New York Times Article On Film Schools

[jon w]

i think you get out of it what you put in.

 

my film school experience was a good one (although i have $20 000 of debt), before i went, i shot, studied, shot, learned as much as i could, so that when i started school i already kew what i wanted to do, and had a base self taught knowledge. so i had questions that got answered, and tried things that i wanted to try.

 

more than anything it was a "year off regular life" where i could really focus on filmmaking and not worry about anything else.

[Marco Leavitt]

"i think you get out of it what you put in."

 

I have to say I agree with this. Sure most film school majors never get a job in their chosen field, but then neither do most of the people who studied journalism, dance, theater, or any arts related degree. That doesn't make the college experience useless, and I think it's sad that this thread has turned so anti-school. College is supposed to be a place where you can find yourself. Most people go through a number of phases before they find what they really want to do. At that age, you're still just a kid for God's sake. If you're going to make it, I think you'll make it regardless, and if you have the means you'd be nuts not to take advantage of the benefits of going to school. You're still going to have to hustle during and after, but it's that way with every creative field.

[Jeremy]

For the record I went to the BYU film school in Provo Utah.  Which is definately not LA or NY  :D

 

Tuition at BYU was only about $1400.00 per semester when I was there in the mid 90s, so $2,800.00 a year.  This amount I could easily earn while working full time during the summers.  In school I worked part time, like most BYU students.

 

...

 

BYU has produced some name talents in film.  Most recently Jared Hess writer/director of "Napoleon Dynamite",  pretty impressive to make your first film out of film school at 24 years old and see it make 44 million at the box office.  The star of the movie and many of the crew are also BYU film school grads.  Other successful BYU film school names include Aaron Eckart, Neil LaBute, and Richard Dutcher.

 

So you see it is possible to attend a non LA or NY film school, not spend a huge amount of money, and have a successful film career. (BTW, the cost of living in Provo is very modest)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I went to the University of Kansas, which was a great experience, and I was in state, so it was super cheap. Luckily, I just hit it as production exploded and I was immediately shooting films... on film, and a lot of them. There wasn't a weekend that went by that we weren't shooting something. The profs actually make movies, and as a student I worked on one that went to Sundance; I went out to Park City, crashed on the director / professor's floor in his condo with other students, watched movies, attended parties, and very much celebrated when the film sold... all in all a great experience, and it definitely helped prepare me for the feature I'm doing now.

 

And we get to share Neil LaBute. He went to KU for his Masters in Theater and Film!

 

Film schools can prepare you, you just need to go to the right one and then make your own opportunities while you're there, where ever you go! It doesn't guarantee you a job, but it never has... I say the more good stories that get told and the more good films that get made, the better, and if film school can help someone do that, then I'm all for it!

Edited March 11, 2005 by Jeremy

[Annie Wengenroth]

I have mixed feelings about the whole idea of going to college. I mean, I'm IN college, but often wonder how my life would have turned out if I'd opted not to go. It really depends on the program, whether it's more of a trade school type of thing or whether it focuses more on academics and theory. I would say that at least when you go to college, you meet people who you can learn from and work with; of course you could do that anywhere, but probably not in the same context. (I figure it is the last point in my life in which I can f*ck up and not feel like it's going to ruin me completely.!)

 

Then again I am a very hands-on learner and even though I have gotten a lot out of reading books and the Internet, it doesn't really solidify until I can see and touch whatever it is I'm working on. So with people like me, I think college can be a blessing and a curse.

 

I would argue that your typical college does not adequately prepare you for the real world...in fact, the only thing that prepares anyone for the real world is simply living in it! Day to day, feeling your way through...there is no college that will ever prepare you for that. I mean, in the "real world" (or even in The Industry, pick your term!) you're not getting 3 different professors a semester breathing down your neck giving you 10 weeks to do 4 or 5 projects and having to take on numerous tasks instead of just one. (Having to direct, shoot, and edit your project, for example) You're dealing with people of all ages and backgrounds, not just 20-something year old students. It's just different. If you can find a school where you are exposed more to various types of people and backgrounds and different class structures, then it can definitely be a good thing.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that I personally have found that college has worked for me on some levels, but on other levels I have had to go above and beyond to meet my own needs. But that's just how it goes, whether you pay a few hundred for a class, or a few thousand.

[Jayson Crothers]

Just to chime in (since I go to AFI).

 

I want to comment on Matt's "rich mommy and daddy" comment - there are folks like that in any program for any field of study, but I've found that the majority of folks here at AFI don't come from that background - many (most) of them are here on private loans, government loans, scholarships, selling their homes, etc. My mother is a special education teacher (so take a guess at the miserable excuse for a salary that she makes) - I'm solely paying for AFI through a few loans, but mostly through 12+ months of applying for scholarships and grants long before I even applied to AFI (just in case I got in) and the continuing to do so while attending. I also worked and saved and saved and saved before coming to afford the living expenses associated with not being able to attend school and work.

