Latest Film School Reviews

I had an incredible time in the Creative Writing MFA program at AULA. Each of the mentors are working writers or retired professionals, and are very generous and patient as they navigate their own projects. They are able to bring their expertise and guidance to our writing and career plans. The entire program strives to be encouraging and celebratory of each other's work. My cohort and classmates have made life-long bonds and creative career collaborators.

Boise State University's film program is a very new program which only began in 2018. Since then they've grown exponentially and gotten much more funding which has allowed them to acquire new gear, studio space, and professors. You study a wide variety of subjects, from film theory, genres, to hands-on production, directing, writing, sound, and Post-Production. You have to take a certain amount of different classes, so you have to pick and choose what you are most interested in, although there is not a lot of depth if you want to really focus in on one concentration. For instance, there is only one cinematography class, without an advanced class. There are more writing classes than anything else, with Screenwriting 1 and 2, writing for TV class, and playwriting. The professors all care about everyone individually and are always willing to help anyone with their productions, scripts, or ideas. The class sizes can be big, especially in the early years when you have to take the film theory classes, but dwindle down once you get into more specific classes like Directing, which usually has between 15-18 students. Overall, if you live in Idaho or a surrounding state, it is a good program to check out and you will definitely come out of it with film knowledge and production experience.

Overall, my time at LMU was a genuinely good experience. One of the biggest draws of the program is the atmosphere. Unlike the hyper-competitive environment you might find at a place like USC, LMU fosters a friendly, highly collaborative culture. The small class sizes make it easy to build a tight-knit network; I’m still in close contact with some of my peers, and we actively collaborate on producing short films to this day.

I specialized in editing. There were only five editors in my cohort of forty-something people, and I found that I vibed the best with the editing professors compared to the other disciplines. The editing faculty is genuinely invested in our success and teaches practical, industry-standard workflows that directly translate to the real world. I felt thoroughly prepared for post-grad work, and one of my professors actually referred me for my first job. Today, I'm working as an Assistant Editor and Additional Editor on documentary projects, and I credit a lot of that foundation to LMU.

The experience for directors, however, is a different story. Over half of my cohort were directors, and navigating that track really comes down to the luck of the draw regarding who you get assigned to as a professor. While some are incredibly nice, supportive, and knowledgeable, others display blatant favoritism and aren't actively making their own films anymore, leaving them out of touch with the current industry. Because of this inconsistency, I found that my director peers were generally not as well-prepared for entering the industry and did not receive the same level of career support that we experienced in post-production. Additionally, the curriculum really pushed directors to write their own scripts; while they started encouraging more collaboration with screenwriters later on, I think this is an area where the program still has a lot of room for improvement.

If you want to focus on post-production and build a collaborative network, LMU is a fantastic choice. If you are applying as a director, be prepared for a larger track where the quality of mentorship, curriculum structure, and industry preparation varies wildly.

Antioch is a program that can work for anyone willing to put in the dedication. Being low-residency, this program allows students to build communities while also networking within their chosen career path. Instructors are available for one-on-one projects, feedback, and career advice as they're all currently working in the film/television/stage world. The residency occurs twice a year for ten days, and this is where students are given the opportunity to attend insightful seminars, meet writers they look up to, and engage in social events organized by the incredible staff. If you're looking for a community of working writers, Antioch is the place to go!

I loved this program with my entire being and would do it again without hesitation.

The faculty are award-winning filmmakers who have led the industry for decades, and they all know each other. That network is real and it works. I was pulled onto a show immediately after graduation and have been working ever since. Given the current state of the industry, that is not something I take lightly, and I owe it entirely to them. They will help with union applications, bend over backwards to find you work, and become genuine friends in the process.

The alumni network is just as strong. Graduates are close with one another and most are actively working on major projects across film, television, and theatre, from Marvel and DC to HBO productions to Broadway. You are not just joining a program, you are joining a community that looks out for each other long after graduation.

None of that comes free. This program will not hold your hand. It demands serious soul searching and personal growth alongside the technical work. They treat you with sincere respect and hold you to a professional standard because they expect you to be a working professional when you leave. If they have to carry you through the degree, do not expect that grace to follow you after graduation.

They do have favorites. Those favorites are always the students who show up with more work than expected, put in the extra time, and push themselves without being asked. Be that student.

Pros:

• Faculty are working legends with deep industry connections
• Alumni are close knit and working on major projects across film, TV, and Broadway
• Graduates find work fast, a genuine rarity right now
• Real post-graduation support including union applications and job placement
• The department head will go out of her way to find the biggest working names and get them in front of students. If you want to learn from someone or you have a program you want to know, she will get it for you.

