3 Biggest Film School Myths

American Film Schools cost anywhere from $15,000 to $42,000 a year. When famous alum like George Lucas and Martin Scorsese went, the industry was very different, and their programs did not cost even a fraction of this amount. As a graduate of NYU Film, I learned the hard way of the gross disconnect between what is taught there, and how little it prepares a graduate for either working in the industry or making feature films. With tuition that astronomically high, I want to help dispel 3 of the biggest myths about film school that most people still believe in until they attend and graduate.

Myth #1: Film schools have clout in the industry. This is not Business School. Going to Harvard may get you a cushy job at Goldman Sachs. In the film industry, everybody works their way up from the bottom. Period. It does not matter if you went to NYU or USC. I recommend calling the Comar Agency. (I am unaffiliated with them). They are a staffing agency specializing in the Entertainment Industry. Call and ask them if a film degree makes you any better a candidate for a job than someone without that degree. And if not, then why not apply for a film job right now?

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Film School – Study And Enjoy Simultaneously!

If you are someone who wants to become a filmmaker, film school should be a place of joy for you. Because it not only equips you with the basic film making skills, but it also serves to shape your passion. Besides, it gives you the thrust and direction to produce your own film with new and fresh ideas.

There are several well reputed film schools in the country. Well, if California is always going to boast of highest number of film schools, followed closely by New York, you still have lot of other film schools in rest of the country.

Let us first talk about the most sought after “Top of the Pie” film schools which are dream of every aspiring filmmaker. The foremost would be the AFI. It was established in 1967 and is known for specialty in traditional narrative films. It offers six areas of study to the students — Screenwriting, Directing, Production Design, Production and Editing.

Next in line is the California Institute for the Arts which was established in 1961 by Walt Disney for focus on animations. Then there is the San Francisco State University, also set up in the sixty’s. The then prevalent political landscape has greatly influenced its course content. Now move on to UCLA and USC. Enter New York and you find Columbia University School of Arts and the New York University. Both schools have long list of film writers and directors who owe their training to them. For instance, Spike Lee reminds me of New York University.

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5 Tips to Finding the Right Film School

We all know there are a huge number of film schools located all over the country. There are also several colleges all over that have a film making program or teach some of the courses that are necessary to any budding filmmaker. It is important to get the most experience in this field to be successful. Choosing the right school to provide the film student’s education is key to the success of that student. If you are interested in learning film making, you should spend some time looking at film schools and with a certain set of criteria in mind to find the best school for your career.

The first thing that you should look for in your film school is the faculty. Find out who the instructors are and their background. Most film schools put up information about their instructors on their websites. It would even be better if there is an instructor in the school that you have an interest in working with, you know their work and admire their work. Maybe you know their teaching technique and would like to work under them as a student. Whatever the reason there should be some mentor personality at the school that makes the school the ideal choice for you.

When you visit the school, look to see if the students seem happy. While this may seem like a trivial point it is actually very important. A creative atmosphere is full of enthusiastic happy people. You will thrive in an environment like this and the creativity will flow freely from you. This is most important in a creative field like film making. Films are products of creativity and nothing more. The idea for a film comes from the act of creating.

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