What Are the Top Film Schools?

If you do a google search for top film schools you’re going to find the same BS answers all over the place. But not here. Most people will say that NYU and USC are the top schools followed by UCLA and Columbia, blah blah blah.

The truth is there is no such thing as top film schools. The film industry is a business, and it’s a strange business with quirks you won’t find anywhere else. If you graduate from Harvard Business School chances are you’re going to get a good job in the business world. But graduating from one of the so called top film schools doesn’t mean a thing.

Consider this: more than 90% of working directors never went to film school. The famous ones who did attend top film schools graduated back in the 80s and 90s. Oliver Stone, George Lucas, etc. That’s a handful of guys fueling the dreams of thousands of filmmakers who just don’t get how the business works.

The best way to get into the film industry is to skip any “top film schools” and start getting on film sets. Now. That’s how James Cameron, Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, and thousands of other filmmakers did it… you can’t even name me 20 film school grads who have that much notoriety.

But if you feel you absolutely MUST waste thousands of dollars looking for top film schools then here are what you should consider.

First, consider attending a trade school. www.indsutryfilmschool.com is the best best. It’s located in New Jersey, and the classes are reasonably priced, around $400 – $600 a class. Good instruction, affordable prices. This is what a film school should be.

But there’s absolutely no excuse why these top film schools are charging $40,000 a year to attend except for the fact that people are willing to pay it. NYU and USC are laughable. I know, sounds hard to believe. But basically, getting a Bachelor’s Degree in film is worthless. People in the business do not look upon you with respect for your degree; that degree means you wasted 2 years studying more history, statistics, and other nonsense classes rather than getting on a film set.

A BA is a good idea if you want to be an agent (like “Lloyd” in “Entourage”), but that’s all.

If you’re going to sink $40,000 a year into a film school, make it LA Film School. Here’s why:

• The program is rigorous and intensive, weeding out people who aren’t truly motivated
• The school puts the tuition money into the facilities, they have top of the line AVID editing bays and the RED camera along with some nice Panasonic HD Cameras available for immediate student use
• Professors work in the business
• Students have prolonged access to facilities even after graduation

Full Sail is in Florida. Why would you go to Florida to learn filmmaking? New York Film Academy is a chop shop with lousy instruction and too much emphasis on marketing, and old equipment. Tribeca Flashpoint looks promising but it’s in Chicago. Art Institutes are all over the country but again way overpriced.

If you are desperate to pay $30,000 a year to use equipment that you could buy for ten times less, then definitely check out one of these so called “top film schools”.

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