How to Apply to Film School

Video Transcript

"You're ready to take your film career to the next level. Hi, I'm Christopher Rokasz, actor, director, producer and I'm going to show you how to apply to film school. It's a great decision to make but you gotta decide a few things beforehand. The first is where do you want to go. Do you want to go to a trade school that focuses specifically in just film and video and television production? Or do you want to go to a film school that's attached to a four year university? The other thing you want to take in mind is geographic location. The film schools like production tend to be located in different hubs like New York City or Hollywood in California. But there's some other schools that are great schools like trade schools located in Orlando. So do you want to move, do you want to stay on campus? The other thing to consider there is what do you want to do with your career. If your goal is to actually be in Hollywood, just like most entertainment business it's all about networking and meeting people. I'm going to say it again, networking and meeting people and getting your name out there. So having your school located in a city or town that you're interested in you know, beginning your career in, you can begin networking and be getting your sphere of influence right there. So and that'll help decide it. So obviously, believe it or not, Canada or Hollywood are really going to be your big film hubs. Orlando in Florida is coming up on the scene and there's some other places around the country. Now, if those aren't a reality for you, then you might want to consider a school that just has a good solid program. And from there you want to go to the school, you want to visit it. Before then you want to request material and catalogs about the program, understanding how much they cost. Again, some are very reasonable and inexpensive in the ten, fifteen thousand dollars per year range. Some are good who are in the seventy thousand dollar a year per range. And then from there you want to get the catalogs as I said, you want to make sure that you go and visit the school, speak with the dean, speak with other students, speak with the graduates. Talk with their placement program. Where are their students getting placed? The other thing is in this day and age you want to make sure that you have a good reel put together so that you can show them. Back in the day when I attended school, we couldn't get our hands on to a camera so reels weren't available. You had to go in on grades and raw potential. Now you have the ability to make a movie on your own before you even get in. The better the school, the more stringent the acceptance process and it's directly related to the reel. They want to know that they're starting with some good talent and making it even better. I'm Christopher Rokosz. We'll see you in the movies."