If you pursue a "fun" career halfheartedly you will fail. I have a few friends that have pretty sweet jobs. I will share their stories.

One is a successful young music producer that now runs their own studio, runs audio at major events, and works with some really top notch musicians. This person grew up wanting to do this and had been involved in some form or another with music since childhood (guitar, drums, various bands etc). While attending college for drumming and sound engineering my friend busted it for a couple years working mind-numbing hours as an hourly sound engineer. Eventually after drumming for a band, and after spending years building up credibility and becoming an expert in the craft of sound engineering and production, the studio was opened and my friend started working harder than ever and hasn't stopped.

Another is a successful TV and film producer. This person, for whom this business is 'in the family' (thus had at least an initial "in"), also grew up knowing exactly what the plan was. While attending university for communications and business they spent summers busting tail as a production assistant on various projects. This person's drive is simply incredible, and they sacrificed (and still do) quite a bit to make it happen (no fun summers, work 80+ hour weeks, work >>> relationships, etc).

A third is a major talent booker. I know less about this person's path as they are only an acquaintance, but the common threads are an early insight into the plan, a long-term and steady commitment to execute the plan, and some family connections to help open a door or two.

And the most common thread of all is that all of these people absolutely love what they do. So much so that they live and breath it and give up so much else in their lives. None of them was lucky, and they all worked HARD to succeed. It wasn't overnight, and they all took over a decade to realize their gains.

Other of my friends enjoy success through advanced-- and most importantly useful-- higher education. By this I mean graduate studies-- masters of accounting, actuarial, law school, med school, pharmacy school, graduate nursing degrees, engineers, MBAs etc.

A third group of friends enjoys success through military opportunities. They all attended one of the service academies like West Point. One flies jets, a second went on from West Point to attend med school and now works as a surgeon, and a third plans to work until retirement eligibility and leave to make good $$ in the private sector while cashing good pension checks.

I think the real key to success, whether you're talking about filmmaking, music production, medicine, business, IT or whatever career, is a combination of planning, motivation, education, hard work and execution. You need to immerse yourself fully and embrace your choice, get involved, and most importantly keep progressing, never stop learning, and never stop moving your career forward.

Complacency, laziness, ambivalence, a negative attitude, and a lack of progression of knowledge/skills/experience are the ingredients for a dead-end job.

"An ounce of sweat is worth more than a gallon of tears"

Good luck!