The legendary director Werner Herzog has issued unorthodox advice to young aspiring film-makers, urging them to raise funds for their projects by working in brothels and psychiatric institutions.

Speaking to CBS, Herzog outlined the fiscal guidance he offers to participants on his 11-day workshop, described as a “film school for rogues”.

“I also say, ‘You are able-bodied. Earn money to finance your first films. But don’t earn it with clerical works in an office. Go out and work as a bouncer in a sex club. Work as a warden in a lunatic asylum. Go out to a cattle ranch and learn how to milk a cow. Earn your money that way, in real life.’”

He added: “You do not become a poet by being in a college. […] You have to go outside of what the norm is. You have to have a certain amount of, I say, good criminal energy [to make a film.]”

Herzog, 82, is known for his on-the-hoof approach to film-making, as well as his prodigious work-rate. The director of more than 70 features said he would “would give away everything” when trying to finance projects, and called the resulting films the real “loot”, rather than any salary.

“It’s not normally what a director has to do,” Herzog said. “It’s good to have some good boots, and you can barter it for a load of fish. Or my wrist watch I would give away. I would give away everything. And of course I make money sometimes and I invest it in the next film.”

Herzog also told CBS that he instructs his students in how to pick a lock, use bolt cutters and forge a shooting permit. The career, he cautioned, is “not for the faint-hearted”.

Speaking to IndieWire in 2022, Herzog said that despite it now being more tricky to finance a film, he was still regularly shooting two projects a year. His next project to be released is a documentary called Ghost Elephants, about a mysterious herd in Angola; at least six further films are in pre-production.