AFI Interview Questions

[Chris W]

Here are some interview questions from this year. Please quote and post others in this thread that you find.

Here are some of the questions they asked me (at least everything I can remember), though I will say the conversation flowed pretty organically and many questions seemed to come up naturally in conversation and were specific to me.

Where are you speaking to us from? How is it there?

What’s your interest in screenwriting?

I brought up my family at some point in here and that transitioned the conversation into more questions about my family and then some specific questions about my personal essay.

What’s a feature you would like to write for your first project?

Any questions for us?

What’s the longest script you’ve written?

What movies did you like this year?

What movies did you not like?

Are you reading any screenplays?

 

[Chris W]

Here another post on it.

Hello everyone! This Friday I had my Skype interview so I thought to write something about it, just to help others and reduce their stress level ahaha

I spoke with a woman on the first part, not to Giovanni, I couldn't actually get her name because she was speaking too fast for my understanding (english is not my first language). But she said the usual things about AFI, and then she asked me if I had questions for her (and to leave the more specific ones about the course for the later interview), so actually I just ask her about the accommodation and housing in LA (I'm from Europe). Then we ended the call and I waited for the second part.

So I was interviewed by Anna Thomas and Jonathan Fernandez! As almost everyone said in the past, they were super chill and relaxed. I don't remember all the questions they actually made me (because sometimes they came from previous ones or from my personal statement), but here are the ones I remember ahah:

- They asked me about the place I'm currently living now and how is it and for how long I've been living there

- They asked me about my past screenwriting courses/laboratories, how they were structured and how many people were in the class

- They asked me about my past scripts, how many pages is actually the longest screenplay I've ever written

- They asked me if I wanted to write for the cinema or television

- They asked me about my interest in screenwriting and why AFI Conservatory

- They asked me if I'm going to LA to stay or just to go back to Europe after finishing the screenwriting course

- They asked me which are the films I liked the most this year and why (be ready on the newest ones)

Then I made two questions (near the end of the interview) so we chatted a little bit more and more personal questions were asked during that part.

I personally think it was a good interview but we actually can't say that for sure. I think for the questions they made, there is not a specific/right answer, it's just they want to know you and see if you could fit in their program.
Personally I enjoyed my time with both of them, even if maybe I've spoken a little too much and we were running out of time so Jonathan actually wanted to ask me a few questions but there wasn't the time!
Guys, speaking from my experience, really there are no right answers to this kind of interview, they really just want to know you, so be yourself.
I don't know if I'm going to be accepted or not, but in the end I really enjoyed my time with them, so that's more than enough for me
And btw, the time actually has really flown, when we ended the interview I was like "that short? Maybe they weren't so interested in my answers..." but then I realized that I talked with them for half an hour! So really guys, relax.
I really hope my experience could help someone and please, feel free to ask me anything about it Good luck!

 

[Brightstar]

Thank you for the insight. Is there anyone who can give some advice for AFI production design interview?

 

[Dhwani]

Thank you for the insight. Is there anyone who can give some advice for AFI production design interview?

Hey,

Did you then get an acceptance from AFI? I am applying for production design this year and I got selected for an interview. If you go to AFI, I would like to have a conversation. Please let me know. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Dhwani Vora.

 

[Dhwani]

Hey,

Did you then get an acceptance from AFI? I am applying for production design this year and I got selected for an interview. If you go to AFI, I would like to have a conversation. Please let me know. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Dhwani Vora.

Please text me @vora_dhwani on Instagram if you don't mind

 

[Yang Qian]

Hi, everyone, I just finished the AFI Producing interview! Here's some questions that I remember:

1. What are you doing in your life now?

2. What kind of movies you love to watch?

3. How do you see yourself after AFI?

4. Why AFI? Why Producing?

5. What's your day like?

6. Have you been to LA?

7. Do you have any questions for us?

8. What book are you reading now? (I think it's a me-specific question) - I'm reading a book by a Chinese author Liang Wendao <wozhi我执>

 

[user1234]

I just had my interview as well. These are the questions they asked me.

