film-school New York Film Academy - Online Workshops
- Thread starter rbeaty
- Start date
$43434,- a year..................yea............... Could buy a small house from this.... 
E947,- a year in Hogent AK.........
considering living costs in NY.....compared to Gent...
E947,- a year in Hogent AK.........
considering living costs in NY.....compared to Gent...
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All but one of the NYFA grads/staff I've worked with from that place has been useless. Most shoots would have gone better if they didn't turn up or called in sick. It's difficult to explain, but their students seem to have a level of entitlement that you just don't see anywhere else. I can only assume the school unintentionally teaches them to follow a path that will lead to failure. They'd get a better education from youtube. It could be a localized issue or just what happens when you focus on the money instead of the quality of the student coming in.
Back in my day, the freshman were of a higher quality going in than those who are graduating these days. So it could be a function of how the times are changing.
They used to have a good reputation, but these days, I guess all they care about is whether the student can pay the fees.
If you're after online only filmmaking training, there's so much good stuff out there (depending on what you want to study) that I'd look at before I'd consider NYFA. Most of it is a fraction of that price.
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If you can afford 43434,- a year and living expenses.....you are from a wealthy family, or you gonna be in serious debt. The entitlement attitude doesn't surprise me.
The online workshop I was looking at is $1,800 plus the cost of movie magic budget and scheduling ($150 each) for a total of $2,100, and the course is 15 weeks long. Definitely not looking at a full program that $40,000k or anything, or moving there and having to pay for housing and living.
From the description, it basically would give a crash course into Production including line producing, entertainment law, pitching, story and screenwriting, film finances, and a few others.
https://www.nyfa.edu/online-workshops/#15week-producing
I'm trying to get my foot in the door with production (and specifically scheduling of productions) and thought this would be a good way to at least get an overview of the different aspects, and potentially get some contacts or leads during or after the course. I think my main issue right now is I simply don't know what I don't know, and was thinking this would at least be a good starting point. It seems from the responses that I may be mistaken in this regard.
mlesemann - to answer your question, I'm looking to learn the budget and scheduling of production, as well as any other relevant areas that would be involved in the general scheduling and coordination of a project. I'm not as much concerned with knowing the ins and outs of camera angles and lighting aspects (the director and other individuals would be in charge of that) but I would still like to get a brief overview of those aspects just so I'm not completely lost when it comes up during the course of the project. Basically enough information so I know generally whats going on, and can schedule accordingly.
From the description, it basically would give a crash course into Production including line producing, entertainment law, pitching, story and screenwriting, film finances, and a few others.
https://www.nyfa.edu/online-workshops/#15week-producing
I'm trying to get my foot in the door with production (and specifically scheduling of productions) and thought this would be a good way to at least get an overview of the different aspects, and potentially get some contacts or leads during or after the course. I think my main issue right now is I simply don't know what I don't know, and was thinking this would at least be a good starting point. It seems from the responses that I may be mistaken in this regard.
mlesemann - to answer your question, I'm looking to learn the budget and scheduling of production, as well as any other relevant areas that would be involved in the general scheduling and coordination of a project. I'm not as much concerned with knowing the ins and outs of camera angles and lighting aspects (the director and other individuals would be in charge of that) but I would still like to get a brief overview of those aspects just so I'm not completely lost when it comes up during the course of the project. Basically enough information so I know generally whats going on, and can schedule accordingly.
you live in atlanta its like #2 of film production in the entire country right behind la
you dont need an online course you pay for
volunteer for free. work on a real set.
I second what @sfoster said. First see if you can volunteer as a PA, then try to get some paid PA work on a set once you have a bit of experience.
Watch, listen, and learn - then make some contacts who would be open to answer some questions after the fact.
Then line producer on my 2nd feature was great and all self-taught, but smart.
Watch, listen, and learn - then make some contacts who would be open to answer some questions after the fact.
Then line producer on my 2nd feature was great and all self-taught, but smart.
Get PA work, but make sure you work in production (the production dept.). This way you are not painting sets, or being a free 3rd grip, or driving a van. You are working with the producers etc. directly. This will be easier at a production company and one that produces commercials would be good. They stay busy with work, they already have offices set up for production, and the in-house staff is small, so you'd get a good chance to see how they operate. Also, what about that big Tyler Perry studio down there?
