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Bay Area Film School/Department List by CineSource Staff
For film studies, the Bay Area is worldclass. Sure, LA and New York—not to mention London, Paris and Beijing—are more prestigious but we dominate in actual locations, West Coast lifestyles and film schools per capita.
"One big film school" is how CineSource characterized the Bay Area after counting over twenty departments and four full-on schools in 2009. San Francisco had grown crowded with black-clad film students, hanging out in coffee shops, doing street productions, touring "Vertigo" locations.
Alas, the bloom is off the boom due to the recession. Some have suffered budget cuts, others have gone Hollywood in an attempt to get graduates gainful employ, and the Cal Grants, on which many students depend, have been cancelled to some institutions.
Still, there is a lot of great student work being done, from features to animation or arty 16, and most of the departments are doing OK—even obscure community colleges feature up to forty film classes a semester.
Of course, filmmaking cannot be certified or job guaranteed. Whatever a school's state—physically, fiscally or psychologically—it comes down to the quality of the ideas. By working smarter with less, by collaborating more and developing our own film market, by blending professionalism and vision, by drawing on local talent and local stories, we can reverse any losses. Certainly, the large local contingent of art filmmakers, Hollywood Northers and doc and indie makers can help us recharge our cinemaesthetics and pedagogy.
The following is our schools survey, reverse alphabetized to offset nomenclature advantage. If you have further questions about the comparative value of the schools, .
Here is our compilation and, if we left off any or need corrects, please let us know:
Class registration at the San Francisco Art Institute, the first in the area to offer film classes (1947), the first in the country to highlight alt-film and still a leader in that field. photo: D. Blair
The SJSU team that brought us 'Cheer Up Sam': (frnt lf-rt) Matt Falkenthal, Eugene Kim, Chris Faulkner, with instructors Nick Martinez, Barnaby Dallas and Ned Kopp (back). photo: D. Blair
Festivals (alphabetical, by date below) Dates • Venues • Year • Description