hwr article film school

8/6/2019 HWR Article Film School

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Film schools a maze of varied opportunities

Tuition is soaring, but what are students getting for their

buck?

By Noel MurrayOct 2, 2007

It might be easier than ever for unskilled youngsters to pick up cheap

cameras, download some software and make movies, but even for

those amateur Spielbergs, the path to Hollywood success still tends to

run through film school, where they can learn the basic craft and gain

invaluable connections. But how to sort through hundreds of expensive

choices to find that one program that will suit a student's gifts and

point him or her toward a job in the business? The Hollywood Reporter

spotlights 12 institutions that represent good investments for aspiring

industry players of all types. (Note: Except where indicated, tuition

figures are rounded and cover two full semesters of undergraduate

education, minus living expenses and fees.)

More coverage: Mentors key to recent grads

American Film Institute Conservatory

Tuition: $32,000 (for one year of a two-year master's program)

Unique advantages: Industry-trained faculty; an intense first-year

"cycle project" that has students making three 20-minute films in quick

succession

Ideal for: Talented film school graduates looking for a coat of polish.

AFI yearly admits no more than 28 students each in its directing,screenwriting, producing and cinematography programs, and 14 each

in the editing and production design programs. But those handfuls of

students are the cream of the crop, and everyone gets a chance to

collaborate with budding specialists. Bob Mandel, the conservatory's
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/features/e3ia5be1da221ff00879cf5949bf9dff7c1http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/features/e3ia5be1da221ff00879cf5949bf9dff7c1


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dean, says, "We don't think of editors as 'cutters,' or cinematographers

as 'people who light.' We think of all of our fellows as filmmakers."

A word from an alumnus: Director Mark Waters (2005's "Just Like

Heaven") cites the cycle as the highlight of his stint at AFI, saying, "Youget ripped to shreds by your peers during the evaluations, but you

compete by doing good work. Once you get out into the real world, you

realize that this kind of scrutiny is nothing."

American University

School of Communication, Film & Media Arts Department

Tuition: $31,000

Unique advantages: Strong, socially active documentary studies;

access to network news organizations; "Summer in L.A." internship

program

Ideal for: Politically active storytellers. Larry Kirkman, the dean for the

School of Communication, touts AU's blended curriculum, which gives

equal emphasis to filmmaking, journalism and public communications.

Kirkman also cites the school's embrace of cutting-edge media like

mobisodes, and ultimately, he says, "Hollywood or Washington, you

use the same tools."

A word from an alumna: Danielle Gelber, senior vp original

programming at Showtime, says, "I found it to be the most

personalized, hands-on program. You could go to school in the ivory

tower in the morning and then drive down the street that afternoon

and be field-producing stories for network news."

Boston University

College of Communication, Department of Film & Television

Tuition: $35,000

Unique advantages: The "BU in L.A." internship program; a curriculum


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that treats television and online media as seriously as it does film

Ideal for: Movers-and-shakers-to-be. Although BU has "the strong

tradition of the kind of independent filmmaking one expects on the

East Coast," notes Charles Merzbacher, chair of the Department of Film& Television, the school has become famous for turning out Hollywood

execs like Joe Roth and Lauren Shuler Donner.

A word from an alumnus: David Dinerstein, president of marketing and

distribution for Lakeshore Entertainment, jokes that he's constantly

surprised when he runs into fellow alums at lunch meetings and

weekend barbecues, but he's quick to emphasize that BU is "not a

trade school" and that he received "an incredibly well-balanced liberal

arts education in addition to an extraordinary filmic education."

California Institute of the Arts

School of Film/Video

Tuition: $31,000

Unique advantages: Low 7-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio; state-of-the-art

theaters for screening student work; acceptance based on portfolio,

not GPA or test scores

Ideal for: Iconoclasts and visionaries. Although the program has

become renowned for famous grads like writer-director Brad Bird and

Pixar's John Lasseter, its alumni roster also boasts the likes of Tim

Burton and Kirby Dick (2006's "This Film Is Not Yet Rated"). Steve

Anker, the School of Film/Video's dean, says that students are

"expected to deal creatively with every aspect of filmmaking and

encouraged to follow their own ideas." Because of this, CalArts hasseen its alums get featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the

Whitney Biennial, Artforum and -- oh, yes -- at the top of the boxoffice

and on the winner's podium on Oscar night.

