Latest Film School Reviews

While I was there, parts of the directing track felt like they were still evolving, so the quality of classes was a bit uneven. Some were genuinely helpful, others less so. That said, I think that’s true of most programs, especially since everyone comes in with different backgrounds and goals.


What really stood out to me were the people. There are some faculty members who are deeply committed and generous with their time, and I was lucky to connect with an advisor who made a big impact on my experience. My cohort was another highlight: small, collaborative, and made up of people with really different tastes and strengths. That mix made the program feel dynamic, and I’ve continued working with several of them since graduating. Even though a couple of courses (especially editing and a post-production workflows class) didn’t quite land for me, the overall environment made up for it.


I got a lot out of the mentorship side of things, but also from being on set. Both directing and collaborating on larger productions. The undergrad crews, in particular, are incredibly driven and talented, and having access to that kind of support system is a real advantage.

Ultimately, I think the program is a bit of a "What you make of it" and a bit of a luck of the draw in terms of which professors you get for certain courses and who is in your cohort. But Chicago is a great city to live and study in, and with a 35% tax credit passed, I'm hopeful the city continues to grow in terms of its film/TV.

I love this program so much. If you are interested in TV Writing this is the best program for it. We have incredibly talented writers and the classes are small and personable. It is very hard to beat this value.

You really kind of get what you pay for with this program. It might be one of the cheapest programs out there but it’s also one of the most disorganized and least useful. Most of what will learn will be from your peers, which could be really great or really bad, or from the couple of actually insightful faculty members.

If you absolutely need to join this program to just start getting your feet wet, it can still work as the connections you make can lead to work (even a couple of the professors have offered some work to students), but don’t expect to do much learning while in the classes.

The School of Cinematic Arts has essentially been created in the image of a corporate film studio. Artistically successful films you make at this school will be made despite layers of bureaucracy and a pervasive “Hollywood” sensibility toward filmmaking. That being said, my experience as a student here has put me on a path toward having a career in film and has made me the filmmaker I am today.

Someone once used the analogy of a lighthouse to describe SCA. The name and prestige of the program are like a beacon that attracts filmmakers who are serious about their craft from all around the world to one place, where they meet and collaborate with each other. The students in your cohort will quickly become your dearest friends and collaborators. The goal of film school is to find your people, and SCA ensures that these people are passionate, hardworking, smart, creative, and full of potential.

As an undergrad production student, you are required to take a class we call 310 (or 508 for grad students). In this class, over the course of a semester, you work in trios and rotate crew positions as director, DP, and producer/editor to produce three films. I entered the class as one filmmaker and came out the other side completely changed. It is, without a doubt, the best class I’ve ever had on filmmaking.

At the end of the day, it is what you make of it. If you are lucky, as I have been, to attend this legendary (and expensive) program, it is up to you to make your time worth it. USC will not make you a great filmmaker. Don’t think that you need USC to make it in film. That is up to you.

I did the 27 month, online, Digital Cinematography Bachelor’s degree at Full Sail. It is basically a film degree with the added focus of trying to prepare you for the realities of being an independent in your area.

For the most part, I loved my time there. At graduation I received the Advanced Achievement Award which is the top award (not based solely on GPA) given.

As a school that pretty much takes anyone who can find a way to pay, you have a wide variety of students there; some who probably shouldn’t even be there contrasted with others that are highly driven and very talented (and everything in between). One of the best VFX artists I’ve ever met, in my decade plus in indie filmmaking, is a friend that I met while I was there.

In my own case, after over a decade of the self-taught indie filmmaking side of things, I decided I wanted to see what the film school side of things looked like. I then set a dream goal of getting an MFA from AFI. To try for that, I needed to get a Bachelors first.

I first heard of Full Sail when I met Director Steven C. Miller at a filmmaker meeting around 2016 or so. He was a speaker and then we hung out and talked afterwards. We are still friendly to this day (saw him about a month ago). Steven is a member of the Full Sail Hall of Fame. This, as well as being able to knock out a Bachelors in under 27 months and (as a father) being able to stay home while doing it, eventually led me to the school.

You basically have a new online class each month. For some this pace doesn’t work, for me it was perfect. A LOT of your learning will demand you to be a motivated self-starter. A number of students had problems with the pace or with feeling instructors weren’t holding their hands enough. So, if you go, just be prepared to take charge of your own outcome.

