Since I started my filmmaking career about 4 years ago I have wanted to move to a 'film hub' and possibly to attend film school. I try not to get too emotional about these decisions but it also makes me put them off or ignore their importance. I have also been a proponent of filmmaking self-education over the internet and through personal experience. For the most part this method has proven to be effective if you are a self-starter and you take personal initiative to constantly improve upon your own work. That being said, I have not progressed as much as I had hoped (based on my goals a few years ago) probably because I tend to start out with some very ambitious goals and then more realistic realities start to take form eventually.
If you have seen my slate of projects that I have had on this blog... well lets just say I am a bit behind on those goals. Admittedly, even the more recent goals were much more realistic than how I started- which was to make a feature sci-fi noir RIGHT AWAY. Of course, I had no idea how much work and how much money that would actually take to achieve. I am not someone who wants to make what may be called "crap movies"- although I could have made something (by now) that would 'technically' meet the stated goals in past blog posts- but they would be nowhere near the quality that I have imagined in my head. I am of the opinion that if you make bad movies- you get type-cast as someone who just makes bad movies... so I want to at least not fall into making movies without a solid handle on the "craft".
This brings me back to moving because the quality of your crew is seriously affected if you do not live in a good area for filmmaking. Also... Rebecca and I still want to move. Some of our challenges are also still the same challenges. Most of all, the real estate market is still bad and I need to finish fixing up our condo.
Still, I have managed to narrow down the film hubs and colleges I am interested in. I prefer organizations and very specific programs that are much cheaper and faster than normal colleges and universities- since I prefer a real film community over film theory and academics. Here are the possible schools and programs. Many are in NYC while some others are in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Portland, Seattle, Grand Rapids, Denver & Vancouver, BC.
The Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute
Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School
Chicago Filmmakers
Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Digital Film Academy
nwFilm Center School of Film
NW Film Forum
Seattle Film Institute
Vancouver Film School
Compass Film Academy
If anyone can recommend a school (hopefully cheaper than NYU or Columbia please), or knows anything about these areas, these organizations or these schools in question, give me a comment or two. I'd appreciate it!
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