Latest questions

What's the vibe at Dodge competitiveness-wise? USC SCA is known to be pretty cutthroat competitive where as LMU SFTV actually markets itself as not being so competitive but more of a collaborative environment. Wondering where Chapman/Dodge falls in the mix?

Hi, does anyone know if the Film School is still moving to London City Island? Thanks

Hi! I heard from a friend who’s a current student that the move probably won’t happen for another year or two.

Hi all, I'm applying to this program, and I'm really proud of my essay. However, I worry that my essay is really stretching the prompt. Should I submit anyway? Or do a big rewrite. I feel like the essay is honest to my interest, and they might appreciate the risk, but I just don't know. Apologies if I'm vague, but I can be more specific if I get some responses. Thanks!

You could post a thread in the following forum asking for feedback:

Portfolio & Essay Feedback

Get constructive feedback on your Film School Portfolio, Personal Statement, and Application

www.filmschool.org

But when you say it's stretching the prompt what do you mean?

So the prompt is

Please submit a brief essay on either a) The preservation of film culture through archiving, exhibition, and restoration, or b) Discuss the changing forms of cinema distribution and exhibition. This should not exceed 1,000 words.

I chose A, and I'm writing about Letterboxd and the idea of the living and consciously created archive, but I don't really touch the exhibition and restoration part of the question. I have my specific reasons in the essay as to why I don't touch on it. But I understand how it's a stretch and could be seen as not a full answer, and since I'm approaching the idea of archiving in a different way than I think they intended.

I'll submit my essay in the essay feedback section too!

If you touch on why you aren't touching on it then it might be ok. It depends of
course. Sorry I can't give a definitive answer. But definitely post a thread asking for feedback of you want.

I think it's good that you're excited about your essay though. That's important.

Can anyone give a review about MA Dricting Producing science and natural history in NFTS?

Hello, I've just applied for the ONE YEAR MA in screenwriting for MetFilmSchool, both for the Berlin Campus and the London campus. My interview and my open day gave me a good impression, and the program was everything that I've been looking for, but now I've got quite scared since I read some really bad reviews. They dated back to 2010/2013, and they were concerning the filmmaking course, so maybe it wasn't about screenwriting, but still, I don't know anybody who attended this school so I would like to have any kind of feedback... do you know it the school has improved since? or if the screenwriting MA is high quality? Is the school considered a good one now?
thank you so much, I really need advice!

B.

To all those who applied,

How long did you hear back for an interview/admittance after submitting your application?

See our Acceptance Rates & Data tab.

Brooklyn College (CUNY) Feirstein - MFA in Directing - Acceptance Rates & Data

Brooklyn College (CUNY) Feirstein - MFA in Directing acceptance rates, lowest accepted minimum GPA, lowest accepted test scores, decision notification dates, admittance rate after interview and after being waitlisted, and even age, degrees and filmmaking experience of accepted applicants.

www.filmschool.org

About 10 biz days.

Hi Joshua, I applied on Jan. 15, got an interview a month later, and heard back a month after that. So I got my acceptance a little over two months from my application date. Brooklyn goes by rolling admission, so the dates might vary based on the number of spots filled. Hope that helps!

How does this school compare to USC SCA for Film and Television Production?

Hi! I've been following along some applications on the page and I've seen that USC and AFI have already started interviewing. I applied to those two and I haven't been reached out to for an interview yet, should I be worried?
I'm not sure if they notify everyone they want to interview at the same time or does this happen along a period of time in a more gradual form? Please let me know if you know about this! Thank you!!!

Hi! I've been following along some applications on the page and I've seen that USC and AFI have already started interviewing. I applied to those two and I haven't been reached out to for an interview yet, should I be worried?
I'm not sure if they notify everyone they want to interview at the same time or does this happen along a period of time in a more gradual form? Please let me know if you know about this! Thank you!!!

Hi! I've been following along some applications on the page and I've seen that USC and AFI have already started interviewing. I applied to those two and I haven't been reached out to for an interview yet, should I be worried?
I'm not sure if they notify everyone they want to interview at the same time or does this happen along a period of time in a more gradual form? Please let me know if you know about this! Thank you!!!

Each program is going to reach out separately and it seems like most do it on a rolling/gradual basis, so if you haven't heard back yet I wouldn't worry. Some programs admit without requiring an interview while others interview some, but not all applicants. There's really no way to know what they're doing behind the scenes, so keep the faith!

Hello,
Thanks for the review

I have two questions:
Are the fees the same for international students?
Do they have courses on campus?

Thank you for replying!

What if you have no experience with screenplay formatting / using final draft?