With my experience I assumed I’d probably know everything that was taught. The reality was that I learned a number of things while there or, minimally, saw other approaches to getting things done.

There were a number of classes that I really enjoyed and some of the professors (like Randy Baker) are really great, knowledgeable, and make themselves available to students as much as possible. I also made a number of friends (even though it was the online program) from the program. We still talk daily to weekly and some of us have worked on each other’s film projects (editing, vfx, graphic design, writing, that sort of thing).

I recommend the program if:
1. You want to get a Bachelor’s degree in a short amount of time.
2. Your preference is to be able to stay home and get a degree.
3. You are a highly motivated self-starter.

Additionally, you’ll receive gear for your program (called a launch box). The Digital Cinematography program (when I attended) included a MacBook, lighting gear, and about a $10k FX6 package (camera, lens, tripod, etc etc).

I came into the MFA program as a novelist, with a focus on Fiction. I took the screenwriting elective that first semester, and was immediately adopted into the Screenwriting/Playwriting collective. The sheer enthusiasm for my work, and the work of everyone around me, was infectious. There is genuine excitement on the part of the instructors that is balanced by a transparent honesty that is never cruel but entirely practical. "Well, that didn't work," I heard early on, quickly followed by a vibrant conversation about the mechanics of how to transform a messy scene into a golden one.

By the following semester I was a double-concentration student, marrying Fiction writing to Screenwriting. The momentum simply carried me along, and I finished my third semester with two short plays, a complete one-act, and a screenplay.

This is a program that is absolutely focused on creating work that will be produced, and is marked by an incredible enthusiasm for the work - and the people creating it. I cannot reccommend it highly enough.

Hello fellow TV Writing and Filmmaking Community,

I’m here to give you my two cents on the TV Writing MFA at Stony Brook University. I’m a working screenwriter in (and from) Brazil, and I found this gem after taking a summer course at Columbia in 2014 with Alan Kingsberg, now the Director of the program at Stony Brook. Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Alan’s approach to writing. Still, the idea of moving continents for two to three years did scare me—I won’t lie. But boy, am I happy I came.

I’m in my second semester and already very impressed by the program. I could write pages on the program (that also features comedy, showrunning, Limited Series, Business of TV and so on) , but to keep it simple, I’ll focus on a recent experience to paint a picture.

Last semester, I wrote a pilot I’m a little bit in love with, based on an idea I had been playing with for a while but never found the time or energy to fully develop. Having the commitment made a huge difference. Every week, we brought in pages – whether it was our series idea, outline or scenes. One week, we’d present to the class; the next, we’d meet one-on-one with the professor in conference. It made all of us want to bring our A game. Not out of competition, but out of respect for our professor, our peers, and ourselves. I found the feedback incredibly valuable in shaping not just mine, but everyone’s work.

A quick note on the cohort: it’s super small. Mine has only nine people, which means you get a LOT of attention on your work and get to genuinely connect with your professors and peers.

This semester, in addition to writing a new pilot and a feature, we’re also taking an Acting for Directors class alongside the Film MFA students. I can’t stress enough how much of a game changer this has been. The professor, Shira-Lee Shalit, is amazing, a true “actor whisperer”. This class is simple, hands-on, and incredibly effective in teaching us how to communicate with actors in a collaborative and practical way. It’s not just about getting better performances (which I’ve seen firsthand), but ultimately about building something together.

Last week, I got to direct a scene from the pilot I worked on last semester. I reached out to two amazing actors from Esper with the help of the school and the whole experience was out of this world! My pilot takes place in an almost dystopian setting, and during the final run, I really felt it—the paranoia, the heat, the deprivation. I also felt one of the characters own “the win”, not just get it because I wrote it on the page. Witnessing the emotional arc land so perfectly was just plain awesome!

Seeing my script come to life got me pumped up in so many ways. I gained a deeper understanding of my characters’ motivations and backstory. I gained insight into things I may have gotten wrong, and others that felt even more right. Overall, it reignited in me the reason why I want to tell this story. Why I want to tell ANY story. And that’s a feeling that doesn’t come along very often.

I’m so grateful to the TV Writing MFA at Stonybrook. Just wanted to share with you all how powerful it can be to study here.

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Is it expensive? A little. Are most colleges? Of course they are! I dare anyone to find a University anywhere on this website that's considered cheap or even moderately affordable these days. They just don't exist anymore. Was it tough for me financially? Yeah, it was. But I would do it all over again a thousand times over for the incredible experience I walked away with... and that, you can't put a monetary value on.

