The Film School the Uni's don't want you to know about

Thanks for shedding some inside perspective, Rudy.  I'm glad to have met someone with such an eye for introspection.  

You've sat through my classes before and seen my teaching style.  I'm all about making money and putting out a quality product so I teach my students to do just that.  I'm a boy who grew up dirt poor and had to watch both of my parents die right before my eyes.  Through my undying will and determination I've defeated all of the odds and didn't become what society always told me I would be.  

You've seen the proof in the pudding.  You've been to my Fullerton home.  You've seen my professionalism and commitment to excellence onset.  You've seen my IMDB credits.   

I love passing the real world knowledge and secrets behind my success onto my students.  I love teaching them about how it really is in the world and what it takes to get out of the ghetto and become something.  My theory is if I can do it, you can do it.  

One of the phrases I live by is this, "No task in this life is truly that difficult as long as you have the perseverance to go through with it."

Here’s a take from someone who is going to OCC, and doing a bunch of other stuff. Both arguments have their points.  However, after working some people who have master’s degrees, professional licenses, and “managers”...I’ve come to care more about skills, talent, attitude, and drive more than anything else.  

After deciding that I should go back to school for “this TV thing,” I started doing a lot of research schools in the area, what do I really need to do to start doing this now, do I really need a degree, etc.  When I talk about “this TV thing,” I’m focusing on a job behind the scenes of a newscast.  It takes the same amount of drive, persistence, strength, etc. to make it in both film and the news business.

So, I looked at the universities first.  Yes they were expensive (and still are), and good programs, but a lot of them lacked the combination of what I wanted to do.  I was looking for some way to combine film/TV/journalism.  Then I started looking at the community colleges.  I’ve taken some classes at other community colleges to learn different skills for my engineering gig fast.  My first point, the community colleges are good for learning specific skills quickly.  Sometimes with a university, you have to take some other classes before you can focus on what you really want to learn.  OCC allowed me to do a film/video certificate, take some journalism classes on the side, and some classes to improve my engineering skills.  It allowed me to work on my skills, develop my talent, and improve my current job.

With networking, I will agree that the universities can provide a very strong network, and name recognition.  So how can an OCC student compete?  Well, these big universities usually have an e-mail blast where jobs, internships, gigs, get posted by both alumni and other companies.  Sometimes, an OCC student like me just has to ask to be placed on that list, and presto!  Some networking with the “big boys” done.  Go work on their student projects, and network with them.  Trust me if they like you, they’ll ask you to come back.

That’s actually something OCC doesn’t do yet (or that I haven’t heard about), but maybe sometime in the near future.  If they do set up an email blast, you heard it from me first.

Through my classes, I heard about projects, internships, companies to check out, speakers, and I went to the ones that interested me.  Sometimes, I tried to get other students to go with me, but it almost always ended in failure.  That’s something that’s starting to bug me, but that will be for a different day.

I applied for an internship at a small media outlet, and got in.  Now, I will be covering a portion of the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach alongside the mainstream media.  Now how’s that for an OCC student?

OCC is a great program, but I wish they would integrate a few things into their program.  These are just suggestions.  Hate me for it if you want.

First, I wish that instructors would give students a realistic picture of what it takes to really make it, and how crappy it can be in the beginning.  I see so many students not really knowing what film/TV/news/journalism is really about...telling and focusing on the story.  Instead, I see students wanting to be the next Giuliana Rancic, or Speilberg and having all the glitz, glam, and fame that comes with it.  There’s nothing wrong with that, just understand what it really takes to make it there.  I’ve been very lucky to meet and talk with people to tell me what it’s really like.  And I’m glad they did.

Second, I hope that OCC would stress the importance of the “hustle.”  Going to see speakers, going to talk to people in the industry, going to get your first PA/intern gig, being a professional and showing up on-time, whether it be to class or seeing a guest speaker, doing what your teacher says, and doing what your higher up says even if you don’t want to do it.  And doing all of this while you’re still in school, and okay to make mistakes.  Ever since I started seeing myself as “only a professional” amazing things have started happening both with my engineering gig and “this TV thing.”

I suppose that’s it.  It’s really up to the individual.  OCC is definitely a great program for the right student, and yes there’s always something better they can do, but for right now...it’s good enough for me.  Will the future hold a graduate degree for me at a big university for me?  Possibly, but for right now...it’s OCC.

