Index
admission, competitive 80–1, 93
AFI 100 Greatest American Films list 36
AFI Docs 151
American Cinematographer 61
American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI) 71
American Film Market (AFM) 165
Anderson, Paul Thomas 15
Apatow, Judd 73
application process: handling rejections 93–4; interviews 92–3; questions to ask about schools 77–8; revisions 90–1; selecting schools 81; statement of purpose 88–9; timeline 86–8; work samples 89–90. See also majors
Aronofsky, Darren 71
assistant work 167
attitude 135
Austin, Texas 82
Austin Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition 158
Baldwin, Alec 146
Bayley, Stephen, Life’s a Pitch (with Mavity) 93
Berlin International Film Festival 148–9
Biskind, Peter: Down and Dirty Pictures 63; Easy Riders, Raging Bulls 63
The Black List 158
books: reading list 39–40, 186–9; as research source 123
Boston University 74
Breaking Bad (TV show) 72
Breaking the Waves (film) 41
California Institute of Arts (CalArts) 71
California State University, Northridge 74
Cannes Film Market (Marché du Film) 165–6
CBS Writers Mentoring Program 160
Chapman University 74
Chayefsky, Paddy 8
cinematographers: role of 26–7; and visual arts 40
cinematography, as film school major 26–7
classes, taking, before film school 51–2
Clermont Ferrand film festival 153–4
Coen, Joel 72
collaboration 35–6, 127–8, 136, 137–8, 168–9. See also networking
Colorado Film School 74
Columbia College Chicago 75
Coogler, Ryan 73
Copenhagen International Documentary Festival 152
costs: budgeting worksheet 182; of equipment 15–16; and film festivals 144; in film industry centers 82; of film school 14, 15; financial aid 78–9; of graduate vs. undergraduate programs 22; for international students 97–9; of student films 112–13, 125–6; tuition 78–80. See also debt
CPH:DOX 152
Cretton, Destin 151
The Criterion Collection 37
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihály 44
Currey, Mason, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work 45
Deadline (online publication) 62
debt: burdens of 22, 80; minimizing 106–14; scorecard 108–9; student loans 17; tracking expenses 109–10
de Niro, Robert 151
DePaul University 75
diet 129
Diller, Barry 18
directing: as film school major 26; as most costly major 78, 106
directors: affordable equipment for 113–14; role of 26; and student film budgets 112–13
Disney, Walt 71
Disney/ABC TV Writing Program 160
documentary films: film festivals for 151–3; as type of film 65
Dok Leipzig film festival 152
Dunham, Lena 151
Dunne, Sean 151
Edgar, Tom, Film School Confidential: The Insider’s Guide to Film Schools (with K. Kelly) 64
editing: classes in 52; as film school major 27
editors, role of 27
Emerson College 75
equipment: affordable 113–14; availability of, in film school 11; costs of 15–16
Ericsson, K. Anders 130
European Film Market (EFM) 165
Evans, Robert 40
experts 125
Faulkner, William 48
feedback circles 121
film festivals 38, 64; application worksheet 184; applying to 154–5; for documentaries 151–3; for feature films 146–51; as networking opportunity 164; overview of 143–5; premiere requirements 144–5; for short films 153–4. See also specific festivals
Film Independent (FIND) 150, 162
film industry: as based in Los Angeles and New York 58–61, 70; books on 63–4; media covering 61–2; in smaller cities 61, 81–3
Filmmaker Magazine 62
filmmaking: after film school 142–75; alternate paths to 59–60; author’s experience in 2–3; financial insecurity of 106; motivations for 53–4; paths to 55
films: commercial 65; documentary 65; experimental 65; independent 64–5; industry 64; as research source 124; television 66; types of 64–6; watching, before attending film school 36–8
film school: acceptance rates of 2; budgeting worksheet 182; competitive admission to 80–1, 93; graduate vs. undergraduate 22–4; leave of absence from 114; majors in 26–9; overview of schools 71–6; preparations for 34–55; reasons for going 7–12; reasons for not going 8, 13–19; researching 58–83; strategies for thriving in 116–30; successful non-attendees of 8, 15; then vs. now 15–16; timing of 23–4
Film Society of Lincoln Center 150
financial aid, for student films 78–9
fine arts. See visual arts
Florida State University 75
Fort Tilden (film) 72
Fox Writers Intensive 160
Friedrich, Otto, City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s 63
Frozen (film) 72
Fukunaga, Cary 142
Full Frame Documentary Festival 152
Gilligan, Vince 72
Gladwell, Malcolm, Outliers 130
goal setting: after film school 143; before film school 43–5, 48; during film school 116–18, 126–7
Godard, Jean-Luc 37
Goldman, Bill 8
graphic design 52
Hall, Conrad 40
Halverston, Heidi Grant, Nine Things Successful People Do Differently 142–3
Harvard University 75
Hatkoff, Craig 151
Herzog, Werner 8
The Hollywood Reporter 62
Holofcener, Nicole 72
Hot Docs film festival 152
housing 111
Howard, Ron 73
IFP No Borders 165
impostor syndrome 159
Independent Film Project (IFP) 162
Indiewire (website) 62
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) 152–3
international students: after film school 101–2; credit records 97; health care 97–8; language issues 99; networking for 100; social security numbers 97; and tuition 98–9; visas 96–7
Internet: crowdfunding 169–73; as networking resource 18; as obstacle to productivity 45, 47; releasing short films online 155–7; as research source 123
