Rating:(10/10)

Review:

I took the sixteen week digital filmmaking course, we met three times a week (mon,wed and fri from 6 to 9) and the course tuition was $4,000 - there is no better value for money than this course. You will get out of the DFA as much as you put into it. If you want to learn, you will learn. I must say, I went into this program with relatively low expectations. in 2001 I had spent more than twice as much money on the eight week filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy and found that to be a frustrating and essentially valueless experience. Very old equipment, apathetic instructors ( with the notable exception of Bryan Norton, who was very helpful and supportive to everyone in the class - if you do go to NYFA, and i strongly advise you not to, but if you do, make sure you get into Bryan Norton's classes) - the New York Film Academy left me believing i was not a filmmaker and never would be. After a couple of years of taking screenwriting classes and workshops, I decided that I wanted to give film school another try and after extensive research, decided on the DFA. The classes are small, the equipment is new, the instructors work with you until you understand and answer any questions and as for Patrick DiRenna, the director of the DFA, his door is always open...LITERALLY I have never seen it closed and he is always making the rounds making sure everyone is alright. Every opportunity is given to the students to make their films as good as they can be - in my case, i used the DFA as an free audition space and as a free location for my film shoot - all you have to do is ask. Another great feature of the DFA is the unlimited lab time. You will learn Final Cut and Pro Tools and have all the time you need to master them and use them effectively on your film. My sixteen weeks technically ended on October 8, but as i write this on October 10, i am still in the process of editing and probably will be for another week - the extra time? Free of charge, no problem, all you have to do is ask. The last thing you need to know about the DFA is this, when you take the sixteen week course you are also given a one year DFA membership which gives you discounts on equipment and rentals and gets your name on the work list for production jobs. When you go to the Digital Film Academy you become part of the community here, you get a real sense that "We're all in this together", you're not just some faceless student passing through the system, you learn what you need to make films, you make contacts that can help you and you find out if you really are a filmmaker or not because if you can't make it here, you had better pick another field of study. - Ryan Cushing

Related Link: Digital Film Academy