Los Angeles Film School (LAFS)

former student Former Student, 18-Aug-2010
I graduated in 2006 and let me tell you that LAFS is a rip off. I know of so many people in my class that are not working in the film industry. Talk is cheap. Action is not what they do nor fulfilling their obligations to their students. At the time, the cinematographer teacher was coming off drinking binges. You could smell the alcohol on his breath. A lot of the teachers are former students not able to get jobs and some teachers only worked in the industry back in the 70s or 80s. All I got from this school is a lot of debt. I could have saved my money by reading books on screenwriting or going to an intensive writing workshop. Save your money and don't go there. The ones who do succeed are still production assistants. If I ever get nominated for an Oscar or get any award, I won't be thanking them. The recruiters have quotas. Is this how you run a school? :(

You don't want to know Former Student, 03-Aug-2010
Pointless, absolutely pointless. The only thing good about the school is that they help you build your portfolio. The problem is, no one in the industry has any respect for the school because their career department doesn't do anything, most of the faculty are old students, and they just want your money. They all have the worst egos. Bitter, and disgruntled. What's the point of going to a school with such a reputation? Do yourself a favor, put in the extra 3 to 4 years at USC and then you'll get a good job, otherwise you'll be wasting another 8 trying to get an entry level position. SAVE YOUR TIME, SAVE YOUR MONEY, SAVE YOUR REPUTATION, DON'T GO TO THE LOS ANGELES FILM SCHOOL.

Kay Robey Former Student, 11-Jan-2010
I am a parent of former LA Film school student. I can honestly say you need to take your money and your students time and dedication to an accredited school that will honestly attempt to get you started in the industry. I have to agree with one of the other reviews that stated it was overrated, overpriced, and does not deliver on it's promises. My son graduated about a year ago and has had little or no communcation of help from the school despite his attempts to get his counselor to work for him as promised. We were told that part of our enormous monetary commitment was because they assist with placement after graduation. Not so...take your money somewhere else.

Anonymous Former Student, 08-Jul-2009
A waste of time, over priced, underwhelming, better off getting internships or applying to craigslist ads to work on student sets, you'll learn more than you would from this slick infomercial sales pitch with nothing of substance to back it. Do yourself a favor and save 40 grand.

Mike Gizienski Former Student, 26-Jul-2008
I just recently graduated and I can say that the school is in a state of transition right now. It was bought by Fullsail unfortunately and it now feels more like a commercial school rather than a private "artistic" school which it was when I applied. Now it feels almost like their selling you the product of education rather than providing you with one. They removed a lot of features that made the program so Enticing in the first place such as working soundstages (in favor of permanent stages). Since their accepting students every month, there are significant equipment shortages and the editing labs need serious work. I gave it four out of five because I gained so much while I was there while it was still the old program. I'm not thrilled at all by the direction it's going. It's been taken over by money pushers who don't seem to care about the students and only see them as profit. Having said that I DID learn and gain so much while I was there. I learned more from my fellow students than the actual school which I think is what you would get at any film school really. You learn by doing. So approach with caution and do your research...

Arthur Axelman Former Student, 21-Jun-2008
This school has developed a reputation or at least the student "directors" of renegging on their contract commitment to provide actors with a DVD copy of the completed project. As actors on student films generally work solely for the copy so that they might add scenes to their demo reel, it's a particularly serious and critical abuse when no copy of the completed work ever is sent to the working actor. While this abuse is wide throughout the film teaching community, it is especially abusive from LA Film School. The directors may not have learned camera angles and blocking but they certainly learned out to lie and deceive.

former LAFS grad Former Student, 10-Jul-2007
I am a graduate of The Los Angeles Film school and I had no problems whatsoever while attending, it is a GREAT school and their career department did everything in their power to help find me a job, although I honestly didn't need much help because I left with so much experience! I have been working consistently since I graduated and would recommend this school to anyone who is serious about become a filmmaker!

John Martin Former Student, 11-Apr-2007
Most of the students at LAFS are 18-21 so get used to an environment that reflects a 'high school' atmosphere rather than a professional University film school such as UCLA, USC or AFI. The school still seems to be suffering from growing pains. A lot of the equipment e.g. XL2 cameras are heavily used, in sufficient in quantity and slow to be repaired or replaced when broken. Good school if you want a generic overview of pre, production and post production workflows, but don't expect to walk out of the school into either full or part-time employment. Limited career assistance is provided. The administration side of school needs to be organized a little better. The day after I left the school I was asked for my next tuition payment - hello left hand, meet right hand.