Cons:

• Extremely demanding, not for the unprepared or faint of heart
• No hand-holding, you will sink or swim on your own effort
• Three years, expensive

The film program at the University of Utah left a lot to be desired. For a program that could leverage Utah's growing film industry and stunning locations, it felt surprisingly stagnant. The faculty skews young, which isn't inherently a problem, but when that youth comes paired with limited experience on large-scale productions, it shows in the depth of instruction. Students looking to understand how professional sets actually operate may find themselves piecing that knowledge together on their own.

One moment that stuck with me, for all the wrong reasons: a faculty member assigned Birth of a Nation (the 1915 original) without the kind of critical framework that inflammatory material demands. It was a jarring choice that raised more questions about the department's judgment than it answered about film history.

As a design student, I found myself gravitating toward the theatre department, which offered far more meaningful opportunities for growth and collaboration. The film department simply didn't serve that creative track well.

There is one genuine silver lining: designers are rare in the program. If you want hands-on experience on student films and lots of it, you'll have no shortage of projects to work on. For a certain kind of self-directed student, that access could be genuinely valuable.

But as a well-rounded program? There's meaningful room to grow.

The access to free professional equipment with little resistance is awesome. A lot of film schools do not allow easy access in this way, and the SDSU inventory is on par with the other film schools in socal, for an extremely reasonable price. Additionally, you actually get to make a short film every semester here (one semester is a documentary if you play your cards right and don't double up your schedule), whereas the other public film schools DO NOT do that.

Ultimately, the school is what you make it. You will learn from your peers and your own mistakes 10000% more than from the professors. There are a handful of amazing new professors with more experience, but when I was there it was 70% old men with no recent film industry experience, whose advice I found to be useless and outdated now that I myself work in the film industry. I truly believe this is now changing over time (and may have already), and my hint would be if you see a woman's name listed as professor: TAKE THAT CLASS.

Their career assistance has been unfortunately lackluster for me thus far, I have gotten work and jobs from putting the work in by myself (despite my persistent efforts in asking them for help), but again they are working to change this and believe it will be a lot better moving forward. Their alumni network is vast, they just need to learn how to use it, and to really do the work in having more alumni outreach to the recent successful alums, not only the older ones from a billion years ago, because I've found the recent alums from the last 5-6 years to be far more engaging and helpful.

Columbia is a great place to develop taste. It is not a good place to learn how to make. They explicitly state that their goal is to teach you what great filmmaking is, not teach you how to create it (as an undergrad). The MFA program is fine but the network is very, very poor. Barnard, however, was incredibly supportive in their filmmaking courses. Columbia students who are frustrated may look to Barnard classes for better equipment and training.

If you want to be a pro, there is no better entryway into the industry. If you want to be an artist, maybe not the best school for that. USC is not so flexible with pushing creative boundaries. It polishes students into "pro-ready" talents with a network to immediately dive into. It is definitely competitive and can be cutthroat, like Hollywood. No school is perfect, and most will not make the leap, but you have no better chance to "make it" than to go to USC.

I am eternally grateful to everything USC has done for me, especially as an international student; it has closed learning gaps that would have taken forever to fill. The faculty is extraordinary, and the support from people in the school is unlike anything I have seen in other schools—an extraordinary experience and honoured ot be a part of the best film school in the world.

FTMA was an integral part of my development process as a filmmaker and a human being. Through this program, I learned discipline, follow-through, TRUE teamwork and collaboration, and respect for ALL walks of life. I created life-long relationships with my professors, including Zeke Hawkins, student Oscar winner, Roger S.H. Schulman, screenwriter of Shrek and BAFTA winner, as well as Todd Barnes, multi-time director/producer at Sundance Film Festival. Additionally, I've had the opportunity to travel abroad twice to make films and content, as well as attend Sundance Film Festival as a volunteer. I think the faculty at FTMA really care about learning inside the classroom as much as outside the classroom. There's at least 1 supplemental workshop per month, where professors bring in current industry professionals to shed some light on their careers and make personal connections with students. Through these events, I have been able to network and secure my first on-set, union jobs in NYC. Beyond all of that, I received my MFA which allows me to teach filmmaking at the University level. Here, I found my life's passion and have been teaching in higher ed for the last 5 years. Truth be told, I don't think I would be the same person I am without FTMA and their community.

