Chapman University

This place is amazing!! One of the best, and getting better!! Check it out! peace...

"What a wonderful experience Chapman University Film school was! =) I spent four years there and in that time period made lots of friends and contacts and shot over 15 films. Some of my films won awards (including an award in the category of Visual Perception and Expression) and others were screened at film festivals. Basically, Chapman will show you who you are and let you know if you have what it takes. If you truly are a filmmaker, then you belong at Chapman! This school will bring out the best in you, I promise you that, and you will change in ways you never thought imaginable. You will discover just ""who you are"" in the realm of movie-making...there are all different types of creative artists...DP's, Writers, Directors, Casting Directors, etc. Aside from this poignant response of mine, in all honestly, the faculty and atmosphere there is top-notch. It is a film production college; USC and UCLA have too many restrictions on their students and on what they can produce. Chapman's programs are set up to teach you the craft, hands-on, in the way that YOU want to express it. You will learn all the skills necessary to know how to enter the film industry, and you WILL get work in the film industry. I currently work at THE WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY and have submitted 2 screenplays and a novel for coverage (these were projects I wrote while attending Chapman). Several agents are now interested in my writing projects (*fingers crossed*), and I have been passing my films around like mad. You have to put an effort into whatever it is you want to become, for sure, but Chapman will at least give you one thing you didn't have before: skill, knowledge, self-confidence, and films that you've shot yourself to showcase your talent. Words of advice, go with Chapman University Film School!"

Fantastic school -- close enough to Hollywood to have top filmmakers and stars visit EVERY WEEK (they hold "Industry Insider" events weekly for the students). Has a fantastic faculty, including director John Badham and cinematographer Larry Paull (Blade Runner -- does it get better than that?!). AND -- they're building an incredible new film school complex, the Marion Knott Studios -- 76,000 square feet of soundstages, post-production facilities, a 500-seat screening theater, a backlot and much more! Love this place!

Despite being fairly new, this school is amazing. Great equipment, very down to earth and approachable students and faculty, and an amazing facility. Plus you leave owning your films.

"Chapman is a great film school. Its got some really high quality equipment as well as great facilities that you get access to nearly as soon as you get there. The classes are good as well. Word of warning: Chapman is heavily focused on the classic hollywood structure film. IE: beginning, middle and end structure with emphasis on the character and their development etc. If you want to do experimental films this is not your college to go to. All experimental ideas I had were responded by professors in class with ""this class is focused on blah blah type of film. Look at the syllabus"". "