1. About visual samples
2. About what I wrote in my statement
3. What would you like to make as a feature?
4. What do you think you can work on as a director?
5. Why AFI?

 

[deezasaur]

Has anyone in Cinematography had their interview yet?
I'd love to hear what sort of things were asked and discussed?
Mines on the 27th and ive been obsessively reading threads from past years about interviews trying to see what to expect haha.

Good luck to everyone with interviews coming up! x

I had mine on the 20th and they asked where I see myself in the future (because I'm an international student), why I want to come to AFI, what AFI can provide me/what I expect out of AFI, why I want to study abroad, why i picked cinematography (out of all the other departments), about my experience shooting one of my narrative examples and asked if I have any questions about AFI. The conversation was quite relaxed, because the interviewers kept the conversation going smoothly. I'm not sure if I remember everything they asked but those were the main questions I remembered. It lasted about 23 minutes, I was let in almost immediately at my allotted time and we finished a little before the 30 minutes was up.

I spoke to an alumni before my interview, and he said they also often ask about your narrative examples, how you achieved your lighting/composition/artistic vision etc. In previous years they have also asked about your favourite book/book genre. In general they are interested in who you are as a person, your style and what your eye is like. I was encouraged to not be shy, to be sure of what I'm saying and speak calmly.

It was over very quickly, and although I was nervous - the conversation still felt good and open because my interviewers were very calm and talkative also.

 

[Tammy]

I finished my interview with Laura and Omar yesterday, they are all nice people, they asked me about why I chose directing, why AFI, some questions about my short film like how did I collaborate with others.

 

[Chris W]

Please share your AFI interview questions below in this thread in addition to the application year threads.

Also here's our older article on interview questions to all programs:

Film School Interview Questions

This is a list of ACTUAL interview questions reported from posts from our members from the thousands of posts over the years on these boards. Please leave a reply in the discussion thread with any that you've had and I'll update the article. Also WEAR NICE CLOTHES TO YOUR INTERVIEW - as an AFI...

• Chris W
• Sep 15, 2016
• Category: Applying to Film School

 

[degalder]

Just did my interview for Directing with Andrew and Natalie. Quite nervous. It went well I think. Though I did blank out at a certain point. I talked quite a lot (oops) so I had few questions...

1) A question regarding the relationship of the two characters in my visual exercise.
2) What is my intention as a film director
3) What kind of stories I want to tell (this was a continuation of the previous question, because I answered 'intention' as 'aesthetic intent')
4) A question regarding how I would deal with miscommunication with a team member during a shoot (because I stated this had happened during the filming of my narrative example)

And that was it. After that we ran out of time. Hope it helps anyone and good luck to all!

We can network if anyone is interested. Kill the wait sharing our stuff... You can find me in Instagram (@galder.irusta), Facebook (Galder Irusta) or mail (degalder@zoho.com).

 

[burtsbee]

i interviewed for both the screenwriting and directing disciplines. my screenwriting interview was last week, and i felt like it went great. i had my directing interview today and definitely don't feel as confident with how it went. my interviewers were nice, but difficult to read, and i felt as if they were unimpressed. i ended up fumbling a couple of my responses. now the grueling wait... here were some questions they asked me:

-asked if i had faced any difficulty in collaboration on one of my visual submissions
-what kinds of feature films i'd like to make
-what is a director's job?
-asked for some story background on one of my submissions
-asked about some of my favorite films
-questions for them

 

[Million Dollar Baby]

Got an interview tomorrow, will share more when I finish. (producing program).I

They talked about my narrative story/treatment and who's the protagonist and antagonist. Some projects on my resume are interested. What personal experience would you like to share? Would it be a movie or tv series? Which movie makes you want to be a filmmaker? It's a very conversation, and I think if they are interested in a specific part will go further to ask related questions. It's about 30-40 minutes. They are both very friendly. When I start talking and don't feel nervous.