I don't think the online class is a negative. If you take it, I'd see it as something that could help you get that PA job that focuses on production/budgeting/scheduling instead of just being a regular PA.
I don't think the online class is a negative. If you take it, I'd see it as something that could help you get that PA job that focuses on production/budgeting/scheduling instead of just being a regular PA.
I'm going to go against the grain with the others on this topic.
There are some things on a film set that will take you a decade to learn the right way... on top of that, I think it's unlikely, you're going to get the opportunity to learn a lot of that stuff without knowing some of the basics. YMMV.
Sounds like you'd be better off with this one for a fraction of the price.
Tom Kane's Film School - Full Download - Tom Kane's
https://youtu.be/nQrWgL3cZug Over 12 hours of video content, divided into 10 Chapters, along with the full Workshop Manual, sample forms, and links to additional resources.
filmproductionworkshops.com
Tom Kane's an old school production manager. The course looks dated. It is, but the theory of production, people, wheeling and dealing and scheduling doesn't really change. The software can, but you can learn to press some buttons once you know the basics. If I remember right, he started as a second AD. He waffles a bit, but I've never seen a tutorial about scheduling and the nuts and bolts of budgeting as good as his.
That'll give you a little start and help you with the issue of you don't know what you don't know.
Another option is to grab yourself a Lynda.com membership for a couple of mnths. It shouldn't cost you more than 20-40 a month. Be a sponge and learn some of the basics as Lynda is only really good to help you with the basics in film. After that, you'll at least be in a position where you have a clue to what you don't know. If you don't like Lynda, there are a few others you could find that are also half decent for beginners.
Amazon books are also a great resource for that side of the business.
If you're not self-motivated a course like that may help keep you on track.
If you're really passionate and love learning there are two books I recommend;
The Complete Film Production Handbook by Eve Light Honthaner. About $70.
Film and Video Budgets by Maureen Ryan. About $20
Maybe add her book Producer to Producer About $30
I devoured these when I was starting out and they gave me a solid foundation
to stand on. I did all the budgeting and scheduling of my first few features just
from reading these books. I even hired myself out to low budget producers and
made a few bucks.
I think you could learn everything that course will teach you for about $120.
But you need to be self-motivated.
If you're really passionate and love learning there are two books I recommend;
The Complete Film Production Handbook by Eve Light Honthaner. About $70.
Film and Video Budgets by Maureen Ryan. About $20
Maybe add her book Producer to Producer About $30
I devoured these when I was starting out and they gave me a solid foundation
to stand on. I did all the budgeting and scheduling of my first few features just
from reading these books. I even hired myself out to low budget producers and
made a few bucks.
I think you could learn everything that course will teach you for about $120.
But you need to be self-motivated.
All great info, and much appreciated. The one caveat I failed to previously mention is I was trying to get this base knowledge while keeping my current consulting role. The class is offered at night, which would allow this to happen. I'd love to just go straight into hands-on learning helping on a set, but are producers and PA's pretty flexible with work hours?
I will definitely look into the online videos and books recommended.
I've been able to find online job postings through the GA film website. Is it acceptable for me to apply for these positions (assistants, PA's, etc.) then discuss my time availability if/when I get a call? Or do I need to make my scheduled fully available before jumping in
I will definitely look into the online videos and books recommended.
I've been able to find online job postings through the GA film website. Is it acceptable for me to apply for these positions (assistants, PA's, etc.) then discuss my time availability if/when I get a call? Or do I need to make my scheduled fully available before jumping in
That depends on how high on the totem pole (value to a production) you are. Since you're a beginner, you're probably going to start lower than the runners. There's usually a large deal of time blockouts that teams need to deal with. You usually start with working out what you cannot do without, find out how that schedule would look like. If you have any wiggle room, go further down the list of what else you'd like in area of importance and so on until you're full. Everything else has to fit in with that schedule. It's not exactly like that, but you'll get the gist.
Basically, if you're not important, they're not going to schedule around you. If you fit in, somewhere in their schedule, then your chances may increase. I gotta tell you, those with limited availability are just a pain in the rear to schedule around. If you're juggling around a thousand variables, someone who doesn't have skills to contribute probably won't get much of a consideration.
