Originally posted by Capo de La Cosa Nostra:
Thug,
How're things with you? I understand you've been busy, and am delighted that you're still interested in what you've always been so passionate about.
I'm great. A little busy, but am doing well. And you?
Of course film school is worthless if you have zero talent. But, blindly believing that I do have talent, I think it WILL help. The people you meet there will provide many necessary connections to the industry, and the school itself sometimes helps, too. Plus the whole environment of being surrounded by people in love with film sounds amazing. Film school gives the equipment and the opportunity to make dozens of short films and while it doesn't create talent, it can make one's talent stronger through experience. It also gives opportunities for internships. Film school is the place to learn all the equipment to the best of your ability and hopefully come out with either an amazing thesis or a script that can be marketed to Hollywood. In the end it all comes down to what school you go to (UMich, from what you're saying Ferro, doesn't sound like it likes creativity) and if you pick the right one for yourself, you should get something worthwhile out of the experience.
I think Jim Jarmusch (NYU Tisch graduate) said it best (and I'm paraphrasing here): "I had to forget about 70% of what I learned in film school, but the other 30% was invaluable."
DV, one does not need to go to AFI or UCLA or USC or NYU to study film (and these programs are notorious for having terrible financial aid). There are many other great, up and coming schools that are probably cheaper and easier to get into (and such, I'll probably apply to them, too). A film school I keep hearing about is Chapman University, which is located in Orange County, CA. The tuition is about half of NYU and the others, and they seem to actually have decent financial aid, too. They're building their own mini film studio with many facilities on campus and it should open next year. Check it out:
http://ftv.chapman.edu/ And the absolute best part: graduates are still allowed to use any equipment they want, 24/7. I hear that USC is the school of yesterday, NYU is the school of today, and Chapman is the school of tommorow.
