Do I have to Move to Los Angeles?

[Rick Turners]

As a recent grad of one of the schools aforementioned (and one of the few experienced using high end post production systems and formats etc) I can say officially say that schooling before entering the film industry in any form is essentially a waste of money.
I have met grads from USC, CalArts, UCLA, AFI.. all of whom started as PA’s in both production or post.
Why? Because the attitude in most professional environments in the industry is “You cant do this work until you’ve done THIS work.”
“you cant edit a show, until you’ve edited a show”… that means you either make your own show that gets bought and you prove yourself that way, or someone (your dad who owns a shop, or your uncle who started editing before the market was saturated) hooks you up with a position where you can learn on the spot.

It’s a long haul.

I’d invest your time in a company and start as a PA.