Two people who have been there before are paper plane champions Dylan Parker and James Norton.

The pair first met at University of Canberra in 2008 when they both entered a paper plane competition, and both made it to the world finals where Dylan placed third.

The film Paper Planes, which was based on their story, was released nationally in cinemas earlier this year, and has since earned nearly $10 million at the box office.

"Even the distributors didn't predict the film would do as well as it's done. And it's having a second and third life – it's being released in New Zealand this month, and in June it's going to be released in America and the UK."

On Friday this week, James finished up as his day job as a landscape architect and Dylan finishes his marketing job in Sydney next Friday. From there, the duo is going to be full-time paper pilots.

"We're striking while the iron's hot – we're getting lots of interest from schools and nursing homes and conferences booking appointments and workshops," he said.

"With the national curriculum that's been released for science and technology for years 3, 7 and 10, paper planes tick the boxes for all the science curriculum outcomes. So now we've written a term lesson plan and course content so teachers can take what we've prepared and teach it, and then invite us around."

While he admits it's an unconventional job choice, James believes, "you've gotta follow your dreams and do what you enjoy.

"We'll probably be hanging around at our parents' a lot, eating out of other people's fridges and stealing people's Wi-Fi for a few months – but I think it's an important decision."

You can hear James speak at a special screening of Paper Planes at the Coombs Theatre, Acton on April 30 from 7pm. Tickets are $15, available at the door.