kbee

My senior son is applying to colleges. He would like to major in cinema--thinks if he went to school in New York or L.A. he would "have it made for a job after grad."
We can't afford schools in those two cities. Also, I don't think he's realistic about how difficult it is to break into the film industry, and I would rather see him get a liberal arts degree with more possibilities for jobs--then go into film later.
Any thoughts?

kluge

Where are you located?

kbee

In the midwest. Also, he suggested a jr. college for 2 years, then transferring to USC, but that's still a hefty price.

ucsd_ucla_dad

If he wants USC then he should consider applying anyway (in addition to other schools) since they sometimes give out some pretty good grants and financial aid.

avoidingwork

It also depends on what aspect of film in which he is interested. Does he want to make documentaries? independent film? or hollywood block busters? Does he want to write or do production?

making it in the industry is purely a matter of luck - being in the right place at the right time - as is true with so many industries. It is just that the $$ and visibility in film can be very high.

ebeeeee

There is a regular poster, whose name escapes me right now, whose son is at Chapman. She has had nothing but good reports. One caution: your OP says your son thinks if he went to school in New York or L.A. he would "have it made for a job after grad." I'm not so sure.
It would be interesting to see how many film majors from schools in NY or LA end up not working in that field or searching for work.
I assume you could take a look at the stats for a specific school like UCLA as far as their placement services/career services go.

ucsd_ucla_dad

^^ The poster is 'paying3tuitions'

hayden

I don't pretend to be knowledgeable myself, but some schools I've heard others speak well of for film / cinema production include: USC, UCLA, NYU, Penn State, Boston University, U of Michigan, Florida State. I do know a kid who graduated from Penn State's film school and is now successfully employed in LA in the film industry. Your son might be interested to hear that many of these schools that aren't in LA, offer semester programs in LA, the same way other schools offer study abroad programs. Good luck.

jessetfan

My cousin is at Florida State's film program. He loves it, and he thinks he's got a reasonable shot at getting a job after graduation. In fact, I think he already has a couple of offers for after graduation, which is in December.

99cents

What about Northwestern and University of Miami?

paying3tuitions

Hi, my S is certainly enjoying Chapman U, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. He got need-based, merit aid, and work/study opportunity for oncampus jobs. His major is "screenwriting," not directing. Admission odds are 25% for screenwriters, rather than 8-12% as for directors. So one way to improve odds is to consider long and hard if he's willing to do something other than train as The Director. Some screenwriters or technical people eventually cross over into directing, and that's the hope for some. Others are happy to be part of the team and not the chief honcho. My S is a team-man.

The college application process takes more energy because in addition to all the other essays, etc., there's a portfolio requirement, or Arts Supplement.
If your S has never directed before, he can instead submit a screenplay so they can see if it sounds like he has potential to be trained technically as a director. Basically, they want to see if he can tell a story with a visual sensibility. There are many books on the market now about all of these skills (screenwriting, directing...)

In L.A., USC has long been a powerful training ground for film. UCLA has great academics, but there are complications in that out-of-state students won't know until Jr. Year if their department accepts them as majors or not. By contrast, at USC or Chapman, you declare your major and they look at your portfolio pre-freshman, so they know they will be "in" the major before they begin.

We couldn't imagine paying $40K (out-of-state) to UCLA and maybe not making it into their major at the end of sophomore year, meanwhile sitting for two years next to California kids paying around $5-6K for the same courses! So UCLA wasn't for us, but for a Californian, wow. IF you succeed at UCLA, well, that's something. USC, similarly. They have a great track record for employing other USC graduates in their projects.

Chapman's new building is technically superior to USC or UCLA facilities, state-of-the-art. They have embraced digital technology in all of its forms of production, so their facility is cutting edge. However it's 45 min from downtown L.A., not right downtown like USC or UCLA.

U of MIchigan is developing its film program, especially in screenwriting, and they say they move to L.A. and then network to help each other in on each others' projects. A lot of this is networking, I am told.

Emerson in Boston, Ithaca College in upstate NY also have programs to train filmmakers, and some have a semester in L.A. during the 4 years.

The school mentioined above in Florida is also attrracting lots of interest.

Anyway, these are a few of the places my S applied to, and others will know more places to suggest.

He got into SUNY Purchase, Chapman and Ithaca but the best financial deal came out of Chapman. Well, Chapman did cost more than Purchase but the opportunity to be in Orange County CA was just tooo much for a boy from Buffalo, so off he went with our blessing.

I am very hopeful for him, but only time will see what occurs. Some students declare themselves as undergraduates, while others wait until graduate school, and there are good reasons for each approach.

