How's the Film program at San Diego State?

[KamGee]

Hi,

I tried looking for answers to this question online but couldn't find much. What's the undergraduate film program like at SDSU? It isn't on any ranking lists, so is this due to poor marketing or just a poor program? I went and toured the school during their open house, and I liked everything I saw, but I'm curious to hear if anyone knows more about it.

I also got into the film programs at Long Beach State and Northridge. I often hear a lot more about the film programs at those schools, so I'm considering those as well; however, SDSU is currently at the top of my list since I liked the college itself the best out of the three, and their film program seemed to be credible and had a lot of resources I could utilize. The biggest downside I found with SDSU is the fact that it's so much farther away from all of the action in LA, but I feel like San Diego is a big enough city that it wouldn't be impossible to find a suitable internship or job (there's also always the possibility of transferring or a grad school). However, if there's anything I should know about any of these three schools (but especially SDSU) I would appreciate it greatly!

Thanks!
Kameron Grant

 

[Isabellagrcia]

Hi! I attended undergrad at SDSU, and was between CSUN and SDSU at the time, but ultimately chose SDSU because I'm from San Diego and it just made financial sense.

I don't believe it's not on any rankings because of poor marketing. I think it's because of lack of notable alumni. We do have a couple though! Our most famous being Destin Daniel Cretton.

SDSU really values film production. You make a couple of short films, but you can get pigeonholed into a specific crew category, so if you want to be known as a director or a writer, you should make people know almost immediately. If you're interested in TV, there's maybe only one television spec screenwriting class, which wasn't there when I went, and a TV broadcasting class.

As for internships, SDSU is affiliated with KPBS so you could get an internship there. It might be a little harder to get an internship at a news station because they tend to favor journalism majors (I double majored). You could also get internships in LA over the summer.

There are definitely things I would change if I had the chance, but I came to really enjoy my last 1-2 years there because I finally got to do what I envisioned myself doing: writing scripts with the aid of a mentor.

I really can't compare it to the two other schools since I don't know what those programs are like at all, but I've heard good things about the CSUN MFA Screenwriting program. I don't regret my time at SDSU at all, and just helped me become more confident in myself and what I ultimately want to do and the people I want to hang out/create with.

If you have any other questions, let me know!

 

[MarieA]

Current student. SDSU tfm critical studies is fine if you want to be a screenwriter. DO NOT GO HERE FOR PRODUCTION. The profs are old,no professional experience, equipment is old outdated, you are not taught any relevant career skills, there is no post production classes, the program is a complete waste of time, I have 4.0 and learned nothing.High emphasis on liberal political issues but no training. There are no internships or relationships with professionals. The GE requirements are 75% of your curriculum and are ridiculously irrelevant and awful. You won't learn camera operation,editing, or any on set skills. It's a complete joke.

 

[Chris W]

Current student. SDSU tfm critical studies is fine if you want to be a screenwriter. DO NOT GO HERE FOR PRODUCTION. The profs are old,no professional experience, equipment is old outdated, you are not taught any relevant career skills, there is no post production classes, the program is a complete waste of time, I have 4.0 and learned nothing.High emphasis on liberal political issues but no training. There are no internships or relationships with professionals. The GE requirements are 75% of your curriculum and are ridiculously irrelevant and awful. You won't learn camera operation,editing, or any on set skills. It's a complete joke.

Thanks for your review. Can you also post the review on the school's page on this site:

San Diego State University - School of Theatre, Television, and Film

For more than five decades, the nationally recognized SDSU Television and Film Program has provided superior training in all areas of television and film production for the future professional and independent filmmaker. State-of-the-art equipment...

www.filmschool.org

That'd be awesome. Thank you.

 

[Chris W]

I attended undergrad at SDSU

Could you post a review on this page too:

San Diego State University - School of Theatre, Television, and Film

For more than five decades, the nationally recognized SDSU Television and Film Program has provided superior training in all areas of television and film production for the future professional and independent filmmaker. State-of-the-art equipment...

www.filmschool.org

That'd be awesome.

 

[The Trumpian Filmmaker]

Csu schools in general are awful and teach nothing but marxism and crt while doing little to prepare students for their actual career. Screenwriting is non existent at sdsu, as I was told by a professor, “We dont teach script writing at sdsu, you can just read a book and figure it out yourself, its not hard.”
The school actively works against students who want to produce films. I have received nothing but unhelpful attitudes and even full on shutting my production down with a cease and desist letter from the head of the film department, Niyi Coker. The professors proactively work against students that have any idea that does not align with the extremist liberal agenda, going so far as to call ‘out of the box thinkers,’ “trumpian.” Every semester I am reminded how low budget, low quality this program is. I still have not made an actual film at this school and dont know if I will be able to. The school does not want students to make films. Its too risky. Some student might actually make people think, then what would happen to the pavlovian system of control they have constructed? There are a few instructors that save this program, Greg Durbin, Greg Penetrante, David Steinberg, Tim Powell, Rebecca Romiani. Steer clear of Brian Hu and Sam Speigelman. Better yet, just go to a school in LA.

 

[M.McCoy]

Current student. SDSU tfm critical studies is fine if you want to be a screenwriter. DO NOT GO HERE FOR PRODUCTION. The profs are old,no professional experience, equipment is old outdated, you are not taught any relevant career skills, there is no post production classes, the program is a complete waste of time, I have 4.0 and learned nothing.High emphasis on liberal political issues but no training. There are no internships or relationships with professionals. The GE requirements are 75% of your curriculum and are ridiculously irrelevant and awful. You won't learn camera operation,editing, or any on set skills. It's a complete joke.

I graduated from SDSU TV & film school in 1983. I worked on many student films. To graduate, I was part of a team of 3 who wrote, directed and produced a 30 minute 16mm film as a final project. We shot both interior & exterior day and night scenes. We had a music student write an original score and recorded all the songs at home with a student musical orchestra. Another team made a civil war movie and shot complete war scenes using one of those civil war groups who do re-enactment battles. I did all of the location audio production for that film. All the students had to pay for was the gun powder. We camped out in the mountains for a few days for the shoot. It was a blast!
There were classes in script writing for both film & TV, audio production, cinematography, lighting, editing, TV production, TV directing, the business of TV & film and others.
It is sad to learn that this may no be the case at SDSU.