Schooling Film
Film school has always been a sketchy proposition. Attendance can be as costly as the budget for a small film, and the educational value of attending classes to learn things you could ostensibly pick up on your own or through apprenticeships means that the whole experience could amount to a waste of time. For the right person, however, film school offers the ideal entry point to comprehending the craft and the industry. There are numerous educational opportunities for budding filmmakers in New York Citysome more noteworthy than others. If youre looking at your choices, here are a few that merit some consideration.
[Tisch School of the Arts at New York University ]
Scorsese went therebut so did Brett Ratner. NYUs well-founded role in feeding a diverse crowd of filmmaking talent into the world speaks not only to its vast influence and historical definition, but also the discordance of the environment. Nanette Bursteins 2004 reality series Film School provides a keen window into the frustrations of NYUs highly competitive graduate program, where filmmakers of various ages and ethnicities take advantage of the schools massive technical resources and often fail. But for every missed opportunity, theres a groundbreaking work that manages to get noticed by the right people. The three-year M.F.A. program provides the usual mixture of courses in craftsmanship and creative thinking, but the more intriguing opportunity lies with the schools MBA/MFA dual degree program in producing, now in its third year.
[www.gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu](http://www.gradfilm.tisch.nyu.edu)
[Ghetto Film School]
Predominantly aimed at teenagers with minority backgrounds, the Ghetto Film School is one of the more unique educational programs in the country, creating opportunities for young filmmakers whose work might otherwise go unnoticed. Based in the South Bronx, the school boasts support from high-profile filmmakers including Spike Jonze and Lee Daniels. It also recently partnered with the Cinema School, a new public high school dedicated to the filmmaking craft that opened at East 172nd Street in the Soundview section of the Bronx.
[www.ghettofilm.org](http://www.ghettofilm.org/)
[The Film Program at Columbia Universitys School of the Arts]
Positioned as a rival to NYU, the Columbia University School of the Arts Film Division has plenty of reasons to stand out in the crowd, starting with its faculty. The schools staff includes a broad range of accomplished filmmakers with firm ties to local and international film culture, including Bette Gordon, Tom Kalin, Mira Nair and Ramin Bahrani. Famous alumni? Everyone from Kathryn Bigelow to Peter Farrelly. Generally acknowledged as a haven for aspiring screenwriters, Columbia requires students to work on each others projects, encouraging a collaborative, rather than overtly competitive, approach.
[arts.columbia.edu/film ]
[New York Film Academy]
Youve probably seen the subway ads for this factory of a film school, where students can take individual courses or complete a two-year M.F.A. program in production. As NYFA also has a location in Universal City, Calif., students looking for a highly immersive experience may be let down by the schools commercial nature, but most alumni say that technical classes will get the job done if thats all you need to know. Learn to shoot and cut your film; just dont expect a fun ride while doing so.
[www.nyfa.com](http://www.nyfa.com/?gclid=CJ7tp8mTwaQCFd9n5QodXDULjA)