Attended: 1997
Recommend: Yes

I was a film production major at Loyola from 1994 to 1997,

and what I really wanted to do was direct.

First of all, let me start off by saying there's things you must know about filmschool. Filmschool is a crock, and and an excuse to get out of doing something involving a real future. There's nothing wrong with this mind you, but you have to realize it

going in. The odds are against you, get that through your head. Other people in college leave with a piece of paper saying they can do something meaningful. As a film student, any film student, you'll leave with a can of film, and possibly the ability

to make copies for Joel Silver's assistant's assistant. Filmschool is just a trick to make your parents think you're in college somewhere. Really, you're following a dream, and it's not the dream that counts, it's how you use it.

All filmschool is, is a basic tool. A chance to get your feet wet without diving in. It's as good an excuse as any, and sometimes an excuse is all you need to follow your dreams. That was totally my case.

I thanked heaven every day I walked through the doors of that university everyday. Equipment didn't work? People said it couldn't happen for me? Who cares, I had a chance to do something that's a dream. If you can keep that attitude in mind, where you

go to filmschool doesn't matter so much. However, being in L.A. or NY, centers for film, is helpful cause it allows you to meet other people that can help you.

Even someplace as close to the industry as Loyola, 90 percent of the students and faculty wouldn't know their calling if AT&T phoned it in. You're dealing with loserville everywhere, but Loyola allowed me a chance to find the other 10 percent of real, talented and dedicated people. They were really there, if you looked close enough.

Loyola was small enough to allow you to find kindred spirits in both faculty and students. A bigger place like USC, you're just a number, but at Loyola, you can't help but bump into everyone repeatedly. They have no choice, they have to like you, you may be pulling focus on their next film.

The upside of the program is that every film production student gets to make 2 films, like it or not. The downside is, every film production student gets to make 2 films, and most of them find out they don't like it.

You see a lot of crap by unenthusiastic people, and you get a lot of crap by unenthusiastic faculty, who've witnessed a mountain of crap from unenthusiastic students.

Most of the facilities and cameras have been driven into the ground by overuse, but the faculty does do their best with limited resources to keep things functional. You shouldn't have any problems getting what you need as long as you know your shooting squedules 2 weeks in advance and you can make reservations. Unfortunately, the thing about student films, is you never know 2 weeks in advance. If you do, god bless you, but it's too easy, something must be wrong.

The faculty sometimes suffers from a lack of passion, and can easily overlook a good filmmaker in the crowd. More encouragement could make some of the filmmakers teetering this way or that finally break through.

I don't think this is a problem unique to Loyola, however, and as far as that goes, I'm sure you'll have much more chance to find youself here, and find some encouragement by the faculty, than you would many other places.

At this time, Loyola sits smack on the brink of either continuing to be a small quaint filmschool with personal attention, or becoming just too big to really care about most students. I had experiences that ran both gamits. The bottom line is if you're

truly passionate about what you want to do, then you'll attract the passion of the faculty and students around you, cause the school is small enough to realize exactly what you're up to.

The continuing problem of too many films made each semester will always be the schools saving grace and nightmare together. I was one film being made out of many, and didn't recieve hardly any encouragement or support. Of course, that also meant I could

do whatever I wanted. If I hadn't been stuck on my film, and kept sneaking into the post facilities for a year, I wouldn't have gotten into Sundance with it last year, or most of the other American film festivals as well. I was one of maybe three in

my class to actually finish my film. My experience on the festival circuit has shown me that some of the films at Loyola that I saw at their earliest stages could compete with anything on the festival circuit. Not that we were that great, it's just that

everything else was not better.

The false reality that filmschool is your whole world, can easily make you think your film just isn't that good. That happens most of the time at Loyola, and I'm sure at many other schools. Because you see so many bad student films, it's really hard to believe the good ones that pop out now and again.

Another good point about Loyola is that you own your own films. The school will never tell you what to do with them. I knew this going in, and had wanted to make a feature for my thesis film.

Worst mistake I ever made was telling the faculty about it. They're totally against this, and probably rightfully so, because they don't want to flood the program with projects they can't finish. I wound up shooting part of it anyway, in trailer form, a

nd a few months later, I found more financing and went out to make the film. It's called Six String Samurai and is playing this year at Slamdance Film Festival, check out their website for details, it's a kick. Lot of heartache to make, just like filmschool in general.

The best advice to give when it comes to choosing a filmschool is, go there, check it out, and see if it feels comfortable. Be comfortable, if yu get in, you'll be spending too much time there to not be. Loyola was a very comfortable place, I'll really

say that.

The other advice when it comes to film school, probably even better than the last, is that it doesn't matter where you go. Doesn't even matter if you get in. Grades don't mean a damned thing. BA, MFA, screw 'em all. Just make your own filmschool if yo

u have too. With all the money you'll be paying, you could make your own. Make a little movie and find out if you like it. Nobodys ever gonna just pay you to make a movie. You absolutely have to do it yourself first. There will definetely be parts yo

u don't like, but if you can stomach it, it's like nothing else in the world.

Peace.

Lance Mungia Recovered Filmstudent

EVERYONE GO SEE SIX STRING SAMURAI.
"IN A ROCK AND ROLL WORLD, EVERYONE NEEDS A HERO!!!"

Reviewer's Location: L.A.,

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Note: This review was auto-imported from an older LOAFS database. A "Yes" recommendation has been translated into a rating of ten. A "No" has been translated into a rating of one.
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Review Submitted by: Lance Mungia (unverified)