be on the lookout for people from your country at your school and elsewhere. If you can afford it, holidays can be a great way to return home and say hello in person; hopefully you will have plenty of great Ferrari stories to share.
Many funding sources, including the Fulbright, have mandatory home country residency requirements for grantees. This means that after your year of Optional Practical Training, if you’ve been funded by one of these organizations, you probably will be forced to move back to your home country for a set period of time. Keep this in mind as you move through film school; if you know you’re moving back home, even for a while, make sure to keep your options and network alive while you’re away. Otherwise you could be facing a rude awakening when film school ends.
6. Embrace Your Dual Identity
The ability to navigate and communicate in multiple cultures is invaluable. Never undermine your identity; see it as a source of strength. As an example, many international students return to their home country to shoot their thesis films. Something about the perspective of having been away, combined with the joy of returning to their own culture, often make these some of the strongest student films around.
Being a foreigner will present you with many added difficulties, but it can also make you unique. Take the opportunity to discover and meet with the people in the industry from your own country; oftentimes they will be thrilled to have a discussion in their own language, and perhaps to help someone who, like them, decided to brave the currents of a foreign culture.
7. Staying in America: The Post–Film School Dash
For obvious reasons, many international students who study film in the United States want to stay there after graduation. Understand now that the ability to do so is usually the result of careful planning, hard work and more than a little luck. Relationships with companies who can sponsor you will be crucial, as will be the success of your own creative projects.
At the end of film school most of the international students will go into crunch mode, each driving desperately for that one connection, job or project that will allow them to stay in the country. It may not seem fair, but again, if you plan for this, it will be less of a shock when it actually comes. Constantly analyze and revise your strategy for staying in the country, making it as specific as possible. “Maybe I’ll get a job at X company” is not nearly as helpful as “I already have job interviews at three companies which I know have a track record of sponsoring foreigners for their visas. I have a good shot at getting the jobs because I have multiple marketable skills (i.e. writing great coverage, managing phones) that the job requires, as well as some excellent recommendations.” Those recommendations will most likely come through the internships you do while you’re still a student, so make sure to do several.
To give another angle on all this doom and gloom, here are the wise words of an international friend based in Los Angeles who has made it through this process:
The bright side is that, as trite as it sounds, where there’s a will there’s a way. In general, this country is pretty good about keeping people who can add value to its society, so make sure to build relationships of trust with both individuals and companies, create interesting projects and don’t be ashamed to publicize and record your success. USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) will need tangible proof of your “added value.” Also, for God’s sake, don’t break the law, and don’t mess around with your legal status. Respect expiration dates on your visa as if they were sacred. Never extend your stay past the expiration date on your visa.