FILM SCHOOL

What skills does a film school teach? The answer depends on the nature and quality of the institutions in question. At top flight schools, like USC’s School of Cinema-Televsion, students can drink from many different wells. Production students learn the technical aspects of movie and TV production, including everything from how to structure contracts to how to organize sets for filming. Student directors delve into the minutia of camera angles and lens types as well as the taxonomy of the typical film crew. Writing students spend their time analyzing screenplays, developing ideas for scripts, and workshopping written material. Most students enjoy some crossover among disciplines. For instance, writing students will often take the director’s helm to shoot their fellow writers’ short projects, and budding directors will conversely pen their own short scripts in preparation for filming.

Beyond the technical education that film schools offer, these institutions provide networking opportunities galore. If you’re an artist in training, these connections will be invaluable, particularly if you’re going to a film school with a solid reputation. Likely, your classmates will go on to occupy positions of power and influence in Hollywood, and you can call upon these friends for favors and advice as you progress in your career.

All this said, bear in mind that film schools are at their core trade schools. Thus, the more precisely you figure out what your "Hollywood niche" is, the easier it will be to take advantage of what film schools have to offer. For instance, if you matriculate knowing from the get-go that you want to write for animated TV (as opposed to just generally doing some form of screenwriting), you can much more effectively utilize your school’s resources – including staff, student volunteers, and facilities – to prepare a corpus of work and hone market-specific skills.