While studying at New York Film Academy, I want to build a good portfolio in my second year and send my film into festivals to get things started.
The hands-on approach is the most valuable teaching method. I chose this school because it focuses on filmmaking, rather than general studies like every other school.
I recommend New York Film Academy to prospective students because it’s a good way to try film out first, instead of committing yourself to a 4-year program right away.
-Dijana Beslin
I chose to study at the New York Film Academy to make my imagination turn into reality. The teaching method I’ve found most valuable during my time spent studying here is the hands-on learning approach. Their hands-on learning and good reputation are the main reason I chose this school over other film and acting schools.
I would recommend the New York Film Academy to others for the hands-on teaching methods.
-Danielle Wilson-Wolfe
New York Film Academy is a great hands-on program to learn actual filmmaking; and of course Steven Spielberg can’t be wrong.
The hands-on teaching approach, and accessibility to the equipment whenever I want, is very valuable. I chose to come here because my friends were here and I recommend this school to others – particularly because of Paul Warner.
-Andrey Trevgoda
The New York Film Academy has always been my dream school to go to after High School. It was the only college I applied to because I couldn’t see myself anywhere else and my dream of getting accepted came true! I took Multimedia Technology for 3 years in high school so I knew the basics of film editing, cinematography, etc. I wanted to learn so much more about film and I knew that the only school that could teach me things I didn’t know was the New York Film Academy. The first DAY of the academy was hard! I thought I knew what we were going to learn, but I never touched a 16mm camera until my first day of college. The academy was NOT kidding about sometimes having 12-hour days!
Since attending the academy, we had a guest speaker and screening almost every week! I networked with a lot of people and by doing so, I even got to attend a private screening of Silver Linings Playbook featuring Jennifer Lawrence & Bradley Cooper; and the movie, Fun Size! This weekend I went to the New York City Horror Film Festival where I saw three short films and a feature length film! Not only did I get to meet the director from the feature film, I got to meet and network with a past graduate from NYFA whose thesis film, “The Hierarchy”, was in the festival! It made me so excited to be a part of the academy and made me want to enter my films into festivals someday!
I love all my teachers at NYFA! I’m such a nerd that I googled them on the first day and I am very impressed with their past and current work. I even had my Director’s Craft instructor, Billy Tyler Smith, autograph his feature film for me! I know that I’m learning from the best because they have such good stories about their experiences in the industry. Learning from them inspires me to want to become a teacher and teach students about my soon-to-be experiences in the film industry! The majority of my instructors are male so the movie examples they show are not all in my interest. I will most likely show “Legally Blonde” when I become a teacher.
After this year of the New York Film Academy, I will be attending the campus in Los Angeles to earn my Master’s Degree in Filmmaking. This was another reason I chose the academy over other film schools. NYFA has campuses almost EVERYWHERE. I think it is so beautiful how it is located in different countries as well as other states. I believe that every inspiring movie will come from a NYFA student because we are from all over the world and have different stories to tell! It was one of the few schools that allowed me to travel! To earn my masters degree, it is required to have one year in NYC and another 3 years in LA. No argument there from me! They are my two favorite cities and I can’t wait to fall in love with both. They are different in the most beautiful ways I have heard.
Once I graduate NYFA, I plan on getting an internship with Warner Brothers studio or another huge production company. New York Film Academy encourages you to dream BIG and take risks! I’m getting choked up writing about it. The first day of NYFA I was told by instructor Michael Sandoval, “As of this moment, you are all filmmakers.” I am a filmmaker and I plan on keeping it that way.
-Casey Hempel
The New York Film Academy at Universal Studios is located on the back lot of Universal Studios, Los Angeles.
Students can study filmmaking, acting for film, producing, screenwriting, 3D animation, photography, musical theater, cinematography, broadcast journalism or editing.
NYFA holds MFA, BFA, AFA programs as well as workshops from one-week, four-week, eight-week and evening workshops. NYFA also has programs for teens (14-17 years old) and tweens (10-13 years old).
All I can say is, thank you New York Film Academy. I am really happy to have studied there. You really put me on the right path.
I’m currently directing my first TV series in Egypt…can you believe that? It’s a big production (I will send u the pictures later.)
-Mohamed Adel
My name is Joy Zhou, and I’m from Shanghai, China. On September 2010, I got the chance to learn filmmaking at the New York Film Academy, as an exchange student from Shanghai Theater Academy.
I’ve been here more than two years now. I think what I got the most from New York Film Academy was the experience in the real film industry. Not only practicing on school projects, but also having the chance to see the filmmaking world. And that’s what New York and LA have taught me too. Besides that, I also made some true friends in the industry, and got a great chance to know Hollywood.
Love, patience, and trust. That’s what I learned from NYFA. Thanks for the past two years, I’m now looking forward to the future.
-Qianying Zhou
I enrolled in the New York Film Academy Documentary program in September 2011, because it was the most intense hands-on program I could find. I think it was a great choice! The program is structured around 6 film projects (two video logs and 4 shorts) in 11 months, which kept us extremely busy (often meaning more than 10 hours per day at school). I had the steepest learning curve in my life and have learned from some of the best in their field – professors who are also very productive film professionals. We had a lot of masterclasses where award-winning documentaries were presented by their producers, directors and cinematographers. I met some amazing young filmmakers. When our class started, we were 20 people from 18 different countries, which is a great experience on its own. In addition, doing a documentary program in a city like New York was a chance to quickly get to know the city in its endless diversity.
After graduating, I decided to take the opportunity to stay for an extra year of practical training (OPT). As of 1 November 1st, I will be interning at Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winning producer, Alex Gibney’s, Jigsaw Productions (http://www.jigsawprods.com). I will be assiting as an AVID intern on their latest Fela Kuti project (http://www.jigsawprods.com/fela/). As a big fan of Fela, and someone who spent part of their childhood in Nigeria, I am really looking forward to it 
I cannot thank New York Film Academy enough for the fantastic year! A special thanks goes to our production professor, Alexandra Johnes (a kick-ass producer but also Neverending Story’s magical princess) for recommending me at Jigsaw!
Best to New York Film Academy
-Maria Stanisheva
Dear Stephanie, New York Film Academy Admissions Counselor
Allow me to take this opportunity to thank you dearly for the good time my daughter Rama had the last three weeks at the New York Film Academy – an experience that will be forever engraved in her memory.
Take care and thank you again.
Diala Tinawi, Rama’s mom