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Film Schools In Los Angeles

Film Schools In Los Angeles - Start A Career In Hollywood

I'm Jerry the Prof, the owner of this web site and I get emails constantly asking my advice about film schools in Los Angeles and how to get in to start a career in filmmaking.

I'll give you my opinion of the most highly regarded Los Angeles film schools but you should also be warned. Read this quote from a friend of mine.

"I struggled to get into the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and worked hard to graduate near the top of my class. I was looking forward to a career as a screenplay writer when I discovered the reality of a film school degree.

"No one I interviewed with was the least bit interested in what I had done in school. The best job I was finally able to find in the industry was as a secretary at Fox Television Network. I hoped this would put me on the inside where my scripts would get noticed. Instead I was ignored and I watched as women with nothing more than high-school diplomas were hired into the same secretarial position as me.

"After two years of struggling I quit when one of these secretaries was promoted to be my boss and gave me a bad review. I would never again consider a job in the film industry, I feel I was totally misled as to the value of a film degree by UCLA and I'm still paying off my $50,000 loan."

Jennifer S. - UCLA Film School Grad

I hear this kind of feedback all too often from film school graduates. All the same here are some Los Angeles film school options.

USC School of Cinematic Arts is the oldest film school founded in the 1920s in conjunction with major Hollywood studios to provide a way to train "assembly line workers" for the "film factories" of the day with the cost of training shifted to the students. USC Film school is generally considered one of the three best traditional graduate film schools in the United States if not the world. It is difficult to get accepted and the tuition and other costs are very high. George Lukas is probably the most famous graduate. Steven Spielberg was denied admission. This school has the most impressive list of achievements by its graduates but with the thousands of students that have attended in the last 80 years you would assume there would be some winners.

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television doesn't have quite the history of the USC school but never the less is very highly regarded and boast an impressive list of alumni. Notable students include Francis Ford Coppola and like USC the school is difficult to get in to and the tuition and other costs are very high.

Besides these giants the Los Angeles area sees a constantly changing offering of schools to satisfy the hunger of students looking for an easy, sure path to Hollywood glamour and success. A "for-profit" university corporation The Art Institutes has put a local branch in nearly every Southern California town it seems. Acceptance is easy, tuition is high and the feedback I've gotten from graduates is rather poor.

Several of the communities in the Los Angeles area offer film courses in local community colleges. You will need to do some research as to the current offerings in your area. These community colleges are often excellent for learning filmmaking basics and the costs are very low. They seem to place as many students in internships and jobs in the industry as the big names schools.

Film Schools In Los Angeles - The High Failure Rate

Despite the glamour and reputation of LA film schools the actual percentage of graduates who achieve success is dismally low. One respected film school educator has estimated that over 90% of top L. A. film school graduates fail to find satisfying work in the industry and will completely leave the field within a few years of graduation. Many in the industry agree with the following list:

Film schools are extremely expensive for the quality of instruction you get
Film school degrees don't guarantee a decent job and are even considered a joke by some in the industry
Even the best film schools don't teach the creativity, entrepreneurship and independence that marks most successful filmmakers
There are quicker and less expensive ways to learn filmmaking skills

It has been pointed out that a business or law degree is more useful for getting the highest paid executive desk jobs in Hollywood. If you are interested in real hands-on work creating films on a movie set then you might want to consider some of the very low-cost personal study educational options reviewed here before you sign up for a 4 year film school:

Film School Secrets

I recently got to know a film director named Seth Hymes. He got his degree from NYU's famous Film School and also worked there as an instructor. Eventually he saw that he would never fulfill his dream of being a working filmmaker until he left school and figured out how to break into the film industry. Today, a decade later, he lives and works in Los Angeles.

About a year ago he and some filmmaking friends decided to put together a course that would teach film students what they really need to know to get a career in filmmaking. The course they put together teaches basic, simple filmmaking techniques that anyone can quickly learn to make professional quality films with inexpensive digital equipment. More importantly it teaches sound methods of breaking into the film industry, through the back door, by getting onto student and professional film sets for free and using the experience gained to move into top positions.

These are the methods most working filmmakers learned and used to get their big break. No other course I have ever seen teaches this common sense way to get started today with almost no expense. The value this course offer is incredible and it has created more than a bit of controversy among film educators.