Irvine, William B., A Guide to the Good Life 174
jobs: assistant work 167; entry level 79–80; before film school 53; freelancing 167–8; non-film related 168; part-time 110–11; as residential assistants 111; teaching 167; teaching assistantships 110
Jonze, Spike 15
Kaminski, Janusz 71
Kaufman, Charlie 49
Kelly, Karin, Film School Confidential: The Insider’s Guide to Film Schools (with T. Edgar) 64
Khondji, Darius 40
King, Stephen, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft 46
Koepp, David 72
Koo, Ryan: No Film School website 14; reasons for not going to film school 15–19
Kubrick, Stanley 122
“Lean Years,” as post-film school period 142–3
leave of absences 114
Lee, Jennifer 72
Leonard, Franklin 158
Lin, Justin 72
Lipes, Jody Lee 151
literature, reading, before attending film school 39–40
Los Angeles, as film industry center 58–9, 61, 70
Los Angeles Film Festival 150
Loyola Marymount University 75
Mackendrick, Alexander, On Filmmaking 50
majors: deciding on 52–3, 66–7; in film school 26–9, 76–7
Malick, Terrence 71
managers 166
Mangold, James 71
mastery: achieving 8, 12, 130; and film school preparations 34–6
Mavity, Roger, Life’s a Pitch (with Bayley) 93
McConaughey, Matthew 73
meditation 130
movies. See films
the muse 46
music 47
NBC/Universal Writers on the Verge 161
Netflix 37
networking: classmates 135–6; emails 134–5; and feedback circles 121; during film school 10–11, 117–18; for international students 100; internships 132–3; as key to success 35–6; online 18; for producers 163–4; showing gratitude 133; strategies for meeting people 138–9
New York, as film industry center 58–9, 61, 70
New York Film Festival 150
New York University (NYU) 72
Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship 161
Nietzsche, Friedrich 42
No Film School (website) 14, 62
Nolan, Chris 37
Norman, Marc, What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting 39
North Carolina 59
Northwestern University 75
Nykvist, Sven 40
Obst, Lynda, Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business 63–4
organizations 124
Palmer, Stephanie, Good in a Room 93
photography. See visual arts
Peirce, Kimberly 72
pitches 93
portfolios, building 48–9, 116–17
POV (TV show) 37
producers: networking for 163–4; role of 27–8
producing, as film school major 27–8
publications 125
Reiss, Jon, Think Outside the Box Office 169
relationships 137
Rensin, David, The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up 63
research: and crowdfunding 170, 171–2; on film schools 58–83; learning to conduct 121–5; sources of 123–5
residential assistants 111
Rhode Island School of Design 76
Ringling College of Art Design 76
Rodriguez, Robert 8, 15, 37, 82
Rosenthal, Jane 151
Rotterdam Cinemart 164
San Francisco State University 76
Savannah College of Art Design 76
screenplays, reading 39
screenwriters/television writers: role of 28–9. See also writers
screenwriting/television writing: classes 51; competitions for 157–8; as film school major 28–9
Seduced and Abandoned (documentary) 146
self-overcoming, as concept 42
self-reflection 128
Sepinwall, Alan, The Revolution Was Televised 38
Sheffield Doc/Fest 153
short films: film festivals for 153–4; releasing online 155–7; as type of film 37–8
Short of the Week (website) 37, 156
Sight and Sound 100 Greatest Films of All Time list 37
Simon, David 39
Slamdance film festival 150
sleep 129
Soderbergh, Steven 15
Sollett, Peter 112
South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival 150–1
South by Southwest Film Festival 82
Stanford University 76
Stoic philosophy 174
Storaro, Vittorio 40
Stossel, Scott, My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread and the Search for Peace of Mind 130
student films: financial aid for 78–9; reducing costs for 112–13, 125–6
student loans. See debt
Suber, Howard, Letters to Young Filmmakers 28, 166
Sundance Film Festival 148
Sundance Screenwriters Lab 158
Syracuse University 76
Tarantino, Quentin 15
teaching 167
teaching assistantships 110
television programs, watching, before attending film school 38–9
television writers. See screenwriters/television writers
television writing opportunities 159–61
Telluride film festival 151
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) 99
Thomson, David, The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies 63
Tiny Furniture (film) 151
Toback, James 146
Toronto Documentary Forum 152
Toronto Film Festival 149
Towne, Robert 8
travel 124
Tribeca film festival 151
Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) 162
Troublemaker Studios 82
True/False film festival 153
True Life Fund 153
tuition. See costs; specific schoolsxs
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 72–3
University of North Carolina School of the Arts 59, 73
University of Southern California (USC) 73
University of Texas at Austin 73–4
Variety 62
Venice Film Festival 149
Video On Demand (VOD) distribution model 38, 148
Vimeo Staff Picks (website) 38, 156
Visions du Réel film festival 153
Visions of Light (documentary) 40
Warner Bros. (WB) Writers’ Workshop 161
Wexler, Haskell 40
The Wire (TV show) 39
women, graduates of film schools 72
writers: building routines 45–8. See also screenwriters/television writers
writer’s block 48
Writers Guild of America (WGA) 39
Writers on the Verge program 161
Zsigmond, Vilmos 40