This is a review of Parker Walbeck’s course Full Time Filmmaker.
- Is Full Time Filmmaker still worth it in 2022?
- Is now a good time to buy Full Time Filmmaker?
- Is Full Time Filmmaker better than other filmmaking courses?
- Who should not buy Full Time Filmmaker?
If you want to know the truth about Full Time Filmmaker, I’m here to spill the beans. And I want to help you make the best purchase decision possible.
I am a film school graduate, I’ve taken dozens of online filmmaking courses, and also purchased this course with my own money.
So, should you buy Full Time Filmmaker in 2022?
Full Time Filmmaker Review: The Verdict
Full Time Filmmaker is the ultimate online film school. From the absolute basics to advanced techniques and virtual job shadows, it’s clear the team at Full Time Filmmaker are not only working professionals themselves but are also absolutely obsessed with delivering as much value to their students as possible to help them succeed. They live and breathe filmmaking and love sharing what they know. The Full Time Filmmaker team just keeps growing and the value they add back to their students keeps going up.
Pros of Full Time Filmmaker
Cons of Full Time Filmmaker
Now, let’s take a deeper look into Full Time Filmmaker and see what they have to offer and if it is the right solution for you. For your convenience, use the table of contents to navigate to different sections of the review.
- Full Time Filmmaker Review: The Verdict
- What is Full Time Filmmaker?
- Courses Offered by Full Time Filmmaker
- Full time Filmmaker's Course Content Style
- Meet other full Time Filmmakers in the Community
- Parker Walbeck and his Team Continue to Update the Course
- The Exclusive Discounts Make it Worth It By Themselves
- Conclusion
- BONUS: Learn How They Made Full Time Filmmaker with Course Creator Pro
- Full Time Filmmaker Alternatives
What is Full Time Filmmaker?
Full Time Filmmaker is an online film school, started by Parker Walbeck, with cameos from other instructors that focus on different areas, like weddings, music videos, and more.
Full Time Filmmaker allows you to learn filmmaking at your own pace with in-depth, step by step videos covering the absolute basics, like what gear to buy and what camera settings to use, all the way to how to tell stories and deliver client projects.
Most important to me, the videos are framed with a clear transformation. In other words, after you finish the real estate module, you’ll know everything you need to know in order to shoot a real estate video. The same goes for a music video.
So, the main idea behind FTF is to teach you everything you need to know to go full time with your filmmaking, all in one course, so you don’t have to go around sifting through hours of unconnected YouTube videos.
Notably, Parker Walbeck, the main presenter of information, does a fantastic job of trimming off the fat in his videos. In many cases, concepts that would take others 20 minutes to explain, he can cover in less than 5. He has a gift for teaching and clear explanations, that’s for sure.
Here are benefits you can expect with Full Time Filmmakers:
Courses Offered by Full Time Filmmaker
As of 2022, Full Time Filmmaker has 1 main, master course, and a wide range of mini-courses offered at a lesser cost.
The other mini-courses you get access to as part of being in Full Time Filmmaker include:
- Wedding Video Pro – Learn how to make 6 figures as a wedding videographer
- Real Estate Video Pro – Learn how to land, shoot, & edit real estate videos and learn real estate videography
- Premiere Pro Editing Workflow – Learn to edit in Adobe Premiere Pro like a pro
- Final Cut Pro X Editing Workflow – Learn how to use FCP X like a pro
- Seamless Video Pro – Create engaging content with transitions and handheld movements
- Music Video Pro – Everything you need to know about creating cinematic music videos
- Travel Video Pro – Learn how to plan, shoot, & edit travel videos
- Commercial Video Pro – Everything you need to know about creating cinematic commercial videos
- Davinci Resolve Editing Worfklow – Learn to edit in Davinci Resolve like a pro
- Photo Pro – Learn to land, shoot, & edit photos like a photo pro
- YouTuber Pro – Learn how to become a successful YouTuber
If you are interested in enrolling in just one of a FullTimeFilmmaker mini-course, you can do that by clicking the button below.
Full time Filmmaker’s Course Content Style
Parker Walbeck is the main instructor for Full-Time Filmmaker and is a master at scripting engaging videos.
Each lesson has a clear focus and he does a mixture of on-screen presentation, voice-over with BROLL, on-screen text, and more to keep it engaging. I highly recommend you check out his YouTube channel to get a taste of his teaching style. He is a funny, super knowledgeable dude that has a gift for teaching.
A typical course starts with a video, that is around ~5-8 minutes on average. One of my favorite types of lessons that he includes in the course is his virtual job shadows, where he takes you from beginning to end on how he works on a real client project. I love watching these prior to going on a similar client shoot so that I can make sure I have my bases covered for the shoot.
If you are unsure if you will like the style of his videos, just go to his YouTube channel. If you like those, you’ll LOVE the videos in the course.
Meet other full Time Filmmakers in the Community
The impressive library of videos that come with the course are truly worth the price tag alone. But, Full Time Filmmaker comes with a bundle of bonuses that make the purchase even more valuable. One of those is the Facebook community.
I’ll be honest with you – I rarely start posts on my own in the group. But I do like to see what others post. And I’m blown away by how active this group is and how supportive they are.
For those just starting out, people are gentle, encouraging, and positive. And, for those that are veterans, they are actively sharing their best-kept secrets to help the group level up. I wasn’t expecting much when this was offered as a perk, but it has proven to be a resource I would definitely miss if I didn’t have it.