I advised my S to choose a place where he could also find a good education in History, a language, Econ, English...because I want him to be an educated practitioner and have some depth in his outlook. ALso he's developing a viable "day job" skill (flexible hours, high per hour wage) to support himself after graduation.

A very affordable state school option is SUNY at Purchase, 40 minutes from Manhattan. Understand that they only take 20 screenwriting majors each year (Chapman, the same). I'm sure there are more places to consider for film directors; my S was looking for screenwriting, so those are the schools I mention. In NYC, the Purchase graduates all network, know and help each other.

At the private level in NY, there's NYU and Columbia University, and these combine technical training with academic prestige. What a powerful education is available at either place. In New York, they their screenwriting programs are called "Dramatic Writing" because half of their attention is on stage writing, not film, as reflects the difference betgween NY and LA, I guess.

My suggestion is to also look under "Arts Majors" in the CC area that deals with different College Majors. Use the searchword "film" and you'll find many old threads to help you.

We also learned by reading the professional associations to see which schools they mentioned (Screenwriters Guild of America, Directors Guild newsletters, etc.) to understand how the working professionals look at the schools.

Best wishes. It's not an easy path,. nor do I know how my S will fare, but I certainly see why so many kids want in on this industry.

gla

I work in LA in the television industry. So a few observations. NYU or USC do not 'gurantee a job after graduation. The entertainment business is highly competetive. You will get good training at either school and make valuable contacts. But, yes, the price tag is hefty (I know because DS is at NYU).
Young people I meet in the business come from many different schools, Chapman, SUNY Purchase, University of Texas, Loyola Marymount Los Angele City College, UCLA, U of Fla. There is certainly an advantage to going to school in southern CA. He will meet many people already in Film and television.
Best of Luck

TheDad

I agree with UCLA/SD that you S should apply to USC anyway. Their financial aid can be very good if you luck out and the film school is the one program at USC that I think is actually worth the money.

Loyola Marymount isn't a bad "sleeper" program.

paying3tuitions

OP, you mentioned an interesting question, whether your S should begin training for a film career starting now or following an undergraduate liberal arts degree.

It is a generation-gap discussion, because the students want so much to be able to express themselves through the medium of their times, which is film.

Here's a conversation that sheds light. I asked an undergrad whether the Chapman film students go on from the undergraduate to graduate level film studies programs. She (a student, so not authoritative) said, "No, why would they? The basically teach the same things at each level."

Another person (actor) told me that the only reason to begin studying film early is if you want to begin earlier. I know, brilliant...but the point is, I sense that they have a certain amount to teach at these schools, so when you launch your journey is up to each individual. It's not like Math or Gymnastics wehre there's every reason to begin early or despair if you haven't started by age 22.

On the other hand, if he's eager at age 18 and this is the most motivating way to go through college, you could look at FIlm as a great and fascinating major that will keep him motivated to work on all of his other courses, too. Then see what time, contact and luck bring. To major in Film isn't a devil-major, if you know what I mean

Some students major as undergrads in Cinema Studies (Wesleyan, for example, has one great department) where they study and analyze films, rather than produce them. That would train a person to work as a critic or writer about film..or you could just say it's comparable to majoring in English, but the media is on film and not on the paper page. It's another way of studying and organizing knowledge at a college level.

There are also people who come out of surprising college environments ready to make films or TV, for example, Ken Burns (TV documentary film maker, "Civil War," "America" "New York City" to name a few) is a graduate of Hampshire College, a small LAC in Amherst, NY, which gave students much freedom to work on "capstone projects" that built up into large senior year super-projects. He began his work in film under that kind of flexible and supportive college program.

My overall impression is you're a bit over-worried about money and security for his sake, and he's a bit under-worried!

jazzymom

Don't know if you'd consider them, but there are programs cheaper to be had at the Cal State University level. For example, Steven Spielberg's alma mater (sort of), Cal State Long Beach (35-60 minutes south of L.A. depending). This program is impacted, though, so I believe a student enters as a pre-major and has to compete to be admitted to the major. Film and Electronic Arts at CSULB
It's a bargain, though, since the yearly out-of-state cost of attendance (tuition and on-campus housing) at CSULB is $23,980 according to collegenavigator, though, of course prices are rising as we speak.

There's also Cal State Northridge (maybe 30 minutes north of L.A.) which has this program: CSUN Department of Cinema and Television Arts and the total out-of-state cost yearly is $27,544. Compared to the $47,012 listed as USC's annual cost, the CSUs are much more affordable.