There’s a lot of free info online on how to write a screenplay! I’d practice, read scripts, and find someone to give you feedback that knows screenwriting. There’s free sites to use like celtx too, I used it before buying final draft.

thank you !!

USC undergraduate tuition is expected to be $60,000 for Fall 2021, but this page shows only $30,000 - is it a different tuition for SCA?

Hi everyone! Happy application season!

My names Harriet, I'm from Canada and I have so many questions about applying to film school it's hard to wrap my head around them all.
I'm applying to 5 different schools, but Columbia is my top choice.
I was wondering if any current Columbia students are able to shed light on common mistakes made in the 10pg screenwriting portion of the application. Cliches, problems with tone, or just general mistakes that seem to pop up over and over again.
Also, does anyone know when the final date for applying will be released?
Thank you!!

The USC Cinematic Arts admissions website says that you do need the GRE. Is this new?

Were you looking at The Division of Cinema & Media Studies major? Cuz this one do need GRE, but Film and TV production don't.

No, they only need your $$$.

Does USC still open the application for 2021 spring? Cuz today is June 20th, they should've opened the application but I checked the application website and they didn't.

@USCSCAAlumni/Faculty

Maybe @USCSCAAlumni/Faculty can help you with this question?

When will cinematography students learn how to shot with the film? when will production students have courses of their selected area?

I believe either Intermediate or Advanced Cinematography class has a project shot on film. Both classes happen in your 2nd or 3rd years of the MFA program, depending on when you want to take them.

Production students choose their own classes after the first two semesters. For instance, I'm taking a lot of producing and directing classes now that I'm in my 2nd year.

Hello,

As a future applicant I have a question regarding the admissions. In my undergraduate degree I switched from Computer Science to Business and my GPA has suffered a lot during this process. Although in my last semesters I got better GPA scores my cumulative ended up 2.4 (on a 4 scale). I pursued my studies and took a Management masters degree and graduated with a much better GPA. I wanted to know whether this could boost my chances for getting accepted to USC Film and Production or is my undergraduate GPA still a major drawback? Is it common for Business students to apply for a MFA degree or is it more common to have an arts bachelors degree for a higher chance to get accepted?

Little known secret. Grades barely matter. The USC application is hugely dependent on your Personal Statement

If you come across as someone new, unique, and individual, you are the sort of person a film school wants, because you have perspectives that can translate into movies. Your personal statement is where you communicate what makes you stand out from the crowd.

The Masters degree is a big positive for you. Try to include those numbers wherever you can. The undergrad GPA is annoying, but it shouldn't knock you out.

Also, it's normal for students with 0 film production experience to get into USC. My cohort had people with backgrounds in architecture, acting, communications, finance, game design, theology, history, philosophy, and many more, none of whom had a film production degree.

Does anyone have advice about the portfolio requirements? The second option is straight forward but is the first one supposed to be technical?

Thanks for your help!

Hey guys. I have a specific question regarding the Directing/Film Production MFA program.

My ultimate goal is very specific and obvious - I want to shoot a feature movies. But not a huge-blockbuster-Hollywood type of movies, but rather a movie that would someone classify as indie. Existential horror or maybe some provocative cinema or both - with visual and narrative experiments etc. In the perfect scenario of my future I'm working with A24 entertainment company on my own feature film - something like Hereditary, Lighthouse or even Lars von Trier-type of cinema.

And in a few articles I found a disturbing information about the USC that it's not actually a place for "future indie filmmakers" and I'm wondering why would someone say that. I heard that AFI is a better place for my goals but I did not apply to it because they require two films and I had only one. But it's not a case - I know that USC is one of the best (if not the best) film schools in the world, so why how it can actually be a bad choice for someone who maybe wants to make "indie" films? I hope that it's not true and, if anyone knows, someone can help me understand what is the actual difference between the programs and why USC sometimes referred to as a place that I would not fit in with my specific goals.

This is a pretty common myth about USC. It doesn't really matter what type of movie you want to make. The program at USC is not about what kind of art you should make or what space you should work in - it's about how to actually get that project made.

The student population has a bad wrap for only being interested in "Big Hollywood Blockbusters", some people are interested in that - but overall I find people's interests are pretty eclectic. A majority of the professors work on independants and a majority of student directors go on to do either Television or Indie work.

Furthermore, I'd consider A24 a commercially successful distribution company - being that USC's focus is "industry", that is WELL within USC's wheelhouse. After all, "Industry" and "indie" are not mutually exclusive.

Beyond that, plenty of students here are fans of A24's output and I'd say their mindset is not so far off from your own.

Thanks so much for such a detailed response!

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