NYFA - New York Film Academy (Los Angeles Campus) Reviews & Admissions Statistics

The best thing I can say is that for the filmmaking master's program I have truly learned. I am so grateful and gracious for the level of knowledge that has been provided here, however there are a few classes later on that feel like fillers, just to justify the cost.

The schedule, especially in the first semester is often over 40 hrs a week, sometimes weekends. If it's possible for them to make the schedule where you could have consistency or work, they simply won't meaning, you can see that there was room in the schedule to do 9-3 five days a week without change but they might have one day 9-7, the next day 12-3 and another day with a 5 hr gap between classes, for example. You have no say in your schedule. You have to take the one they give you and they don't tell you this until orientation so if you need to work, you pretty much can't with this program. If you have kids, you're going to need full time assistance with them. If you're moving prior to attending the school, I suggest doing it at least a week before or you'll have no time to catch up on jet lag and sleep.

Same classmates throughout, it's good because you get to know everyone's strengths and weaknesses when working on projects and it'll be like a family if you're a group who likes each other but you get tired of the same people and you don't meet many people outside of your class to network or from other programs.

Many mandatory productions you must do which is great but for the cost of the school, you would think they would provide something some sort of benefit. You can't use the school for anything regarding a project due for your homework, can't have a simple meeting with cast or crew, or auditions, use the school in anyway. Then they place requirements on the insurance you have to pay for and all these things quickly rack up your project costs. Part of going to school is supposed to be the benefits that you won't have once you leave it.

The environment is inflexible and fairly militant in how it operates, you feel it through the halls.

Also when they say you will shoot on a studio backlot, it's only for class assignments on the same western lot with a bunch of other classes making noises while you shoot.

Don't let the fact that it's 100% acceptance fool you into thinking you won't learn much though, the education warrants an A- at the least but there are things you may want to consider before you attend this school.

I still may recommend this school for this program because you will leave with knowledge to work in the industry but those other factors can truly be a deterrent to consider.

Honestly, the best thing about NYFA when I was there in 2011 was the location. I attended the New York location and it was a dream for a small-town girl from North Carolina. It was also expensive, of course.

The courses were fun and we actually got the chance to take filmmaking courses along with our acting courses. So you get a little experience with everything (mainly editing, wardrobe and make-up, script supervising, boom operating, gaffer, etc.)

Acting courses included, Acting for Film, Improv, Meisner, Scene Study, and a few others I can't remember right now.

The campuses were spread out when I was there, but that was just good exercise. Classes were every other day and then for your second semester, we switched days(1st-semester m,w,f; 2nd-semester t,t,s ).

The faculty was great. Very supportive. I made life-long friends. Network connections, not so much, but if you know where to go in the city then maybe you can find something or someone.

A few agents and managers will come to the graduation to see your final films (I was asked to submit a headshot to an agency. Nothing came of it, but it was still nice to be noticed.)

Financial aid helps a lot if you can get it. I was lucky enough to be able to live with my cousin for free, so I didn't have to pay rent and could live a little with my extra fin aid money.

Overall description:
Was in the filmmaking program for 4 Weeks and had to make 3 short films, and 2 practice films, in total. I would say this program is for someone who is just starting out, and it is very hands on so overall go if you want a taste of filmmaking. If you're intermediate maybe this isnt for you.

Faculty:
Directing, screenwriting, editing instructors were all great. Had 2 camera equipment instructors who taught different conflicting things so not sure who to listen to.
Editing dept guys were very helpful and offered us a lot of support.
One class said "casting" with no context and turns out it was the acting class that was supposed to do a monologue and we had to cast them for our films there and then, and the filmmakers did not know what or how to do it. Acting teacher was unbothered, just made the actors do their monologue and told filmmakers to "take down notes", and she leaves immediately after. She also abandons her acting students on some shoots for unexplained reasons so our directing instructor had to take over.

Administration:
Offered adequate amount of help online for visa process, but had a difficult time in person. I was given a student card for entry that had a printing error on the bar code and doesn't work. The card also did not have my preferred name on it. Had to pay $20 to have it replaced. Transport not provided to filming location (Griffith Park) so student had to fork out their own expenses, was made known to us.
Admissions did not allow my friend (non NYFA student) to enter the building for the screening of the film because they only have 2 shots of the vaccine, not 3. A negative PCR covid test sufficed, they said, but this was only made known less than 24 hours. Quite ridiculous as PCR tests take around 24 hours for results. In the end, my friend could not be present for my final screening.

Classmates:
Everyone was international (except one) and mostly trying out whether film is for them. Had a guy who went to film school in his home country and realised that this class was too elementary for him, and he left. Probably isn't going to help you with local connections.

Actors:
Was told by my directing instructors that its a gamble every program because every batch of students would vary in acting quality. Was lucky enough to work with a talented bunch of young actors. The actors are around 19-25 years old, some are local and some are international, but all of them seem to be professional, skillful and the collaboration was very smooth to say the least.

Cirriculum:
Monday to Friday. Most days are 9am to 6:40pm, which is about 3 classes. We had to use our weekends to shoot some of films at our own time and stayed back after class to edit. Usually I only have one Sunday free. It was actually a lot of content and worthwhile since the 3 films we do are same as the first 3 projects in the MFA program. I'm exhausted most of the time and have less leisure time than the acting students. We do everything from pitching, writing, filming, editing. It is a very hands on program.

Equipment:
Was given a box of equipment with lenses and a Sony FX6. Was all labeled and easy to use. Also was taught how to handle them. However tripods' quality could be better, a lot of them are loose and dont stay in place.

Location:
Does not have bus/train nearby so be expected to get here by car, or you can walk from the bus stop. Not much food choices around. There is a starbucks opposite the school. The building is like an enclosed office building. There's a small corner selling snacks and packaged food inside and vending machines around, but other than that not much. Actors have their lesson in another building quite far away from the main building.

Price:
Website says $3771 USD but be expected to spend more on transport, props etc. For international students expect to spend more on your visa and lodging.

I have an MFA in TV production that I haven't used in 30 years. I took the one-week film making course to morph from TV jargon to film and update from analog to digital. Some of the professors were the best I've ever seen. The course only required a one to two-minute unedited film project, but it inspired me to do a nine-minute film I uploaded to YouTube, and it got me recognition from local independent film makers. I then took the 15-week Screenplay Story and Structure course and completed two complete outlines of movies. I have now entered the second 15-week course and hope to have one script ready to produce locally and another for marketing by April. I think NYFA is well worth the money if you're serious about film making and ready to put your time and energy into it. The administration, however, leaves much to be lacking. I could not enter the first course ontime because they wanted me to prove I had a high school education, even tho my application showed an MFA. The second course used info from my first course and went smoothly. But now they've updated their info entry system and seem to be more worried about my skin color than my qualifications to continue. I don't understand why they are doing this, but I hope they straighten it out soon.