WHO GOES TO THE FILM ACADEMY?

We have attracted an extraordinarily diverse student body from all over the world. The Film Academy is honored to be the film school of choice of many Hollywood filmmakers, actors, and figures from the entertainment and media world who have sent a son, daughter or family member to study with us. Here is a partial list:

FILM DIRECTORS
Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Stephen Frears (The Queen), Peter Bogdanovich (Last Picture Show),
Jim Sheridan (In The Name of the Father), Roger Donaldson (Bank Job),
George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment).

ACTORS
Al Pacino, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Robert Rowney Jr., Jamie Fox,
F. Murray Abraham, Melanie Griffith, Val Kilmer, Jodi Foster, Sharon Stone, Amy Irving,
Pierce Brosnan, Drew Carey, Jean Claude Van Damme.

PRODUCERS
Three time Oscar Winner Arthur Cohn (One Day in September), Charles Gassot (The Taste of Others),
Sheila Nevins (HBO President, Documentary & Family).

MUSICIANS
Bono (U2), Diana Ross (The Supremes), Ric Ocasek (The Cars),
Andy Summers (The Police).

ICONIC LEADERS IN THEIR FIELDS
Ed Catmull (Walt Disney & Pixar President), Doug Herzog (President MTV),
Howard Schultz (Starbucks CEO), Donatella Versace (famed fashion designer),
Ben Bradlee (VP of The Washington Post & Legion of Honor winner), Dan Marino (Hall of Fame Quarterback).

AND ALL WHO HAVE A PASSION FOR FILM
Yet, some of the best films to come out of the New York Film Academy have been made by students who have no connections to the film industry. They have included sons and daughters of farmers, teachers, merchants, civil servants, doctors, lawyers, clergy from all occupation that makes up the breath and scope of diversity what make up the world. And in one case, a Tibetan Lama who went on to make the critically acclaimed feature, The Cup. Our graduates are working at all levels in the film industry and their films have been screened at all the major film festivals in the world and have won many awards.

New York Film Academy - New York City
The New York Film Academy is licensed by the New York State Education Department's BPSS as a non-degree granting proprietary school. The New York Film Academy is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). NASAD is the only accrediting body for visual art programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. A list of programs reviewed and approved by NASAD can be found here.

In addition, the New York State Board of Regents' National Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction (National PONSI) has recommended our acting and filmmaking programs for college credit to its membership of 1,500 colleges and universities. Students interested in degree programs should consider our Los Angeles campus, located at Universal Studios.

New York Film Academy - Los Angeles, California
The New York Film Academy located at Universal Studios offers MFA and AFA degree programs as well as certificate programs for college credit. The New York Film Academy is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). NASAD is the only accrediting body for visual art programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. A list of programs reviewed and approved by NASAD can be found here.

The Film School at the New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 on a belief that a top quality education in filmmaking should be accessible to anyone with the drive and ambition to make films. The Academy opened its doors in 1992 in Robert DeNiro‘s Tribeca Film Center. Since that time we have grown into our own facilities in Manhattan‘s Union Square and Soho; as well as, a degree granting campus in Los Angeles at Universal Studios. We hold One and Two-Year and short-term programs throughout the year in these locations; as well as, degree programs at the Universal Studios Campus. During the summer we offer our short-term programs at a number of additional locations, including Harvard University; Disney Studios- Florida; Paris, France; London, England; and Florence and Rome, Italy.

Each year hundreds of students of all occupations, races, ethnicities, and of a wide range of ages from around the world benefit from the extraordinary education offered at the New York Film Academy. Today, the New York Film Academy is considered one of the most prominent fixtures of film education in the world.

Workshop Length

The New York Film Academy was designed for a new generation of filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, producers and animators who share a passion for motion pictures and want to learn by making their own projects in a hands-on, intensive program.

Filmmaking demands the integration of many kinds of knowledge. It is the integration of knowledge that distinguishes the New York Film Academy from many other film schools. In our courses students learn not only how to operate a camera, light a scene, or edit film. They learn how all the aspects of filmmaking relate to, interact with, and depend upon each other.

The many different programs of the New York Film Academy share a philosophy that balances in-class instruction by award-winning filmmakers with an intense exploration of the medium through practical, hands-on work. For us, learning by doing means requiring each student to make a series of short films. This takes them through the entire filmmaking process.

Each student writes, produces, directs, and edits each film, then screens it and engages in constructive discussion and critique.

The student applies the experience gained through this process to the next project, and the learning process continues.

Orson Welles once stated, "If you give me three days, I can show you the ABCs of film." The New York Film Academy gives our students a bit more time - our programs run from four, six, and eight weeks to one or two years. Our goal is to give students the basic tools and practical hands-on experience needed for filmmaking. This lays a solid foundation for future work. The students themselves will apply what they have learned to whichever path they take.

For many students, the time and tuition required to complete a four-year university program are impractical burdens. We believe that students provide the talent; we provide the instruction, equipment and structure. It is the students‘ drive and creative ability that carries them forward.

We provide students with the opportunity to learn directing by doing just that - directing. Students are challenged to make creative decisions that in some way, great or small, contribute to the drama of their films. We encourage students to explore the various ways of expressing an idea or a thought through moving images.

The New York Film Academy believes that the correct paths for filmmakers is to immediately start making their own films in a hands-on intensive working environment.

Towards this end, all students begin making their own films in the first week of all our workshops.