Or you could go to film school for a few years. . . I've also heard starting off as a runner and helping out as much. . . . Good luck though, and don't set your expectations high. (And when you do make a film some day, please, give the story a lot of though and make it a "good" film, not something that exists just for the effects or whatever.)

Definitely give it a shot Becky before you try colleges. It's good to go to college but it will take a lot of work to pay for the courses, and some studios do take apprentices. The only problem might be that you'd need to live near a big studio like Laika or Aardman and have a few insider friends. If all else fails, college is a good way to work with other like-minded people. I never did the college route but have heard a lot of good things happen to people who have.

Wow Becky, if they are making the film near you - it's a good spot to ask if you can be an apprentice. It's economical for them since they don't have to pay for you to get there. You might also want to dumpster dive and check out their trash from time to time. They might throw away set pieces that you can try to reverse engineer by studying them. I guess that would be only as a last resort though