The Truth About Los Angeles Film Schools
Do you wish of being among the ranks of Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson or the recent sensation Oren Peli who created “Paranormal Activity” for under USD 15,000? It makes sense to look in a Los Angeles film school since most of the industry is right here. But the most important question you have to ask yourself is: how much are you willing to spend?
USC is the most famous of the film schools in the area, with alums such as George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, Judd Apatow and Bryan Singer. The tuition for just two semesters? More than thirty thousand dollars, excluding supplies or room and board, as per the USC website. Come to think of it, that would be the cost of two Paranormal Activities! While it’s true that they have great professors, some of the classes would be too crowded – with over a hundred students in them.
The American Film Institute is another lauded Los Angeles film school. Tuition for a year alone is roughly forty thousand dollars, as per their estimates. To some people, that amount is nothing compared to the fact that you would have the reputation of graduating from the same institute where Darren Aronofsky, Ed Zwick as well as Terrence Malick came from. But with a graduating class of more than 100, there is not much space for one-on-one activities.
UCLA costs a meager six thousand per year if you are a California resident, but if you are not, it’s over USD 20,000. Even though you’ll be under the instruction of such luminaries as Peter Guber and Joe Roth, classes are still so large.
Loyola Marymount offers an undergraduate degree in film and television. Their tuition is around USD 34,000 a year. Student-teacher ratio is ideal, approximately 13:1.
Now there is the Los Angeles Film School, founded in 1999. Among its renowned guest speakers are Jason Reitman as well as Diablo Cody. Cost: over $41,000, with a student body of 595. The movie “Gamer” which starred Gerard Butler was co-directed by one of LA Film School’s graduates.
While the programs offered by these renowned schools are equally impressive, they still follow the usual classroom setup. None of them provide true one-on-one mentors where a student can observe a professional at work regularly and learn on the job.
Women in Film does provide such a program yearly which sounds promising but a search on the internet found no success stories listed for the program.
CBS, fascinatingly, offers a mentor program (in fact, they offer two mentors) for television writing. One is a senior-level writer on a current CBS drama or comedy series. Over the course of the program, the participant gathers creative feedback on their writing as well as advice on their career goals. The second of the mentors is a reputable CBS network or studio executive from whom students get to meet regularly to discuss their work, get feedback and support regarding their career. The best thing about this program and the school in general is the fact that it is offered for free.
Many a Los Angeles film school seemed lacking on great one-on-one mentoring programs; if they had this, then there are possibly more success stories from their students.
Film Connection Los Angeles Film School
6253 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
(800) 755-7597
