Vancouver Film School

I've heard Vancouver Film School (VFS) be referred to as a "puppy mill" and I think that's an apt analogy. They have a new intake of students every two months and it does, at times, feel like they're just trying to get as much money as possible. The resources at our disposal were not amazing; computers didn't always work, art supplies were old, camera equipment and lights we had access to were outdated.

I was in the Foundation in Visual Art and Design program which is probably the program the school cares least about. The actual Film Production program receives more attention, funding, and resources.

I think VFS gives you a good basic understanding of film production. Is it worth the tuition? I'm not sure. It also really depends on who your classmates are since these are the people you will be working with. People who had good experiences also had good cohorts, whereas others did not like their classmates had subpar experiences.

Foundation in Visual Art and Design is a unique program. I tried finding similar ones in North America and Europe and couldn't find much. It gives you a taste of the lens-based and digital art world. If you're not sure what you want to do, this is a good program to figure it out. The teachers were, on the whole, pretty good. There were some which weren't that great. They can offer connections in the industry and good advice. I got work on set through some teachers.

The program helped me a lot in figuring out what I wanted and I was able to fund it myself without taking out loans.

Overall, kind of a mixed bag.

If you're between VFS and another film school, I would probably go with the other film school.