Is CALarts worth it?

[Eric Campos]

Went to Calarts' live action film school for three semesters and though it was just alright...but goddamn expensive. Feeling I learned all I was going to at the school, I dropped out before I racked up a major debt.

The place is fun for sure, but I think that's the problem. Too much fuckin' around by rich brats and not enough work going on.

Anyone else go there?

[3ldfilms]

I don't know about anybody else, but I think dropping a fortune on a film school is a joke. Especially in the US. It's insane how much it costs.

What you spend on film school you could make a low budget feature. And you'll learn a LOT more.

Or find a good director, beg to be his assistant for (for free is usually a good incentive) and you'll learn more than three years of film school.

Just my one cent (I spent the other one on my last film) :)

[grasshorse]

I went to two film schools before CalArts, and I would definately say that Calarts was the best of the three. What Eric says is true, there is a lot of screwing off, and I would say the one deficientcy it has is that there is just simply not enough discipline. I'm not sure everyone is rich though, I'm still paying the school off and I graduated in 96! I would say that the most valuable gift you get from a shool like that are the people you meet. Not like you're meeting Steven Spielberg Jr. but rather friends that get jobs in the industry and give you jobs. In that way the school is very worth it, and the education is great. And they have good taste in who they accept there. They Accepted Eric didn't they! Anyway. I think I was actually there when Eric was there. He looked much different, of course I did too!

Stephen Jennings

[Phil Hall]

Eric, just pick up a camera and make a movie. And cast me in it...anyone who saw "Land of College Prophets" will confirm that I am a fantastic actor! :D

[Terminal_Ny]

Eric, just pick up a camera and make a movie. And cast me in it...anyone who saw "Land of College Prophets" will confirm that I am a fantastic actor! :D
I'll attest to that. Your physical comedy is good too.

[Karl151k]

I visited the campus for CalArts a year ago. All I can really say is that their on-campus housing is certianly nicely decorated... That's really all I got from my trip there.

[drsweetscience]

A good film school could be anywhere. But, try a circuitous method of finding it.

Pick a technology. For example, Avid. Contact the corporate office and get a list of places that they certify as training centers.
Look for post-production houses or production-rental/sales businesses. The best place to look is PBS. PBS doesn't make money, so they aren't as much about the hype.
Rental houses are good people to know. They know who is really working. People who work in the industry know where the schools are. Many times they teach there.

Should anyone go to film school at all? Yes. My lighting teacher gave me good advice. "Learn the rules. You have to know the rules in order to break them."

[LorraineP]

I don't know Calarts -- I went to FSU's MFA film program.

Had a couple thoughts to throw into the whole is film school worth it thing:

ANY educational program is affected for better or worse by what the student puts into it -- how motivated is that student -- how do they take advantage or not of the resources the program puts in their hands.

Which leads to: What resources does that program offer?
FSU had equipment and for one's tuition, students get film, processing, use of equipment and post equipment. It's all structured -- so students get equal access to resources. Part of their approach is to try and level the playing field so students with more cash aren't making better movies -- it's about talent.
If they give you equipment, film, processing and post equipment -- it's about what each student does with the resources.

Each FSU MFA student can make 3 films as part of the program, and work on as many other films as they can jam in their schedule. (I made 4 shorts while there -- 3 on 16 mm, 1 on 35 mm.) And at the time, I was paying under 2 grand a semester. The program is 2 years/6 semesters long. I felt very strongly that for my 2 grand a semester I was being handed WAY MORE in goods and services -- and the education, the access to teachers and all the hands on experience was added value I couldn't begin to quantify.

Hands on experience. FSU, because it's out in the sticks -- there are no crews -- each student must work on other students' films. Which gives one hands on experience in any and every department and if one wants to focus on a department, it's entirely possible. So one can graduate with all kinds of practical experience that can land jobs immediately. I can work in production and camera -- and as a producer/director, I know what every department needs to do a great job, because I've worked in every department.

Contacts. FSU's strength is hands on experience, value on the dollar (especially for Florida residents), and coming out with at least 3 short films.
It's a very young program, so the base of contacts isn't as deep as say AFI or any of the big CA programs.
And those contacts -- who you meet, who comes in to teach, who offers internships and who hires alum of the same program they went to -- that's huge.

Sure -- there is an argument to be made for taking the cash and making a movie -- but there's just as strong an argument for finding a program that offers you contacts, hands on experience, the ability to make short films and learn from each one while not spending top dollar.
And absolutely, landing a key internship or two can teach you a lot, can be a film school and great experience and offer contacts as well.

So then maybe it's: Who are you, how do you learn best, what will get you where you want to go?
As different as we all are, surely we all have our own paths....
No right or wrong -- just what works for each of us.

[Ellen M.]

News flash kiddies... NO FILM SCHOOL IS WORTH IT!
Go to the School of Life, get educated & then make your film!

There's nothing I hate more than whiny, rich, pretentious, film school educated assholes,walking around spouting all of their garbage theories about film, which they learned from their whiny, rich, pretentious, film school educated professors. Oh wait, there is something I hate more... actually having to watch their crappy, self-important, utterly forgettable films!
;)