Brooklyn College (CUNY)

I went on the official tour in October (there are several between Sept and Dec) before I decided to apply. You have to sign up and bring an ID to get past security because the whole grad school is on a working film lot in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

They started with a question and answer session (with some people skyping in). Pretty standard. Then there is the walking tour of the facilities. It doesn't feel like a college campus. It's a studio, in a massive industrial building with views of Manhattan and the East River, and Feirstein takes up the fifth and sixth floors. There are film studios on the floors above where a lot of TV shows are shot. The Feirstein's part of the building has numerous and varied big studios - I lost count. The equipment cage has all brand new equipment, including Arris and everything that I could think of (all digital - no Bolexes here). The classrooms and edit studios all feel like professional high end commercial facilities in NYC or LA.

There is a big communal kitchen, I think I remember that there are even bathrooms with showers.

A new Wegmans just opened at the other end of the Navy Yard, there is a good coffee shop across the street, but I don't think there are a lot of restaurant choices unless you walk two long blocks up to Myrtle Avenue. Pratt Institute is up on Myrtle, so there is a great art supply store and everything else that you would expect around an art school campus. (The actual Brooklyn College campus is far away, on the other side of Brooklyn.)

The proximity to the subway is a drag. I used to live in this neighborhood. Google says that it is a 15 minute walk to the G but it feels further than that, and then you are on the G train. You'll have to change trains to get anywhere. It sounds like there is parking, but I'm not sure how much.

Over all, I am pretty sure that I'm going to commit. As a NY resident, it's pretty inexpensive. I like my life living here in NYC and don't want to move to LA or anywhere else. Tisch is expensive.

The people that are teaching is always the most important thing. The people here, from what I've read so far, look like they are very talented. There are women in prominent positions here, and from the films that they've done, I'm hoping that will translate into a smarter, more introspective cinematic point of view.

I am hoping that Feirstein may be a place where there is more opportunity to build something great compared to a more established film school that may be more ridge and crowded.

I'll try to remember to report back in a year with what the reality turns out to be.

Photographs of their facilities:


"BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP
The Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema is housed in a brand-new 68,000-square-foot facility, purpose-built for a 21st-century film school. Our entirely digital production and post-production environment offers the most current and state-of-the-art workspaces, studios, stages and equipment, affording students the opportunity to create in a fully professional setting."