So , i wanted to write aout my exprience interviewing for the AFI Grad Directing Program
I interviewed last Friday, in LA. I won't spend alot of time on my submitted materials, but i will say that i have a fairly strong film as the centerpiece of my portfolio. you can watch it in the "portfolio forum."
I am also not a strong academic student (3.0-ish) but i have a fairly well rounded resume.
I was interviewed by Peter Markham; Directing Faculty and Chamille; a former directing fellow. The AFI campus, atleast whatI saw, was nice. the view from the main building is awesome, you can see all of downtown. I arrived early and found parking along the main drive. There were lots of current fellows coming and going.
I met Jill, the person with the best job on campus; she calls all the applicants to schedule the iterviews. The staff in the admissions office were really friendly. I wasnt very nervous, but If i had been I suspect the staff would have done what they could have to make me feel comfortable. There were other applicants in the office, but i did not run into any other directing applicats. that is probably by design. I met a Cinematography applicant and a writing applicant in the waiting room.
I didn't wait very long and was brought up to an office. Jill asked me to check in with them before leaving. She said sometimes people are crying when they get out and they want to make sure everyone is OK before they leave. Not sure if this is true, but it was a fun story. Maybe people cry and throw up all the time. I guess it can be overwhelming for some people.
The opening of the interview was a little rough. I think I was settling in and I think my interviewers were trying to adjust to how I look. I am covered in tattoos. Not just arms, but my neck and hands are covered in tattoos. See, they don't have pictures of applicants. My film is a drama about a smalltown Kansas girl, so when a 6'6" tattooed guy with an awesome mustache walks through the door, they may have been a bit surprised.
Being a large tattooed man, I have to work twice as hard to make good first impressions. I'm overcoming not just being a stranger, but also overcoming the expectation I'm going to be an asshole, an idiot and/or steal their wallet. I could tell that after about 5-10mins all of us got more comfortable.
The interview lasted about an hour. I got all of the expected questions. Why do I want to go to AFI? Filmmakers I like; books I've been reading; what other schools I applied to; ect. We disagreed on some things. Some people might think this is a good cop/bad cop thing (as I've read elsewhere) but I didn't get that impression at all. Simply disagreeing doesn't mean "bad cop," it just means that Peter and I are not the same person. Although my head almost exploded when he said he didn't like Breaking Bad.
If you are not used to having conversations with people who disagree with you, you might have trouble. I go out of my way to have conversations with people who disagree with me, not to convince them, but to share ideas. If you are this type of person, it won't trip you up. Also Peter is an interrupter. It might throw some people off. I'm originally from Boston so interrupting each other is part of the "war of conversation." I never interrupted him, but he interrupted me plenty; it didn't really bother me.
When they asked me what directors I liked , I called an audible. The alumnus is French and although Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a big influence on me (along with Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam and German Impressionist Dir. like Lang, Wiene and Mourneau) I thought It might have sounded like pandering so I didn't mention it. I kind of regret it because I would liked to have heard her impressions of his work.
They had very very kind things to say about my film. They really understood the processes and themes in the film. We talked at length about it, things they liked, things I thought could have been better. We had a conversation about the pace of the film. I talked about the struggle I had over executing and weaving rural pace into the film while still making it watchable.
I lived and worked in LA for 5 years, so I know an "LA compliment" when I hear one. It seemed their compliments were genuine and I was really flattered by it. It makes me feel good to hear real compliments, with depth, from people I admire. So, that was nice.
We also talked about my music choices and I was VERY pleased that they had taken an interest in my choices. I care deeply for music in my films and they seemed equally as passionate about music choices in films.
I felt both my interviewers were genuinely interested and engaged in the conversation. It didn't feel like they were phoning the interview in. They seemed as present as I was.
Near the end of the interview I asked a couple of questions about what was expected of thesis films and what would be considered a "successful" thesis. I got two different, but honest answers from a faculty member and an alumnus. These answers will really sway me when making my final choice.
They asked me about other schools where I am interviewing (NYU, Columbia), finances and explained the timeline for decisions. Peter recommended an author he thought I would like so naturally I ordered one of her books from Amazon right away.
The interview ended on a high note and I left feeling like I accomplished everything I wanted to:
To be myself; to be relaxed; to be engaged; to listen; and to try to make a genuine connection with the other people in the room. Although, this is not a unique list by any means, as these are the same things I work to accomplish in EVERY conversation with every person, not just decision makers.
Some final thoughts:
1. Don't try to be someone you are not. These people can smell bullshit a mile away. Even if you think they won't like the answer, my philosophy is, I'd rather be honest and cause a disagreement than lie to avoid a disagreement.
2. Don't try to be the person you think they want. (See #1)
3. Research your interviewers. I actually didn't need to use any of the info I had, but I felt More prepared.
4. I take my work very seriously, but I don't take myself too seriously.
5. Don't travel on a weekend when a storm cancels like, 1000 flights and you get stuck in the airport all days
6. Don't ignore your superstitions. I had my lucky meal for lunch that day.
If anyone has questions, please reply here so I can share with the board.
Good luck everyone!
I will update when decisions come in.
I interviewed last Friday, in LA. I won't spend alot of time on my submitted materials, but i will say that i have a fairly strong film as the centerpiece of my portfolio. you can watch it in the "portfolio forum."