If you would like a candid opinion by a working filmmaker of film schools please read Seth's guest post on film schools on my blog. To learn more about his course check out my review below:

Product Reviews
Disclosure: I am an affiliate for some products I recommend and may receive some compensation if you buy them through my links. Regardless, I only recommend products I have personally reviewed and/or own and believe them to be worthy of your consideration.

Film School Secrets Review - More Value Than Film School?

Film School Secrets is a web based set of lessons in filmmaking that finally reveals how little value there is to a film school degree. There has been a lot of talk and blogging about this course that you may have seen. Many film school grads are coming out and saying "About time someone spoke the truth!"

This is the course that was created by a former NYU film school instructor and other film school graduates and successful, employed filmmakers that at long last blows the lid off of the two big film school secrets: even the top rated film schools will do little to get you a livable job in filmmaking, and what little schooling you will get is atrociously overpriced.

If you are even more or less weighing going to film school please do yourself a favor and check into the course that everyone is talking about while it is still available.

Film School Secrets is currently available for a low price but has already seen one increment and will soon be raised again. Despite its still reasonable cost don't think this is a shallow, ineffectual course like many others. This is filled with the solid insider secrets you need to finally begin a real career.

The core of the instruction is 8 modules of video training:

Module 1: How the film industry really works and why even top film school graduates are seen as a joke by most employed filmmakers and film studios. With the correct strategy you can get your career started now and be taken seriously for a lot less time and money than attending to film school.

Module 2: Why pay to participate on a film school set and be taught by a teacher when you can do it for free? Better yet, why not get paid to work on a professional set making feature films? That's always been the fastest way to learn. You can do it if you know how to.

Module 3: Obtain just the filmmaking techniques you will need to get moving. Some of the most legendary film directors have all agreed that fundamental filmmaking skills can be acquired in hours to days. It isn't that difficult to aim a video camera, folks!

Module 4: Essentials of a wonderful screenplay. How to tell stories that audiences will pay to see. How to locate experienced pros who will help you fine-tune your script to perfection.

Module 5: How to get top experts to work for you for very little money, or even for FREE is you know what to say. Shooting movies takes more than one person so get the best helping you for a fraction of the price of four years at film school. Learn from the experts while you make your movie.

Module 6: Shooting a film in Hollywood can be a major disadvantage. Learn how to shoot away from Los Angeles like the big studios now do and lower you cost to a tiny fraction of what it could otherwise cost.

Module 7: How to successfully produce your own movie even if you've never done it before, have no equipment and barely know what you're doing.

Module 8: Selling and distributing your film by using the hottest methods of digital and online distribution.

An important part of Film School Secrets is Seth Hymes' hilarious exposé book, Film Fooled, which takes you course by course through his real experience at NYU film school, one of the top ten film schools in the world. Nothing will convince you of the uselessness of film school quite like getting to read the often infantile curriculum taught by bumbling instructors with almost no filmmaking experience.

You also get a copy of the NYU Production Handbook. NYU would like you to think that this book alone is worth the price of tuition. You get your own copy included at no extra charge.

I have also included a copy of my authoritative 350 page Filmmaking Reference that regularly costs more than the current price for Film School Secrets alone. That's how much I believe in this course and want you to check it out before you seriously consider an expensive film school.

And perhaps the most valuable items:

The course includes interviews with highly paid filmmakers sharing all the secrets of exactly how they got in to exciting jobs in the film industry. These are your treasure map to your success, too.

Included is the priceless permission to contact and ask questions of the course authors at no extra expense.

How Does Film School Secrets compare to what you get from a top film school?

Pros:

Actually teaches how to get started as a filmmaker rather than a lot of theory that is useless in starting a career.
The lessons will actually save you many thousands in tuition and years of wasted time getting you into filmmaking so long as you follow through.
A tiny fraction of the cost
Be ready to start finding opportunities in days

Cons:

The course doesn't try to teach you every detail about filmmaking. You will need to continue learning as you continue in your new career.
The largely video presentation is very easy to follow however some students may prefer published materials or physical books.
Family and friends will finally believe you when your name is up in lights

By the time you finish this course you will understand why film school is not what you need to become a filmmaker, and know alternate real-world strategies for getting started, plus you will have contact with experts who can help you along the way.

There is a comprehensive 60-day, no questions asked, money back guarantee so there is positively no risk. Get this course before the cost increases ... or the film schools are able to get it banned!

Do it now.

Begin Making Movies!

Click on this link to learn all about Film School Secrets.

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