Another elephant to shoo out of the room - this program is not for everyone. If you're into these high pressure, super-competitive tabling environments where you type until you bleed, this isn't gonna be your jam. If you don't want to write a poem or a novel or a screenplay or a stage play with the strong intent of making a social impact on the community or the arts, this may not be for you. This MFA program is about fostering a healthy creative environment and supporting each other's work and making a difference in our communities through our art. I had classmates in their 20s all the way up their 80s. I had colleagues from all walks of life, all spectrums of love. I have friends for life, people that I trust with the most vulnerable parts of myself, my words. So yes, this program is unlike anything else you will find.

It's centered in the heart of Los Angeles, anchored to the industry. Guest speakers come and go, giving you their amazing expertise. The 10-day residencies are so much fun. You can go in person, but even if you don't live in LA, that's fine. You don't even have to step one foot in LA to be in the program. You can still be successful and feel part of this great community of writers. It's possible, trust me.

This may sound a bit cliche, but you get what you put into it. If your goal is to only focus on one screenplay for the entire 2-year program, then that's what you'll get by the end of it all. I was ambitious, so I wrote A TON of projects from plays to screenplays to short films to poems (too many, honestly). But that's what I wanted for me, and the professors just ran with it. They encouraged me to do what I wanted to do. And that's another thing. These professors aren't just professors. These people care about you and your future. They call you up and check in on you. They're happy to read your work and give you feedback, because they're invested in you. That means a lot, you know.

Everyone's experience will be different. I can only tell you that it was the best educational journey I've ever had. I feel so much more connected to my craft than I ever have. I had moments of elation, of self-doubt, feelings of accomplishments and that sometimes-impossible weight of being human.

I love this place. I really do.

Would absolutely go back in a heartbeat! I loved focusing on Television Writing (rather than Features) and graduated last year with writing samples I can build upon. Due to the small class size, instructors are invested in your success, your classmates work hard to make your writing stronger, and you get real space to grow throughout the semesters. It is a tight-knit space where pursuing your dream won't break your bank account. I won scholarships and a TA position which covered my out-of-state tuition. Also living in NY is fabulous! No regrets.

I was accepted into the program as a poetry student, with the intention to "genre jump" or dual concentrate in screenwriting. During my first term, I took a playwriting elective with Colette Freedman that convinced me to completely switch my concentration to Dramatic Writing and never look back (though I did continue my study of poetry independently and through an elective course). In my four terms at Antioch I wrote: 30 annotations (on books of poetry, craft books, film scripts, novels, and plays), 50+ poems, three short film scripts, three 10-minute plays, a feature film script, a full-length play, and a one-act play. Halfway through the program, one of my 10-minute plays was accepted to a festival where it was performed as a staged reading. One month after graduation, I shot my first short film from a script I wrote during the program. And one year from graduation, my full-length play will be performed as a staged reading at a theatre conference. I say all this not to toot my own horn, but to show just how much an Antioch MFA student accomplish with the encouragement of a strong mentor like Colette. I learned something about life and about writing from every instructor I worked with, not to mention fellow writers in every cohort. While the low-residency aspect allows students the flexibility to complete all coursework remotely (a bonus for someone like me who lives in a small town far from California), flying south for the 10-day, semi-annual residencies afforded me the opportunity to make lifelong writer friends who continue to offer feedback and contribute to my work and well-being from afar. The Antioch MFA program is a community like no other, which allows writers to explore multiple genres through every term and fosters a better understanding of humanity in everyone who is willing to put in the work.

Antioch University Los Angeles’ screenwriting program transformed my love of writing from a hobby into a professional career. The curriculum is rigorous yet nurturing, designed to challenge you while giving you the tools and confidence to succeed. What sets AULA apart are its incredible mentors, diverse, accomplished, and deeply invested in each student’s growth. AULA will champion your voice and push you to realize your full potential.

The student and alumni community is equally remarkable. Kind, passionate, and collaborative, they create a network that supports you both during the program and long after graduation. I felt inspired every day by the energy, creativity, and generosity of my peers.

After being accepted to five top-tier MFA programs, I chose AULA specifically to study with Colette Freedman. Her guidance, insight, and unwavering belief in her students made all the difference in my development as a screenwriter and librettist. Every day I am grateful for the choice I made. AULA prepared me for the industry and helped me become a confident, professional writer ready to take on real-world challenges. For anyone serious about screenwriting, it is an exceptional program.

