What Atlanta Film School Reviews Can’t Tell You

Posted: March 16, 2012 by

If you’re in Atlanta, Georgia looking to start a career in film, you’ve probably looked for Atlanta film school reviews. The area does have several options as far as studying for a career in film, ranging from college degree programs to film trade schools—and it seems like everyone has a different opinion about which school is the best, and why.

But before you take someone’s review of a school too seriously, you should know there is something that these school reviews can’t (or won’t) tell you—a critical piece of information that could make or break your future career. When you’re looking at school reviews, you’ll find out things about the schools’ academic programs, their popularity, their equipment, and their methods—but you won’t know how well connected the schools are to the film industry itself.

Why is this so critical? Because the film industry is based on connections and working relationships, and without connections it is nearly impossible to get a job in this business. In fact, connections are so important that your film school degree will be relatively worthless without them. The problem is, most film schools (even the “best” ones) do not offer their students a chance to truly connect to the film industry. In fact, the only people you’re likely to meet in most film schools are other film students who will eventually be competing with you for the jobs! Atlanta film school reviews can tell you how good a school is technically or academically, but they can’t tell you whether attending that school will actually improve your chances for success. And make no mistake: a degree alone will NOT guarantee you a job in film.

The key to choosing the right Atlanta film school for you is to start with the goal of connecting to the film industry in Atlanta, and seeing how the school fits into and help you achieve that goal. Many film industry professionals think it’s actually better to learn to make movies in the places where movies are actually being made: in real film production companies. One alternative form of education actually helps you to do this. The mentor-apprentice approach, as it is called, will place you as an apprentice inside a local film production company, where a seasoned film professional will actually mentor you one-on-one. Mentor-apprentice schools don’t always appear on review lists, but they are highly effective in plugging their students into the film industry itself. In fact, it is not uncommon for the students of these schools to get hired by the very people who train them!

Atlanta film school reviews can be helpful, but they can’t tell you everything you need to know. That’s why you simply need to include some common sense when deciding on a film school.