Obtaining my MFA is something that I have considered for many years. However, it never seemed like the right time. Antioch made it the right time because the environment is supportive and brings the best work out of its students. The only competition is the competition between the levels of work writers produce. It is truly a place where creatives can thrive.

Antioch's MFA in Dramatic Writing is unlike any program I've encountered. What sets it apart immediately is the mentorship model — your mentors are working writers, actively engaged in the industry right now. I had Joy Kecken, Angela Harvey, Ross Brown, and John Cariani( who is an a playwright and actor) and together they’ve worked on shows like, Swagger, American Horor story, Kindred, Law & Order, the marvailous MRs. Maisel , The Black List, Cloak and Dagger, The good Wife, The Wire, Home land, The Princess Diaries, All My Children, The Cosby show, the facts of life, the suite life of Zack and cody, Webster, Step by step. … literally the pool of knowledge is endless) The feedback is rigorous and honest, and they genuinely push you to go deeper than you thought you could.

One of the most transformative parts of the program was the field study component. Which is basically, finding a way to give back to your community or the worl, and factoring in the arts to all walks of life and how you, as a creative and help cultivate and conect with the world and the betterment of it. Benign in California which is a Hollywood space that seems to be all about money, profit and connections, I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to go inside a prison and help produce a play with incarcerated participants. I cannot overstate how profoundly rewarding that experience was: it reminded me exactly why storytelling matters. Watching people connect through performance in that environment reinforced everything I believe about the power of art to humanize, heal, and create change in the world.

I was blessed and lucky enough to be able to receive a scholarship from the school of $10,000 from the Eloise Klein Healy Scholarship Fund. Which really goes to show how community focused this MFA is.

Antioch takes social justice seriously as a creative lens. The program understands that what we write and what we put into the world carries weight — and it asks you to sit with that responsibility. For writers who believe their work should mean something beyond the page, and should be impactful, this is the place to grow. I think that is sooo important and should be taught in other schools. Connecting with people, with your audience is how you make great writing. While here I learned to really dig into my authentic voice and dig even deeper to find the message behind the voice. What am I saying and why.

This school is a freaking NIGHTMARE. I was sexually harassed and bullied by foreigners in my class and the school took their side because they cater to rich foreigners over everyone else. I had exlax put in my coffee during shoot, I had to change classes lost 6 months of my GI Bill and they thought they were doing me a favor. A foreign student stole my mother's, who is a professional artist. painting and I had to deal with all kinds of drama to finally get it back, the school refused to help me, and the guy who stole it demanded I buy him an expensive external drive because he said his was broken while we were shooting in his apartment with permission, so I bought him a new one and then he wanted the old one back to recover what was on it, clearly if it was recoverable you would have checked that first so it was a scam to get a new external hard drive and the school told me to give the broken one back and I said no I paid for it ffs and this guy is trying to scam me after he already stole from me. The school hates veterans, they had Steven Spielberg as a guest and the school told us none of the veterans were allowed to attend, too many people wanted to attend so they kicked us out so that all the rich foreign students could get in.
If you are a veteran DO NOT attend THIS school, there are other better options, literally any other option is better than this Anti-American sexists PSO school and their failed bitter staff.

Also you have to pay for film and tons of other things, so the costs are way more than advertised. And because a lot of the actors in the acting program they want you to work with are foreigners without driver's license so they expect you to drive them around with no compensation to include driving rental trucks full of equipment and if anything goes wrong because you are the driver it is legally on you which is bs. And you would think working with a bunch of rich foreigners would at least help with expenses, I have never seen a bunch of cheap freeloaders in my life with as much audacity as these students, they are rich spoiled and many on their own for the first time, so it feels like babysitting a lot of the time. And and the teachers when I went there seemed to resent veterans being in their classes, they really disliked us and it was uncomfortable. Many of the veterans who started with us left and lost their GI bill money due to it so please be careful with THIS school because they don't care if they rip you off and screw you offer.

I love being a part of the Antioch Creative Writing community. The mentors are really supportive, they push you to do your best, but are great at tailoring that to whatever YOUR best is, not expecting a one-size-fits-all definition of what that means.

I truly found my community at Antioch. As a returning older student, I was uncertain if I would feel comfortable in a low-residency program at first. What a delight to discover that not only did Antioch offer me a supportive environment to explore my abilities as a writer, but also that the faculty and staff went above and beyond to ensure my comfort and success. I still stay connected with both faculty and fellow students. Antioch is an exceptional place to learn and grow.

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.