38 Best Film & Video Schools (2024)

Some graduates and professionals claim film school is useless. Others say it’s a unique experience that they would never give up. There is no right or wrong answer here. The question is what works for your personality and goals. Benefits of going to film school include:

• Technical Skills: A skills-focused degree can be very helpful if you’re interested in the technical side of production (e.g. game design, post-production, computer animation, etc.). With a strong program, you’re ready to roll upon graduation.
• Networking: Film schools will usually try to arrange local internships and real-world practic*ms for students. They can also hook you up with successful alumni. Students in Los Angeles and New York film schools have an edge here.
• Mentorship: Film professors and instructors have usually done some time in the business. What’s more, they’re willing to listen to your questions and suggest avenues for advancement.
• Facilities: Good film and photography schools come stacked with state-of-the-art cameras, editing facilities, and equipment. Take a tour of the campus and see what students have to say about their experience.
• Industry Exposure: At the end of a year or semester, a lot of film schools host festivals and showcases of student work. Industry bigwigs (e.g. producers and executives) may be invited to attend.

A variety of famous directors – including Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and David Lynch – have earned MFAs in film directing.

Here’s the hard truth. Crappy film schools abound. Quentin Tarantino never earned a degree. Werner Herzog advises you to forget the conventional wisdom and “work as a bouncer in a sex club or a warden in a lunatic asylum or a machine operator in a slaughterhouse.” In reality:

• You May Not Need a Degree: There are no real degree requirements for film and television jobs. Unless you’ve gone to USC or NYU, producers and employers won’t particularly care about your degree, especially if you’re working as crew (e.g. sound engineer, film editor, etc.). What they really want to know about is your most recent job. Work samples and contacts are going to make your career.
• Many Technical Skills Can Be Learned On the Job:It may only take a week or two before you’ve mastered the basics.
• Film School is Expensive: You might do better investing your money in camera equipment, paying a crew, filming a movie, and submitting your work to independent film festivals. That’s true practical experience.
• You Can Network on Your Own: Instead of relying on your professors’ help, you could join the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), schmooze at festivals, post your work to the Internet, and start cold-calling.
• Digital Equipment is Cheap: It used to be that film school was the only place to work with high-quality cameras. Not anymore. You can make a great movie with very little.
• Film Lessons are Free: There are plenty of inexpensive or free tutorials available online. There are even free online film schools (e.g. 4Filmmaking.com and FreeFilmSchool.org). Want hands-on practice? Ask to shadow someone on the job while you serve as an apprentice.

A career in film takes luck, talent, stubbornness, and a knack for getting to know people. You don’t need to go to film school to acquire these skills.

An associate’s degree in film is a 2-year undergraduate program that covers core general education and film courses. These degrees are offered by a variety of community colleges, technical schools, and universities. Shop around – you may find that facilities at a community school are just as good, or even better, than a conventional film school! A high school diploma or GED is needed to apply.

Some students earn an associate’s degree as preparation for a bachelor’s degree down the track. If you’re interested in this option, make sure your course credits will be transferable to the 4-year program of your choice.

Degree Choices

• Associate of Arts (AA):A broad-based degree that includes general liberal arts courses. This is a typical choice for students interested in transferring to a BA.
• Associate of Science (AS) : A science-focused degree for students interested in the technical side of production or photography (e.g. computer animation, game production, recording arts, etc.).
• Associate of Fine Arts (AFA): An intense, practical degree that balances training in the artistic side of filmmaking (e.g. screenwriting, storyboarding, etc.) and technology (e.g. sound mixing, editing, camera operation). You may need to submit a high school portfolio in your application.
• Associate of Applied Science (AAS): An applied degree (i.e. one that prepares students for work straight after graduation). AAS programs can be offered in areas such as filming, editing, production, lighting, photography, and more.

Sample Coursework

Please see our section on Common Film Majors for more information on common coursework in each major.

Career Opportunities

As we noted in our section on Should I Go to Film School?, you don’t need a degree to work in the industry. However, an associate’s degree from a community college with great facilities can give you a strong technical foundation for jobs such as:

• Cinematographer
• Audio engineer
• Camera operator
• Editor

A bachelor’s degree in film is a 4-year undergraduate program that is aimed at giving students a comprehensive education in film theory and practice. Most bachelor programs are a mixture of general education requirements and courses in a specific film major. Baccalaureate programs are offered by a wide range of colleges and universities. A high school diploma or GED is required to apply.

Degree Choices

• Bachelor of Arts (BA): A broad-based degree that mixes liberal arts courses with classes in film and television. The BA tends to have the fewest film courses – if you’re interested in getting stuck into film work immediately, take a look at the BFA or BS.
• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA): An intense, hands-on degree that focuses on practical training in all aspects of film. You’ll find BFAs in many film majors, including screenwriting and directing. Competition for entry into BFA programs is intense, and many admission committees will want to see a high school portfolio of work.
  
• Bachelor of Science (BS): A science/technical degree that focuses on areas such as post-production, sound engineering, special effects, animation, and more. As a condition of graduation, you will probably be required to take a few prerequisites in general education and liberal arts.

Sample Coursework: Film Production

Please see our section on Common Film Majors for more information on common coursework in each major.

Career Opportunities

Film and photography are highly competitive fields. For every 1 job, there are 100 qualified candidates. As we talked about in Should I Go to Film School?, you don’t need a degree to become a filmmaker or work in the business. Having said that, a strong degree from a well-known school, a stunning portfolio, and a bucketload of luck can qualify you for a variety of careers, including producer, director, cinematographer, camera assistant, video editor or screenwriter.Remember that it’s your work experience that counts the most.