I am also not a strong academic student (3.0-ish) but i have a fairly well rounded resume.
I was interviewed by Peter Markham; Directing Faculty and Chamille; a former directing fellow. The AFI campus, atleast whatI saw, was nice. the view from the main building is awesome, you can see all of downtown. I arrived early and found parking along the main drive. There were lots of current fellows coming and going.
I met Jill, the person with the best job on campus; she calls all the applicants to schedule the iterviews. The staff in the admissions office were really friendly. I wasnt very nervous, but If i had been I suspect the staff would have done what they could have to make me feel comfortable. There were other applicants in the office, but i did not run into any other directing applicats. that is probably by design. I met a Cinematography applicant and a writing applicant in the waiting room.
I didn't wait very long and was brought up to an office. Jill asked me to check in with them before leaving. She said sometimes people are crying when they get out and they want to make sure everyone is OK before they leave. Not sure if this is true, but it was a fun story. Maybe people cry and throw up all the time. I guess it can be overwhelming for some people.
The opening of the interview was a little rough. I think I was settling in and I think my interviewers were trying to adjust to how I look. I am covered in tattoos. Not just arms, but my neck and hands are covered in tattoos. See, they don't have pictures of applicants. My film is a drama about a smalltown Kansas girl, so when a 6'6" tattooed guy with an awesome mustache walks through the door, they may have been a bit surprised.
Being a large tattooed man, I have to work twice as hard to make good first impressions. I'm overcoming not just being a stranger, but also overcoming the expectation I'm going to be an asshole, an idiot and/or steal their wallet. I could tell that after about 5-10mins all of us got more comfortable.
The interview lasted about an hour. I got all of the expected questions. Why do I want to go to AFI? Filmmakers I like; books I've been reading; what other schools I applied to; ect. We disagreed on some things. Some people might think this is a good cop/bad cop thing (as I've read elsewhere) but I didn't get that impression at all. Simply disagreeing doesn't mean "bad cop," it just means that Peter and I are not the same person. Although my head almost exploded when he said he didn't like Breaking Bad.
If you are not used to having conversations with people who disagree with you, you might have trouble. I go out of my way to have conversations with people who disagree with me, not to convince them, but to share ideas. If you are this type of person, it won't trip you up. Also Peter is an interrupter. It might throw some people off. I'm originally from Boston so interrupting each other is part of the "war of conversation." I never interrupted him, but he interrupted me plenty; it didn't really bother me.
When they asked me what directors I liked , I called an audible. The alumnus is French and although Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a big influence on me (along with Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam and German Impressionist Dir. like Lang, Wiene and Mourneau) I thought It might have sounded like pandering so I didn't mention it. I kind of regret it because I would liked to have heard her impressions of his work.
They had very very kind things to say about my film. They really understood the processes and themes in the film. We talked at length about it, things they liked, things I thought could have been better. We had a conversation about the pace of the film. I talked about the struggle I had over executing and weaving rural pace into the film while still making it watchable.
I lived and worked in LA for 5 years, so I know an "LA compliment" when I hear one. It seemed their compliments were genuine and I was really flattered by it. It makes me feel good to hear real compliments, with depth, from people I admire. So, that was nice.
We also talked about my music choices and I was VERY pleased that they had taken an interest in my choices. I care deeply for music in my films and they seemed equally as passionate about music choices in films.
I felt both my interviewers were genuinely interested and engaged in the conversation. It didn't feel like they were phoning the interview in. They seemed as present as I was.
Near the end of the interview I asked a couple of questions about what was expected of thesis films and what would be considered a "successful" thesis. I got two different, but honest answers from a faculty member and an alumnus. These answers will really sway me when making my final choice.
They asked me about other schools where I am interviewing (NYU, Columbia), finances and explained the timeline for decisions. Peter recommended an author he thought I would like so naturally I ordered one of her books from Amazon right away.
The interview ended on a high note and I left feeling like I accomplished everything I wanted to:
To be myself; to be relaxed; to be engaged; to listen; and to try to make a genuine connection with the other people in the room. Although, this is not a unique list by any means, as these are the same things I work to accomplish in EVERY conversation with every person, not just decision makers.
Some final thoughts:
1. Don't try to be someone you are not. These people can smell bullshit a mile away. Even if you think they won't like the answer, my philosophy is, I'd rather be honest and cause a disagreement than lie to avoid a disagreement.
2. Don't try to be the person you think they want. (See #1)
3. Research your interviewers. I actually didn't need to use any of the info I had, but I felt More prepared.
4. I take my work very seriously, but I don't take myself too seriously.
5. Don't travel on a weekend when a storm cancels like, 1000 flights and you get stuck in the airport all days
6. Don't ignore your superstitions. I had my lucky meal for lunch that day.
If anyone has questions, please reply here so I can share with the board.
Good luck everyone!
I will update when decisions come in.
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) and then she asked "Why would you want an MFA instead of just going straight into production work?" I handled that well, then I got the dreaded "How are you going to pay for USC?" Here's where it got a little dicy because honestly it's going to be hard, and I told her that I would need to take out loans. But I also told her it was a sacrifice I was willing to make for this dream. I asked her a few questions about time commitments and class structures, and that was it.