I graduated from the media studies program on the visual media track in 2022 with a 4.0. I found the program to lead me to where I wanted to be which at the time was in athletics video, Auburn had an incredible athletics video company that loves working with students. I felt I learned a little more through my student job in athletics than I did from class work itself. Coursework seemed to be surface level and didn’t push me as much as I wanted in the film direction. However, my confidence behind the camera and in editing grew a ton and I build strong relationships with peers and professors I regularly speak to and work with to this day

I went for a couple of semesters before dropping out. I really don't think this experience was worth 200k for a few different reasons.

Chapman is supposed to be the #4 ranked film school, so you would expect classes that are great and high quality. In reality, many of the classes are very basic and barebones. For example, the editing class during the second semester was basically sitting down in a movie theatre and reviewing other people's work. The editing teacher didn't bother to teach us new editing techniques and tricks. If I wanted to sit down and review movies, I could do that in my living room completely free of charge. If you're coming to Chapman to learn how to be a better editor, prepare to be disappointed.

Past reviewers have been correct. The head editing mentor who's first name starts with P (He may not be there by the time you read this) is known for being quite harsh and won't put up with as much bullshit compared to other teachers. At least he's honest and will tell you if your film sucks ass.

This is also a very competitive environment. You're definitely being judged by your ability to perform and if you're not performing up to expectations, you can be replaced and removed by other students without any second chances.

Mental health support is not the greatest here and because of the school's competitiveness, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the students have mental health issues.

Has an amazing learning environment that allows hands on experience as soon as possible. The equipment is a great start to understanding and working in a proper film space.

Professors and staff are great, the classes are small which is nice. Not the biggest fan of the admin though, but I usually don't have to deal with them too much

Great classes, great Professors, and a great selection of equipment for projects. Got to work on my thesis here, and had a great time with tons of support.

This is a great program! Students take 14 filmmaking classes over the course of 4 semesters. The classes vary across different topics like theory, gear, learning software, production and writing/planning, etc. The professors are very open-minded to the needs/skill levels of each student and the ideas they have. They go out of their way to plan field days, trips, and invite guest lecturers to offer a holistic education. The program is well-known in the Bozeman community so its really easy to find experts and community-members willing to participate and offer support in projects. But there are much fewer resources and support networks when it comes to finding jobs and internships. I like how diverse the student body is in terms of academic background, artistic styles, and demographic. But its pretty male-dominated at the moment. Overall I love being a student in this program and highly recommend it.

Creative media is fine if you are driven as a filmmaker, but the school is not for artists, so you will be fighting an uphill battle if you do not want to work for a sports broadcasting company. I think most people in the school are happy with that, though.

The school is super affordable, especially if you do well on the ACT or are an in-state student. They will pay for your housing, and Alabama is affordable to live in compared to most, if not all, places outside the deep South.

I have never used the alum network.

I never worked on an internship at the school because I did not want to do TV or documentary work.

It is a mixed bag, with so many theatre kids bleeding into the film school. The collaboration is poor because they are kinda crazy. I would blame that on whatever was happening in the theatre building at the time. Be prepared to be a filmmaker, not a director. It is far easier to do more work than to depend on others here.

Coursework is whatever I would say it is not challenging because Alabama is afraid of giving students anything under an A. Take the independent study with film professors so you can make work for graduate school. If you want to work in the industry, get some gigs in Atlanta because you will not be getting any big jobs coming out of UA. Better making money and meeting people in Atlanta rather than working with people who will move back to a major city to work in their family's advertising company.

Okay, if you have read all this and still want to attend, find the film professors you want to work with and start working! If I had this knowledge at the start, I would probably have more directed short films than I already do. Go to Woods Hall and minor in art to build connections with the photo school.

Creative media is not a film degree; you have to make this place into a film school. If you do not have the resolve to do this, go to UNA (more structure and work with professors on projects they will direct), or, if you are an animator, USA (a great animation program in Mobile). That is all I got for you, and results will vary significantly from what I experienced. You will end up where you need to go, and you are the maker of your own destiny.

When I was 17 years old, I applied to a majority of the top film programs in the US for screenwriting. I got into USC, NYU, and Chapman (where I actually turned down a significant scholarship). To me, there was no other choice but to go with the number one option, as it had been sold as so to me so many times.

