BPS 274: $300,000+ in Debt for Film School with Zack Morrison

The crippling student debt crisis in America threatens college the
financial freedom of many students. According to Forbes 2020
student loan debt statistics, there are 45 million borrowers who
collectively owe nearly $1.6 trillion in student loan debt in the
U.S. and student loan debt is now the second-highest consumer debt
category - behind only mortgage debt.


I was introduced to filmmaker, Zack Morrison’s plight when I read
an amazing article in the Wall Street Journal about his $ 300,000
student loan debt from Columbia University film school.Zack is a
short film director and writer. Some of his work include
Everything's Fine: A Panic Attack in D Major and Captain
Cyborg.Everything's Fine: A Panic Attack in D Major is a musical
comedy about a woman at the onset of her quarter-life crisis and
her existential journey through the various stages of anxiety in
song and dance.

Captain Cyborg tells the story of a young boy with a hyperactive
imagination who creates a superhero alter-ego in order to confront
bullying at school. Unfortunately for Jake, the lines between
reality and fantasy start to blur, and he is forced to make a
decision that will change his life forever.This was Zack's big
second-semester project at Columbia University's MFA Film program.
It began as a script swap process where everyone signs on to direct
someone else's story as an exercise in collaboration and
adaptation.

Zack’s passion for filmmaking goes back to eight years old after
being inspired by a Steven Spielberg Lego movie game He followed
through by doing his BSc at Rutgers and his graduate in film at
Columbia University. We get into the deep of his choices to attend
an Ivy League school for film, the accumulation of debt, and how
that has impacted his life. You can watch Zack’s short films on his
website or his YouTube channel --- you can find the links in the
show notes below. Let’s get this conversation started.

Enjoy my conversation with Zack Morrison.

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