A word from an alumnus: Writer-actor Mark Polish (Warner Bros.'


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February release "The Astronaut Farmer") says that what's great about

CalArts is that "they teach you that it's OK to be on the outside."

Columbia UniversitySchool of the Arts, Film Division

Tuition: $34,000

Unique advantages: Strong personal attention in the master's program;

crossover between the writing, directing and acting schools

Ideal for: Budding screenwriters, though Jamal Joseph, the chair of the

master's program, is quick to note that the days of Columbia as a

writers-only school are long past, what with grads like James Mangold

and Greg Mottola (Sony's current release "Superbad") making their

mark as directors. Still, whether they're studying writing, directing or

producing, students are trained in "the art of the story." Joseph also

says that the key to the program's success is its sense of community:

"Any student can talk to any faculty member inside or outside their

concentration."

A word from an alumnus: "I learned more about the craft of writing

screenplays and telling stories in the two years I spent at film school

than I have in the six or seven I've spent working on films," offers

screenwriter Simon Kinberg (2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand"). "I

learned that you don't put that camera in your hand and don't call

'action' until you know the story you're telling and you know the person

in front of that camera."

Loyola Marymount UniversitySchool of Film and Television

Tuition: $31,000

Unique advantages: The Sony-sponsored "TAG: Transition After

Graduation" program; Hollywood-accessible location; small class size


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Ideal for: Those with big hearts and big dreams. Teri Schwartz, the

dean of LMU's School of Film and Television, says that the goal of her

department is to create "a transformational educational experience"

that stresses "collaboration, not competition."A word from an alumna: Producer Effie Brown (Picturehouse's current

release "Rocket Science") says she bypassed USC and UCLA and

targeted Loyola Marymount primarily because of a 10-to-1 student-to-

faculty ratio. "In my opinion, you can learn about the art of cinema, the

history, how to thread a camera, all that, but if you don't have

someone you can ask a question to, it's not helpful," she says.

New York University

Tisch School of the Arts, Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film &

Television

Tuition: $39,000

Unique advantages: Diverse, accomplished faculty; vibrant campus;

formidable tradition

Ideal for: Worldly folk with a taste for the finer things. Because NYU has

ruled the roost for decades as one of the top two or three film

programs in the U.S., it would be easy for the faculty and

administration to rest on their laurels, but Mary Schmidt Campbell,

dean of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, says that NYU's program

acknowledges the need to be in a "constant conversation with what's

going on in the world outside the academy in order for us to keep the

tools of filmmaking and distribution up to date." For the Kanbar

Institute, that means adapting to new filmmaking technologies, whilestill emphasizing visual storytelling and challenging authority.

"Fundamental values don't change -- no matter what kind of

technology you're using," Campbell says.

A word from an alumnus: Director Chris Columbus says that what sets


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NYU apart is the city itself: "You have New York City as your campus,

and because the students who attend are from all over the world,

there's a real world education about film."

Northwestern University

School of Communication, Department of Radio/Television/Film

Tuition: $35,000

Unique advantages: An "aesthetics first" approach to study; active

interest in interactive entertainment; a fiercely loyal alumni base

dubbed "the NU mafia"

Ideal for: Self-starters with a collaborative spirit. Associate professor

David Tolchinsky believes the strong ties that NU grads feel to the

school and each other is due in large part to the unique grant system,

which has students getting their media projects approved and funded

by other students. "It's a very healthy environment, with students

learning production within classes but also from one another,"

Tolchinsky says.

A word from an alumnus: Screenwriter Eric Bernt (Rogue Pictures'

January release "The Hitcher") says that focus on design over technical

know-how leads to student work "very different from what you see

coming out of NYU or AFI or UCLA, which all look like they're geared for

Hollywood."

