AFI Applicants 2026 - Who's applying? (4 Viewers)

RPA · Jan 28, 2026

Thank you. Yeah, this is the first time.

MatthewCG · Jan 28, 2026

Cool, what's your background in film?

RPA · Jan 28, 2026

MatthewCG said:
Cool, what's your background in film?

I'm from engineering background but I've made couple short films. Have a bunch of short screenplays that I plan to shoot this year, and screenplay for features and their resp. pilots that I'll be writing. Lots of looking ahead lol.

What about you?

MatthewCG · Jan 28, 2026

RPA said:
I'm from engineering background but I've made couple short films. Have a bunch of short screenplays that I plan to shoot this year, and screenplay for features and their resp. pilots that I'll be writing. Lots of looking ahead lol.

What about you?

Ah you must be smart then. What made you switch over to film?

I went to Emerson for writing for film and television a decade ago, and then pursued acting at Lee Strasberg in NYC. Everyone there wanted my help with their short films because of my background, so I got good at managing sets. Since then I've a made a few short films and moved to LA. I've been focusing on the two shorts I want to film this year to take my mind off AFI. Hopefully I get notified for an interview this week because the wait is killing me.

tylerrjenkins · Jan 30, 2026

MatthewCG said:
Ah you must be smart then. What made you switch over to film?

I went to Emerson for writing for film and television a decade ago, and then pursued acting at Lee Strasberg in NYC. Everyone there wanted my help with their short films because of my background, so I got good at managing sets. Since then I've a made a few short films and moved to LA. I've been focusing on the two shorts I want to film this year to take my mind off AFI. Hopefully I get notified for an interview this week because the wait is killing me.

They notify throughout February too so don't worry about hearing something ASAP.

MatthewCG · Feb 2, 2026

tylerrjenkins said:
They notify throughout February too so don't worry about hearing something ASAP.

Yeah I saw people post about that in last years thread. How'd your interview go this time around?

tylerrjenkins · Feb 5, 2026

MatthewCG said:
Yeah I saw people post about that in last years thread. How'd your interview go this time around?

Went better than last year for sure; much more of a conversational tone. Not sure if I got in. My expectation is waitlist. We shall see. Best of luck!

MatthewCG · Feb 6, 2026

What makes you expect you'll be waitlisted?

tylerrjenkins · Feb 6, 2026

MatthewCG said:
What makes you expect you'll be waitlisted?

Just the overall vibe of the interview and how they responded to my work and answers to their questions. Sorry, I feel like I'd have to relay most of or the whole interview to properly convey my feeling about its outcome haha

MatthewCG · Feb 7, 2026

All good, hopefully your sense is incorrect and you get in.

Chris W · Feb 8, 2026

tylerrjenkins said:
Just the overall vibe of the interview and how they responded to my work and answers to their questions. Sorry, I feel like I'd have to relay most of or the whole interview to properly convey my feeling about its outcome haha

That's a bummer to hear... Crossing my fingers though for you to get in and it wasn't as bad as you thought.

Speaking of which though, when you do get to logging your applications, there are now fields for how the interview went:

Interview Type: (select all that apply)

Zoom
In-person
Group of Applicants
Individual

Number of interviewers (single select)

One
Two
Three
Four+

Interview Topics Discussed: (select all that apply)

Influences
Specific films
Current events
Personal story
Your creative materials
Future goals
Collaboration / Working with others
Mistakes / Failures in past work
Recent / Favorite Films
Why this program
Other

Interview Seriousness: (single select)

Casual / Friendly
Mixed / Varied
Serious / Intense
Deadly Serious / High-Pressure
Confrontational / Aggressive
Other

Feeling After Interview: (single select)

Went well
Neutral
Bombed

That last one will be especially helpful to see if how the interview went has a ton of weight in whether one gets accepted or not.

sennaevln · Feb 13, 2026

Hello everyone! This is my first time applying for Screenwriting. How are the interviews going? Got done with mine in January and waiting for March results is killing me honestly. Looking forward to connect with more people in waiting and in the process of interviewing.

MatthewCG · Feb 13, 2026

sennaevln said:
Hello everyone! This is my first time applying for Screenwriting. How are the interviews going? Got done with mine in January and waiting for March results is killing me honestly. Looking forward to connect with more people in waiting and in the process of interviewing.

Hey there! I haven't been asked for an interview yet, so I feel you on the wait killing me. How'd your interview go, and what's your background with screenwriting?

Pryde Pierce · Feb 13, 2026

sennaevln said:
Hello everyone! This is my first time applying for Screenwriting. How are the interviews going? Got done with mine in January and waiting for March results is killing me honestly. Looking forward to connect with more people in waiting and in the process of interviewing.

Hey! Congrats on the interview! How did you feel it went and who were your interviewers? I feel cautiously optimistic about my interview for Screenwriting. It was my first time applying too.

Chris W · Feb 13, 2026

sennaevln said:
Hello everyone! This is my first time applying for Screenwriting. How are the interviews going? Got done with mine in January and waiting for March results is killing me honestly. Looking forward to connect with more people in waiting and in the process of interviewing.

Congrats on the interview! How do you think it went?

When you get a moment please edit and update your logged application as we added a TON of new fields recently for interviews. It'll give a lot of interesting info to other applicants I believe.

Chris W · Feb 17, 2026

Admitted but Not Attending (After Interview) AFI PRODUCING MFA

Straight forward application. Producer questions, pitch a film or series, intro video. Also an option to include a project that reflects your work. .

ryanv
Dec 2, 2025
Updated Mar 31, 2026
Reaction score: 3
Comments: 7
Category: 2026 Fall Entry
producing mfa

Decisions are coming in? I thought it was March? Maybe that was another school. Either way.... CONGRATS @ryanv !!!

ryanv · Feb 17, 2026

Chris W said:
Admitted but Not Attending (After Interview) AFI PRODUCING MFA

Straight forward application. Producer questions, pitch a film or series, intro video. Also an option to include a project that reflects your work. .

ryanv

Dec 2, 2025

Updated Mar 31, 2026

Reaction score: 3

Comments: 7

Category: 2026 Fall Entry

producing mfa

Decisions are coming in? I thought it was March? Maybe that was another school. Either way.... CONGRATS @ryanv !!!

Thanks, Chris! Yes final decision deadline is March 16th but guess early admissions are rolling out! Congrats to any others who got the email!

Pryde Pierce · Feb 17, 2026

ryanv said:
Thanks, Chris! Yes final decision deadline is March 16th but guess early admissions are rolling out! Congrats to any others who got the email!

Woah! I didn’t know they did early admissions notifications. Interesting. Congrats!!

sennaevln · Feb 24, 2026

Wow! The early notifications just made me very excited! Hoping to get mine soon then, since I interviewed pretty early on

Pryde Pierce · Feb 24, 2026

sennaevln said:
Wow! The early notifications just made me very excited! Hoping to get mine soon then, since I interviewed pretty early on

I could be mistaken but so far it looks like only people in the Producing track have gotten notified early so far. They may still not notify the rest of us until March 16th.

AFI Applicants 2026 - Who's applying? (4 Viewers)

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