That's where student/amateur productions come in. They usually shoot on weekends and nights. Some teams struggle to have enough bodies on the ground, but you can also fall into the trap of the blind leading the blind. When you don't know what you don't know, the last thing you want to have happen is to be led by another in the same predicament. Don't play into the "Who's the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him."
If you want to get on to film sets now, I'd suggest to figure out what your transferrable skills from your job that are useful for filming and leverage those.
What do you do as a consultant? I might be able to better put into a perspective if I knew that.
I currently do scheduling consulting for large construction projects, and am wanting to transition into overall scheduling and management of film productions. From what I've been able to research, scheduling is pretty limited to the shooting schedule, so my aim is to create an overall/master schedule that would layer in all the aspects of production so the relationships and corresponding tasks can be seen together.
To do this, I need to learn more than what I've been able to find online, which is why I was looking at the NYFA workshop.
I've been able to download some old scripts and convert them into this overall format, and even linked up with an instructor at a local college who has a small passion project, and provided these schedule documents to help with the production. I've been searching facebook and the GA film website trying to link up with local productions so offer this service, but I understand the hesitation to try something new. It would be like someone from the film industry coming to us and saying they can schedule a construction project, but I truly believe our scheduling and deliverables would be a great benefit to a production team.
To do this, I need to learn more than what I've been able to find online, which is why I was looking at the NYFA workshop.
I've been able to download some old scripts and convert them into this overall format, and even linked up with an instructor at a local college who has a small passion project, and provided these schedule documents to help with the production. I've been searching facebook and the GA film website trying to link up with local productions so offer this service, but I understand the hesitation to try something new. It would be like someone from the film industry coming to us and saying they can schedule a construction project, but I truly believe our scheduling and deliverables would be a great benefit to a production team.
Is there anything stopping you from doing all that remotely?
The only trouble with short films is that most of them are so short they dont need much scheduling.
For something that is 7 pages you just do it all by hand very simply.
When it gets to 15 or 20 pages is when I'd rather someone else do it for me
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Check into this. A work from home PA on a funded feature performing administrative duties, $15/hr.
www.mandy.com
Production Assistant Job - Willow | Crew Job, US
Our team is producing its first feature film, “Willow” - an Afrofuturist, Anti-Capitalist Womanist Horror Film - and YOU can join the team! | Production Assistant Job, US
www.mandy.com
You have a jump start on most people. Scheduling a production isn't
much different than what you're doing now. Scheduling is needed for
post production, too. That's something far too many beginners
overlook - that might explain your research. But post scheduling is
extremely important.
I'm thinking that workshop would be great for your needs.
Not in my experience. Far too many people willing to drop everything
to work as a PA full time, and then some. Do you really need to be on
set at this time? I know others have suggested that, but is that what
you want? Budgeting is all preproduction and scheduling is a mix of
both. Sure, spending some time on set can give you some insights but
it doesn't seem to me like that's your primary interest.
Pick up those books. And take that NYFA workshop.
Read this book: Running The show.
Running the Show: The Essential Guide to Being a First Assistant Director - Kindle edition by Gill, Liz. Humor & Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Running the Show: The Essential Guide to Being a First Assistant Director - Kindle edition by Gill, Liz. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Running the Show: The Essential Guide to...
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That'll help you bridge from where you are to where you need to be. After that, jump on to Lynda.com and do some beginner stuff in different roles, so you can see how it all ties in together. You'll end up asking a lot of questions to the production heads.
My family is (well was) in the engineering side of construction, so I have a gist of what you do.
I came from the event management industry (though I was an editor before I went to event management so I wasn't exactly a freshie), so I was able to jump into the Production Manager/Second AD/Producer role without too much effort. They're good positions to gain lots of early contacts.
Yeah, that's your transferrable skillbase. In the smaller productions, it's a skill that's overlooked and often very needed. You may need to talk with the producer/director and convince them that they'll do better with you. Since your a production coordinator, you'll also have the gift of the gab. You'll do fine. Once in, religiously build up your little black book and keep notes on people.
It's unusual that peoples end goal is to be coordinator type in film. Do you have a vision of what you'd like to do in film?
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