 

I think many film programs are designed to capitalize on "the dream" - that's why you have so many drug-suicide-many guns-vampire student films - there are endless supplies of 18-20 year olds fresh out of high school, not knowing what they want, thinking movies are a cool way to make a living. A strong film program, a real program, IMO, has a responsibility to also prepare students for the realities of a career in this industry - how to find work, get work, network, conduct yourself on and off set, etc.

 

Ultimately a degree in film is pretty useless in the sense that having a degree is only going to help you start on a conversation with someone ("Oh, you went to NYU? A buddy of mine went there."), but hopefully you've grown as a person, as an artist, and know if this industry is really for you or not, and if so, in what capacity do you want to be a part of it.

[Matt Pacini]

Hey Matt,

 

"... BYU owns a PBS affiliate..."

"...BYU owns their own 18 wheel state of the art broadcast truck..."

"... BYU also had a nightly news cast that was 100% student run,..."

 

Richard

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

OK, that settles it. I'm converting to Mormonism!

Plus, you guys are hoarding all the good women! Seriously, anybody ever notice how hot LDS women are? Yikes!

 

Matt Pacini

[Mark Sasahara]

I think that college is a very important place for people to grow up, make mistakes and mature. I was pretty immature and obnoxious when I was in college and quite a few years after. But I never stopped learning and always had the drive to keep achieving and keep moving forward.

 

Much of the important things that we learn are not necessarily taught by the prof, but the things that we do on our own and the mistakes that happen along the way. I am more of an experiential learner, but books certainly help a great deal. The school can only teach you so much.

 

I also expected to be "fed". My advice is wherever you go to school, don't expect to be fed. Take the initiative, be a thirsty sponge and soak up as much as you can and do as much as you can. Talk to the professors, talk to other students and learn. I'm in my early forties and I am always learning something new. I am learning about other aspects of my business, how to do business, learning about myself and others. I know I don't know it all, so I try and keep myself educated and talk to people that do know. Don't limit your knowledge. Learn about other things, you never know where it will take you.

 

College is also a great place to meet like minded people. Some of my oldest friends are classmates from my freshman year. I felt more at home at the Rochester Institute of Technology, because I felt like these were "my people": other photo crazed individuals who wanted nothing else but to be photographers. I started life as a photographer and transitioned into film and video in the ninties, but a good portion of what I learned in photo school was useful. I learned a lot about the nuts and bolts of photography.

 

I started out as a photojournalist, a lot of the instincts and drive came from that and what I learned on the job and in college. There's lots of rich kids who are jerks and there's lots of rich kids who are good people. Quality of character doesn't have much to do with money. Be nice. The guy you just screamed at may be the guy at your next job interview.

 

AFI is probably a great place, you are in LA and it seems like a sort of fast track for getting into the industry (my observation from here in NYC).

 

By being in LA, or NY you will be meeting people, in and out of school who may be valuable to you. They may be in a position to hire you or may know of an opportunity. This could be while in school, or many years later. Even if you never knew them, the common thread you will have is that you went to the same school. There is a lot to be said for the "old school tie", meaning the alumni connection is strong and that may be the one thing you and the person hiring have in common. Getting a job is not necessarily what you know, but who you know. I meet a lot of the same people on a lot of jobs.

 

Going directly into the industry is good also, but I feel that going to college helped me learn about things that I might not normally have learned about, thought or done. As another poster said, it makes you more well rounded. It took me away from the comfortable and familiar. It was a good place to grow.

[Guest]

"OK, that settles it. I'm converting to Mormonism!"

 

Matt,

 

Why would you convert to Mormonism? BYU is open to students of all religions. I had a roommate who was a Muslim from Iran.

 

Plus BYU takes in more foreign students than just about any university in the USA. And they come with a wide variety of religions and cultures.

 

As for hot LDS women, yes there have been a high number of BYU "hotties" competing in Miss America, no idea why this is?

 

Richard.

[Matt Pacini]

Oh, I know you don't have to be a Mormon to go there.

It was a joke!

 

I have serious theological roadblocks that would keep me from converting to Mormonism, but you know, it really does seem like Mormons just do about everything right.

I have lots of LDS friends, and (apart from being really nice people), they seem to be effective and successful at anything they do.

It's uncanny.

 

And don't tell me they're not genetically engineering their women.

It's obvious!

Come on, there's a conspiracy there somewhere!!!

 

har har!

 

Matt Pacini

[Joey Maloney]

BOOOOO TO BYU!

 

Haha, im a Ute. Well I was at least until I moved here to hollywood. I was at the University of Utah as a film studies major but it was only that, film studies. You could get a BA with only taking theory classes and it would take just as much weight as if you did not. There were a few great classes there however that gave you a very broad understanding of filmmaking and the theory classes were great for exposure to different types of film but it will not put you in the position to get a job in the industry. Eventually maybe, but its still a young program.

 

I Left to go to the Los Angeles film School, a year long intensive program. Expensive yes, but so far i think it is completely worth it. The sole focus is filmmaking and you choose what part of filmmaking it is you want to specialize in.