I often get asked about the New York Film Academy and my experience with the school. So I decided to write a little blog review post about it. I am just completely subjectively telling you my opinion on the school and what I liked and what I didn’t like. I am not a specialist in education or something so I can’t judge the school from like a scientific educational viewpoint, nor am I into the internal workings of the school. Also, I went to NYFA in NYC and can only judge the school there.

One of the most heard criticisms on the internet is that the administration only cares about making a profit. I must admit that I would have liked some more assistance from the school and its administration and had the feeling that I had been left alone at some points with issues. It might be true that for the administration its mostly about the money and not about the students.

However, even though sometimes there was a lack of help and support from the administration there was never a lack thereof from the teachers and staff. All of them were really dedicated to their work as teachers and filmmakers. Most of my instructors had lots of practical experience on set and could share tips, tricks and experiences that you would not learn from a book or people that don’t have years of experience. None of them were theorists or ‘pure’ educators but all of them came from a practical filmmaking background. For example Dexter Taylor who taught “Sound recording”, probably not the most popular class subject, but with his anticipation, experience and love for sound he got quite a few people really excited about sound recording. But also others like my cinematography instructor John Loughlin or screenwriting instructor Claude Kerven were great teachers and had a lot to say and experiences to share.

The concept of education at NYFA is based on very hands-on practical experience. Right on the first day we were handed an Arri 16mm camera and the first weekend we were supposed to shoot our first little exercise short film. Of course we learned all the necessary theoretical background in class but always got the time to utilize our new knowledge during practical exercises, shoots and workshops in the following days. For example after talking about exposure we were send out to shoot the same scene with various stops over- and underexposed, had the film-stock developed (normal, push and pulled by one or two stops) and screened the results in class to actually get a practical feeling for the theory. That might not sound like that big of a deal but having been to another school where this wasn’t the case I can say it really is. It makes learning and grasping concepts much easier.

Since a lot of time is dedicated to the hands-on part of the program, the pure theory part, like i.e. ‘film history’, is definitely falling short. For me personally that wasn’t really a problem since I love film history but that wasn’t really what I was there for to learn. So if you are interested in those subjects you either need to be poised to learn those on your own or NYFA (at least the one year program) might not be the right school for you. However one also needs to remember, that those actually are things you can learn on your own if you are interested in it.

There is a downside to the schools concept as well (beside the missing theory/history part). That is, you need to be an active student. Again, for some people that might sound very self-evident and for a lot of people that is not really a downside. But you really need to be motivated, active and take what you can get at NYFA. They offer a great deal of chances that you can take and profit of, or not. Being shy and restraining yourself is not a good idea. Looking back, I could have gotten more out of the first few weeks. Being in a new city (I arrived only days before the program started) I first had to let everything sink in and stayed a little in the background.

You need to push your luck a little. Make friends with the TAs and equipment room staff, who are great guys, use your out of class consultation sessions with the teachers, get your hand up during the workshops to make sure you are on a crew position you like (Not everybody is going to be able to direct a workshop. But there is still a difference between not directing one and let’s say being boom operator on all of ‘em. Unless of course you want to be boom operator). Tell your fellow students which crew positions you like to work on. In the end you are required to work on like 4 (I think) different people’s thesis films. I worked on 12. At NYFA it is really a lot up to you, if you are going to have a good or not so good experience.

Last but not least, one of the make or break arguments are of course the fellow students. I was actually really lucky to get into an extremely talented and motivated class and section. Quite a few of my fellow students already had a lot of experience in filmmaking and everybody was very determined to be a filmmaker and artist. Overall our group harmonized very well. However since the non-degree programs are open to pretty much everybody, there will be, and I know of people that were in, classes and sections that are not as motivated and great as ours. So that really is the most unforeseeable variable. Although, if you are not happy with your section you can still take the initiative and switch to another one.

In conclusion, can I suggest the New York Film Academy? Well, if you are dedicated, love filmmaking and are determined to take your luck into your own hands and make the best out of every situation, then NYFA can offer you a lot of chances you can grab. At NYFA you have to bring in a lot of effort and seize the chances that are offered to you, else it might not be worth it. It has the potential to be either a great experience or a waste of money. I can just repeat myself: It depends a lot on what you are making out of it. Personally I had an amazing time at the New York Film Academy and wouldn’t trade in any second of it.