A master’s degree in film is a 1-3 year graduate program that focuses on advanced studies and research. Eligibility will depend on your choice of program, but most universities will expect you to have an undergraduate degree in film (or a closely related field) from an accredited film school. MFA screenwriting programs (~2 years) tend to be shorter than MFA production programs (~3 years).

Degree Options

• Master of Arts (MA): The MA is a generalist degree, and may combine arts courses (e.g. screenwriting, producing, etc.) with some technical training. Most directors – if they choose to earn a master’s at all – opt for an MFA.
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA): The MFA is considered an intense, practice-based degree offered in a variety of fields, includingscreenwriting, directing, animation, and producing. It culminates in a thesis project, which is often a feature film, television pilot, or web series.
• Master of Science (MS): Like the AS and BS, the MS is a specialist degree focused on the technical end of filmmaking (e.g. sound, cinematography, special effects, animation, post-production, etc.).

You may also find master’s programs that allow you to transfer from an MA or MS into an MFA after your first year is complete.

Sample Coursework

For general information on degree choices, please see our section on Common Film Majors. As a master’s student, you will also be allowed to choose a concentration/specialty. For example, you might wish to focus on documentaries or advanced film production.

Career Opportunities

If you’ve skimmed through our section on Should I Go to Film School?, you’ll have noticed that a number of well-known directors hold an MFA. But you certainly don’t need a master’s degree to work in the business. Instead, the master’s degree is often earned by professionals who wish to push themselves further in their field.

The MFA is considered a terminal degree – i.e. you’ll be able to lecture at colleges. However, you may not be able to become a fully fledged professor with tenure without significant work experience and/or a PhD.

A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Film is a 3-7 year advanced degree and the highest academic qualification you can achieve. This is a purely research-based degree – if you’re interested in advanced hands-on experiences, you should consider the MFA instead. You’ll find PhD programs being offered by film schools, English departments, and media studies programs. Unless it’s a combined master’s/PhD program, a master’s degree in film or a closely related field will be required to apply.

Sample Coursework

Regardless of the subject, PhD programs are typically split into two major parts. The first few years are spent in advanced coursework and early stages of research. The remaining years are devoted to original research and writing a doctoral dissertation. Many PhD students supplement their income by teaching classes to undergraduates.

Career Opportunities

PhD graduates frequently go on to teach film at the university level. Others become researchers or go back to working in their original field. Most practicing filmmakers don’t bother with a PhD.

A standard degree isn’t your only option for film study. Accredited schools also offer workshops, conservatory programs, and certificates – non-degree qualifications that take ~6 months to 1 year to complete. Like a minor in a conventional degree program, undergraduate and graduate certificates are intended to provide students with specific skills in an area of film. Please talk to your academic adviser to see what combination of qualifications might work for your goals.

If you are thinking of pursuing a certificate in order to earn course credits for a conventional degree (bachelor’s or master’s), first make sure that your certificate credits will be transferable to the program of your choice.

This is the broadest film major and one of the most popular. Film production majors learn how make a film by getting involved in everything from set design, camera operation, screenwriting, lighting, cinematography, broadcasting, sound engineering, editing, and scoring. They may also study theory, film history, and the business of television and Hollywood.

Much of the work in a film production program is supposed to be hands-on. Students are often required to alternate jobs, serving as a production manager one day and an editor the next. Almost everyone is expected to produce a portfolio with a variety of shorts, documentaries, and feature-length films.

When it comes to conventional universities and colleges, we suggest you look for ones with regional accreditation. This is a “seal of approval” granted to institutions (e.g. non-profit and public colleges and universities) by one of six regional accrediting bodies (e.g. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools).

You can learn more about the difference between regional accreditation and national accreditation in Accreditation: Understanding the Difference Between Real Schools and Diploma Mills.

Benefits of Regional Accreditation

Choosing a regionally accredited school will make it easier for you to:

• Transfer credits (many regionally accredited colleges and universities will not accept credits from nationally accredited schools)
• Apply for student loans, tuition reimbursem*nt, scholarships and funding opportunities
• Get into graduate school
• Look good in the eyes of headhunters and recruiters

Regional accreditation only applies to a college or university, not to individual film or photography programs. If you’re concerned about the quality, you may wish to see if the film program has NASAD accreditation. We talk more about the debate between For-Profit vs. Non-Profit below.

Founded in 1944, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) is the only accrediting body for visual art programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. It sets the standards for both graduate and undergraduate degrees in 330+ schools of art and design. Postsecondary, non-degree granting schools such as the for-profit New York Film Academy are eligible for accreditation.

Search for a NASAD-Accredited School.

Unlike many conventional subjects, there are two major types of film schools:

1. A program housed in a public or private non-profit college/university
2. A for-profit organization (e.g. Full Sail, Los Angeles Film School, New York Film Academy, etc.)

Generally speaking, traditional colleges and universities are built on a liberal arts education framework. For example, they may ask you to take survey courses in film history and theory. Having said that, you may be able to find BFA or BS degrees that give you more opportunities to specialize.

For-profit schools, often called trade or vocational schools, usually skip the academics and head straight for practical work and labs. For example, you might spend a great deal of your week working on film projects and building your technical skills.

If you are thinking of for-profit schools, be aware that they may have high student loan default rates. And be sure to check your budget. A for-profit school may be just as expensive – if not more – than a non-profit.

No matter which film school you go to, it can be really tough finding work. Your best bet is to aim for a program with a great reputation that provides plenty of networking opportunities.

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