Where does one go from here?

I graduated 12 years ago with a good degree, and I felt positive. On reflection, I suppose my attitude was verging on arrogant, considering I was living in the North of England, and living there right in the middle of the early 1990's recession. I wanted to be a cinematographer, and I was so sure I would get soon get a break. However, after 18 months of being unemployed, applying without success for jobs in TV whilst working voluntarily at a community radio station, I decided to take the offer of a job at an academic library. I felt lucky to get it, and whilst it wasn't a great job (very modestly paid), it was 9 to 5, allowing me the freedom to do things outside of it, like music, and writing and directing my own shorts. In 1998, still determined to work in the film industry, I gave up said job and used the money I had saved to finance a two year MA course in film studies. I graduated in 2001 with a first degree, the recession was a distant memory, and my confidence was high. But I came to realise how little my qualification is worth to potential employers in my chosen industry. All that does matter are contacts - in particular, family members. Whether or not you have a family member already working in the TV and film industry is all the makes the difference in most cases. Too late now, obviously, but I am now convinced (having worked sporadically for the last four years in the industry, meeting strings of crew people who share the same surname) that studying to get a foothold in the TV and film industry has been a complete and utter waste of time. Further, hardly any of the people I studied alongside are working consistently in the industry, and yet these type of courses continue to be the most popular, offering false hope.