Rhode Island School of Design

Film/Animation/Video Program

Tuition: $33,000Unique advantages: Low class size; immersive art-school environment

Ideal for: Aesthetes. The main point that RISD's Film/Animation/

Video department head Peter O'Neill makes to prospective students

and their parents when they visit the school is that "this is an art


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school, as opposed to a college or a university." All students take a

common first year, emphasizing art and design. "That arguably serves

the animators a little more," O' Neill says. "But I think for the live-

action students, it can be interesting, too. Film is a visual art. Nothingwrong with learning how to draw."

A word from an alumnus: Academy Award-winning cinematographer

Robert Richardson (1991's "JFK," 2004's "The Aviator") says, "Rhode

Island School of Design -- and in particular Peter O'Neill -- was

responsible for bringing a light to that which rested within. What more

might I add?"

UCLA

Department of Film, Television and Digital Media

Tuition: $19,000, nonresident; $7,000, resident

Unique advantages: World-renowned film and television archive;

regular lectures and workshops led by industry players

Ideal for: Confident go-getters. Students finance their own projects at

UCLA, which can leave some less-assured types feeling at sea. But

Nancy Richardson, head of the film school's postproduction

department and a working feature film editor in Hollywood, says that a

low student-to-faculty ratio means that each budding filmmaker

receives a great deal of mentoring and individual advice. "We try to

nurture the unique voice of each student, allowing them to tell their

stories their way," she says. "We teach the basics of filmmaking so that

each student has an overview of all aspects of filmmaking, with an

emphasis on formula-free storytelling."A word from an alumnus: Producer-director Todd Holland ("Malcolm in

the Middle") loved the laissez-faire nature of the program, which

allowed him to practice his commercial filmmaking skills alongside his

more art-minded classmates -- and taught him how to treat people.


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"Our crews weren't paid, and they didn't get class credit, so you had to

feed them well," he says. "And you had to crew for others to get them

to crew for you. I was a dolly grip, a camera assistant, a DP, a caterer. I

learned respect for each individual's job and what they need to do theirjob."

USC

School of Cinematic Arts

Tuition: $35,000

Unique advantages: A network of more than 10,000 alumni working in

the industry; training with immediate, real-world applications; an

under-construction "cinematic arts complex" that promises to be state-

of-the-art

Ideal for: People who want a near-guaranteed job in show business.

According to dean Elizabeth Daley, USC suggests its film students take

a broad approach to learning the craft: "We require that each student,

regardless of the specific field in which they have chosen to

concentrate their talents, take courses from throughout the range of

our six divisions: animation and digital arts, critical studies, interactive

media, Peter Stark producing, production and writing. Our women and

men leave here with the skills, experience and sense of teamwork that

enable them to make meaningful contributions from the minute they

begin their careers."

A word from an alumnus: Director Peter Segal (2005's "The Longest

Yard") says that USC's real-world focus makes a difference. "With

people able to edit on their laptop computers, students are getting amuch more vocational experience in filmmaking at a much younger

age," he explains. "That needs to get synthesized and filtered and

applied in the right areas so that when they leave school they have a

better understanding of those technical tools they've been playing with


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already."

University of Texas at Austin

College of Communication, Department of Radio-Television-Film

Tuition: $26,000, nonresident; $8,000, resident

Unique advantages: The "Semester in L.A." internship program;

nontraditional cultural environment

Ideal for: Freethinkers. Sharon Strover, chair of the Department of

Radio-Television-Film, says, "We find we are competing regularly for

M.F.A. students with NYU and USC, and many of them choose to come

here because we are different. We emphasize training across all the

component realms of production: writing, editing, audio, producing and

cinematography. Students are trained to be versatile and adaptive and

to understand filmmaking in narrative and documentary traditions."

A word from an alumnus: When asked what he got out of his time at

UT-Austin, writer-producer Patrick Sean Smith (ABC Family's "Greek")

says, "What I use every day is the ability to look at things not

necessarily from a pragmatic perspective but by figuring out what your

individual taste is, your voice, and how best to articulate that."

hwr article film school

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