I know there’s a post in the archives about film school, and whether it’s necessary, but I would love to hear any advice you have on actually applying to film school.
How can someone improve their chances for getting accepted to a MFA program in film production/writing? What in your opinion are film schools really looking for in applicants? Any thoughts on what to avoid in an application?
–Oz
Honolulu, HI
This time, I decided I would go right to the source and ask Howard A. Rodman, who in addition to being a fine writer and all-around good guy, is the chair of the MFA and BFA programs in screen and television writing of the USC Cinema School.
Here’s what he had to say.
Howard Rodman: I read many, many applications. [We just this week finished selecting this fall’s incoming class.] Here’s what we’re looking for:
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Writing. Good writing. Not necessarily in screenplay format. We’re less interested, at this point, in whether you know what we’re here to teach you, than in whether you can put together a sentence. Tell a story. Create a dimensional character. In short: do you have your very own voice? [P.S. – We know the difference between “its” and “it’s,” and we actually care.]
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Grades, good enough to pass muster with the larger USC admissions apparatus, and good enough to give us the confidence you’ll be able to execute a demanding program. Four point something GPAs and 1600 SATs (or GREs) are truly lovely, but are not in and of themselves guarantors of anything. We’re looking for writers [see #1 above], but we do need to know you can handle the load.
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Diversity. Folks with life experience. Folks from strange and wonderful places. Folks who’ve had interesting ‘first’ careers before turning to writing. Not just your typical work/study/get ahead/kill types. The New York Times says that a cinema MFA may be the new MBA; but I’m not sure we’d view it that way.
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A good mix. Not all Hummers, not all Priuses.