The Hollywood Reporter – August 14, 2019

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Top 25 Film

Schools

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production studio for online
content — in the basement
of 950 S. Raymond Ave. —
opened in October 2018, while
a fundraiser to revamp the
Ahmanson Auditorium took
place this past March. Another
big improvement on cam-
pus: ArtCenter hired its first
diversity officer, who has helped
initiate a partnership with the
DGA’s Diversity Committee
and plan panels on women and
minorities in the film indus-
try. Although the emphasis
here is on commercial film-
making, plenty of Hollywood
artists make the pilgrimage
to Pasadena — like Catherine
Hardwicke, who this past winter
offered a masterclass, and Zack
Snyder (’89), who in March
screened director’s cuts of his
work for students. “Helping
filmmakers find [their] vision is
what ArtCenter does incredibly
well,” Snyder says.

Left: Students at L.A. Film School. Right: The New York Film Academy in Manhattan.

COASTAL, IF NOT NECESSARILY ELITE: 8 INDUSTRY-ADJACENT OPTIONS

If NYU and USC aren’t in reach, you can still receive top training at one of these other

excellent programs in the L.A. and NYC areas BY MIA GALUPPO

L.A.

CAL STATE LOS ANGELES

The East Los Angeles

school offers both

undergraduate degrees

and MFAs in television and

film production and

writing. The low price tag

— $8,000 — means there

might even be money left

over for a first feature.

L.A. FILM SCHOOL

Celebrating its 20th

anniversary, the for-profit

college offers associates

and bachelors degrees out

of its campus on Sunset

Boulevard as well as

online degrees in digital

filmmaking and animation.

The school has awarded

$1.5 million to female

students with its Women in

Entertainment scholarship.

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY

The film studies program

in Malibu offers majors

and minors as well as

an MFA in Writing for

Screen and Television.

Courses range from

cinematography and edit-

ing to Japanese film and

Italian neorealism.

STUDIO SCHOOL

The 5-year-old for-profit

(formerly known as the

Relativity School) offers

concentrations in its BA

and BFA programs in a

wide range of disciplines

that include production

design, casting and sports

media and marketing.

New York

CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK

The only public institution

in New York City to offer

a BFA in film and video, it

has a two-year program

that includes film theory,

directing, editing and

screenwriting, culminating

in a thesis short film, fic-

tion screenplay or critical

research paper.

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY

The flexible school offers

BAs, BFAs and AFAs

in a variety of disciplines,

including documentary

and screenwriting, from

campuses in New York,

Los Angeles, Florida

and Australia. Speakers

have included Steven

Spielberg, Al Pacino and

Ron Howard, and alumni

work at Netflix, Bad Robot

and MGM.

THE NEW SCHOOL

The university, housed

in the Parsons School of

Design, offers a film pro-

duction certificate as part

of its Schools of Public

Engagement, which covers

directing, cinematography,

editing and producing and

is open to anyone with a

high school diploma.

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

A BFA from the New Jersey

university covers every-

thing from storyboards to

postproduction. The school

houses the Documentary

Film Lab, which incubates

doc features in conjunc-

tion with researchers and

Continued on page 110 scientists.