I know.  I'm just giving you a hard time.  :)

Just for the record, when I first posted the article about OCC's film program, it was intended merely to boost awareness within our screenwriting community that there is a viable film school right down the street, since many people don't know OCC's film program exists.

And the truth is, many of our students transfer to places like UCLA and USC after doing their 2-years at OCC anyway (for much less $), so their alma-maters cover both sides of this discussion.  But right now, in a bad recession, where not even grads with BAs and MAs are getting jobs very easily... why spend 2 or 4 more expensive years getting a degree in an industry that doesn't usually require them?  That time and money could be better spent interning, meeting people, or pounding the pavement in Hollywood (IMO).

Currently, news stories abound about students with 6-figure debts who are still looking for work.  So, why not have a 3-figure debt and 2 or 4 extra years of job searching?  That's my main point.  Not everyone who gets a "U" on his/her jacket becomes an Oscar-winning director.  And for all the other hundreds or thousands who work on a blockbuster film or TV show, it's still talent, drive, attitude and connections that get them in, none of which are exclusive to big Universities.

I'm sure both community colleges have great instructors and students that have gone on to do wonderful things.  That doesn't change the fact that the big film schools (USC, UCLA, AFI, NYU) still offer more than any of the community colleges can ever.  Trust me, I teach at a community college so I do see where you guys are coming from, but it's because I teach at a community that I know its weak points.  

I'll just use UCLA alone to prove my example.  On top of the great networking and mentorship program (see what I said about USC in my previous comment), the big schools also have the ability to have their classes taught by people with names.  Eden Wurmfeld and Nicole Laglogglia (producers of a film called Swingers, maybe you heard of it) teach at UCLA.  Greg Graffin (lead singer of Bad Religion) teaches at UCLA.  

I'm sure community colleges have great instructors who teach awesome material, but do any of them have names? What the UCs give you are professors who have names.  You get taught material by people you've actually heard of before.  And the great thing is, if you haven't heard of them, you can look them up on IMDB and see exactly how legit they really are.  It's amazing!

And all of the people who you mentioned the college got jobs through internships, what are their names?  Would these names be recognizable if you started listing them off right now?  I don't think OCSWA has the bandwidth if I want to make a list of names that have come out of the university system (cough*Spike Lee*cough*Coppola*Lucas*cough).  And let's face it, most community college instructors have little to no IMDB credits, and the few credits they do have usually are below the line credits from obscure projects no one has ever heard of from 1995.

It's the same thing I tell people who want to get into fighting.  You don't want to get trained on how to fight by some dude you never heard of.  You want to be trained by the best in order to become the best.  Same rule applies to filmmaking.  You want people you've actually heard of before to teach you how to achieve their same level of success, so down the road you too will have a name.  

So I always make sure my students know their options, would you rather pay more money and get taught by people you actually heard of and get put into a network where every alumni will do everything they can for you; or would you rather pay less money and get taught by someone you never heard of and will have to swing for yourself and hope for the best?  

The choice is yours.  

Plus, I already wrote articles on this stuff for OCSWA in the past.  Here are the links:

www.ocscreenwriters.com/

www.ocscreenwriters.com/

 Hi Scott,

I like what you had to say about OCC but I have to put in my 2 cents about what peole don't tell students about film school.  I always mention this to all of my students so they're well equipped when they're at that crossroads in their lives.  

You're right.  There are a lot of great film schools out there that aren't in the university system.  That is very true.  They teach you great things with real equipment.  They teach you the principles of imagery and great story telling methods.  

But as we both know, it's not what you know but who you know.  What the film schools outside of the universities can't offer is the amazing networking you get by going to one of the well-known film schools: USC, UCLA, AFI, or NYU.  

When you go to one of those major ones, you have more chances to make friends who will eventually have careers in the industry.  And when they grow in positions they usually take you with them.  At community colleges, you're more likely to make friends who will be excited about doing this stuff at first, but will eventually change their minds and decide to do something else because they realize making it in this industry is way too hard.  

And something USC does that it's known for is this: every alumni of USC film school who works in the industry will do everything in their power to ensure that you make it too, just because you went to USC.  No film school outside the university system offers that.  None whatsoever.

So I always make sure to tell my students how it really is out there.  I let them know to use community college as a transitional phase, but aim to get into one of the big name schools.  I always make sure to tell them to work in the industry and go to film school at the same time so they make contacts and get real-life experience.   

Your buddy,

-Vic