I really do want to emphasize the positive nature of this community. It is mind-blowingly uplifting and positive. It truly feels like a family.
Along with the community, Full Time Filmmaker also regularly hosts video contests for prizes, has a wide range of discounts, like Adobe CC, available for students, and also has live Q&As and feedback days for people to submit their videos. They really have figured out a nice system for people to learn, practice, get feedback, and improve as filmmakers.
Most recently, Parker and the Full Time Filmmaker team hosted a competition to find a new editor, opening up a huge opportunity for someone to join their team while also reviewing their favorite entries on his YouTube channel so everyone can learn.
Parker Walbeck and his Team Continue to Update the Course
Full Time Filmmaker comes with lifetime access to all future content that they make. And wow, it seems like the content just never stops – which is great. When I first joined, it was just Parker Walbeck, but now he has expanded to a multi-person team with each of them cranking out regular, high-quality videos for the course. They are very good at keeping up with the latest technology and trends, as it seems like they release a tutorial on how to do a new technique the day after it becomes popular.
The price of Full Time Filmmaker is crazy low, especially with how much value is packed in there. If you are like me and always on the search for amazing LTDs (lifetime deals), Full Time Filmmaker is easily the best one I’ve ever invested in. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
By being part of their Facebook group, I am aware of some more of the mini courses and other content on the horizon, like a photography course, a smartphone course, a recently released Davinci Resolve course, and so much more. They make it easy to recommend them to others and I always do recommend them if someone is interested in filmmaking.
The Exclusive Discounts Make it Worth It By Themselves
A massive bonus for those enrolled in Full Time Filmmaker is the ability to take advantage of the student discounts offered by a number of their partners. Personally, I have been able to snag the Creative Cloud educational discount which saves me hundreds of dollars every year.
Where exactly can you get discounts? You get discounts from:
- Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription
- Red Giant
- Honeybook
- Apple
- Glidecam
- Zhiyun
- Rhino
- Westcott
- Artlist
- Epidemic Sound
- Soundstripe
- MusicBed
If you are going to be using Adobe, this is worth the purchase itself just to be able to get the whole suite at a much-reduced rate.
Conclusion
For complete beginners who have never picked up a camera but are very interested in it, people that have filmed a few videos and want to try to make it a side-hustle, or those that do video as a side hustle and are ready to level up to full time, this course is everything it is advertised to be and more.
The clear, concise teaching is top-notch, the production quality is incredibly high, the bonuses included in the course make the deal even sweeter, and with a 30-day money-back guarantee, you can always give it a try and, if it isn’t a good fit, ask for a refund.
BONUS: Learn How They Made Full Time Filmmaker with Course Creator Pro
It’s no secret that Full Time Filmmaker is an incredibly successful (and profitable) online course. The Full Time Filmmaker team has put together a course, called Course Creator Pro, that shows you every step of the process that you need to take in order to plan, film, and launch your own profitable online course. If you have ever wanted to learn how to create your own online course or learn the ropes of how to create compelling educational content, there is no better option than Course Creator Pro.
You can read my full review of Course Creator Pro here.
Full Time Filmmaker Alternatives
If you have read this far, you can tell that I think Full Time Filmmaker is the best in-class option for learning how to make a full time living as a filmmaker. But, you may have different goals. Below, I want to outline some alternatives that may be a great fit for you depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
90 Day Filmmaker – Best Full Time Filmmaker Alternative
90 Day Filmmaker gives you the step-by-step blueprint you need to go full-time as a filmmaker. You don’t need to guess or wonder what you should do next to start or grow your filmmaking business – the team at 90 Day Filmmaker gives you the exact process to do that.
90 Day Filmmaker is my favorite course to recommend to someone who loves structure and needs that step-by-step process. In many ways, it is a superior option to Full Time Filmmaker because of its strong blueprint.
MZed Pro: You Want to Learn Techniques from Bigger Productions
Full Time Filmmaker focuses more on techniques for solo freelancers or a small team of videographers. MZed Pro, an all-access subscription to a library of filmmaking classes, has a number of courses that focus on this, like Philip Bloom’s Cinematic Masterclass, but they also have a number of classes that teach larger production techniques. With bigger names in the industry teaching filmmaking techniques, like Tom Cross and Shane Hurlbot, you can learn techniques used on bigger sets that you can also use on smaller sets.
You can read my full review on MZed Pro here.
Skillshare: Learn Videography From MKBHD & Others For Free
For those that want to become YouTube creators and want to learn from teachers and videos that are, in my opinion, of higher quality than most of the free resources YouTube has to offer, Skillshare is a great choice. You can learn many great cinematography techniques from one of my favorite Skillshare instructors Dandan Liu and you can learn tons about YouTube Success from influencers like MKBHD, Sorelle Amore, and Sara Dietschy. There are also plenty of tutorials that teach you the way around a camera. In many ways, think of Skillshare as an elevated YouTube. And, with a free trial of 14 days, you can give them a try and even finish a couple courses without spending a penny.
You can read my review of YouTube Success with MKBHD here.
Unscripted Studio: Story-Driven Travel Films
If you are looking to elevate your travel films and film with a style more similar to Brandon Li, then there’s no better course than this one as you will be learning from the master himself. This is one of my favorite courses right after Full Time Filmmaker. If you enjoy Brandon’s style, then enrolling in this course in this course is a no brainer.