Unfortunately, USC is no longer what it once was. The professors there are barely working writers. If they are working, it's for something they wrote 15 years ago that was really good, or it's on the worst Network television show you can imagine. Like a reboot of Desperate Housewives set in space starring Jensen Ackles in drag (although that sounds much better than some of the slop these people are working on and selling their souls over).

Instead of exploring this medium through creativity and art, you are hammered into a mold and told to accept it. Writing is not for that. It's for a job. The end goal is a job. Okay, fine. I realized that's not what I want to write for so maybe this program wasn't for me. Except, you know, they should probably fulfill the "we're going to get you a job" aspect of it, right?

The part of the screenwriting curriculum that is touted around as what defines it as superior from other programs in the country is something called "First Pitch." It's when they rent out a ballroom at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons and essentially have you do speed dating with a bunch of executives, agencies, and management companies. It is the pay off for years of hardwork. USC WST will get you a job.

Just kidding! First Pitch is an absolute joke. Especially for BFAs. Nobody there cares about what you've spent the past four years putting your blood, sweat, and tears into. Nobody actually wants to be there because they have more important things to do. This is Hollywood, baby. Also, not for nothing, everyone is drunk. Literally everyone. And they don't even let the students order a drink. So you're just out there pitching your life's work to a bunch of dull-eyed assistants that were forced to go. It's genuinely soul-crushing, and the perfect amalgamation of my time there. Marketing my trauma as a reason I'm hirable and then having no one hire me anyway.

Afterwards, we were supposed to take all of those emails and the generals that the program gets us set up with and have our shot in the world that USC perfectly set us up for. Just kidding! No one takes you seriously there either. In fact, one of my friends who went into a meeting to talk about her writing got asked if she babysat.

I've heard better things about the MFA there, so take this from an undergrad grain of salt, but if I were to do my entire college experience over again, I would go somewhere I really loved and spend literally no money on it, then apply to a film school for grad school. My time at USC was mostly a waste where I met the most obnoxious Hollywood people that would stab you in the back if they found out it would get them a ten minute meeting with the CAA mail room. There were a few good eggs that I stick close with to this day, but I don't know what's in the BFA water there for the screenwriting program. Most are miserable, there were some really severe and dangerous mental health crises, and barely any of them have jobs in the industry. The ones that do either got them from their parents or are like the most snake-ass people you will ever meet.

Some people don't mind doing that whole song and dance, but it did make me not want anything to do with film and TV for several years. I ended up working with animals (where I weirdly made more industry connections than any of my time at school), and I got an assistant job through that.

Take with that what you will!

Hi! I’m Bryant Womack, Western Colorado University Class of 2025 and now faculty at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where I teach undergraduate screenwriting and filmmaking.

There’s not a day that goes by I don’t apply my education from Western be it as a professor in my own classroom, or in my practice of writing screenplays and novels. I consider myself indeed fortunate to have had the screenwriting instructors at Western guide me in my career as both storyteller and educator.

The dedication of the screenwriting instructors at Western focus on craft, mentorship, and a collaborative structure that is both fulfilling and challenging.

Let me rephrase that - pursuing my Western MFA kicked me in the butt 17 ways to Sunday! However, the discipline, instruction, guidance, and belief my instructors had in me - and continue to give me - turned me into the best I can be, and it’s simple to understand why - because I was taught by the best.

Sure, you can say this review is coerced and/or staged. I get it. I thought similar when I applied at Western and read similar posts to other schools I’d been accepted into for screenwriting that boasted their programs. But, I committed to Western.

The reason? Simple.

Because the instructors at Western offer in-person classroom and mentorship interaction. Others schools offering online course work end up being asynchronous and detached from the student. That might work well for some, but the collaboration and personalized dedication to you and your work often gets lost. As an educator I see that all too often in asynchronous programs.

So, let me shout out to you the names, James, Mita, Kim, Liz, and Amy. Come to Western, and they’ll shout out a list of names in the industry to you, and when that happens, you’ll understand why Western is one of the best possible choices for your career in screenwriting.

Finally, aside from screenwriting, the personalized attention I received from my Western instructors and cohort made me want to be not just a better writer - but a better person.

Apply. Write. Be the best.

Go Mad Jack.

Bryant Womack
MFA Screenwriting
Class of 2025