Program Location
You've probably seen and heard a great deal about L.A. ever since you became interested in the film industry. Now that you're moving there, you might want a few more details about what opportunities will be at your fingertips. This week's FAQ's will tell you all about what your semester will look like in this city!
Our location is integral to who we are and what we do: Los Angeles! The LAFSC and Park La Brea apartments, where students will live, are located in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles. Miracle Mile is an exciting business and arts district centrally located just south of Hollywood, west of Downtown and east of Beverly Hills. A 30 minute car-ride will get you to studios, beaches, downtown, and theme parks. LA has a great metro bus system as well.
Goregeous! Sunny Southern California has a mild climate year round. Temperatures in the spring average about 70 degrees while temperatures in the fall average about…well, 70 degrees. But we know you aren’t coming here just to get an awesome tan…
Academics
While your time at the L.A. Film Studies Center is sure to be an eye opening adventure, your main purpose in being there will be to learn. In fact, we think this is half the adventure, especially since you will be learning through doing and serving in addition to time in the classroom. Read this week’s FAQs series to find out more about the program’s academics.
Classes are held at the LAFSC offices in Los Angeles. Our facility houses several classrooms, editing and computer labs, Foley stage, casting suites, a production office, full film library, as well as a lounge outfitted with DVD and BluRay players. You will have 24 hour access to the center while you are a student. LAFSC also owns 4 RED Scarlet cameras, light and sound kits, dollies and more! In short, all of your equipment needs will be satisfied! We are constantly updating our equipment to stay at the forefront of the latest Hollywood trends.
We also believe in first hand experience when it comes to filmmaking. Past fieldtrips include a tour of The Dolby Theater (where the Academy Awards are held), RED Studios tour, Fox Studios tour, an evening at The Hollywood Bowl with film-famous conductor John Williams, and a tour of the Independent Studio Services prop house.
Most of the LAFSC faculty members are also film industry professionals. From the epic Titanic to award-winning independent short and feature films, the LAFSC staff has done it all. Our teachers and staff come from both the studio and independent worlds with a variety of backgrounds including production, development, editorial and executive. They have a passion for grooming and educating the next generation of Hollywood elite. For details on the LAFSC faculty, please visit
http://www.bestsemester.com/lafsc/faculty_staff
The LAFSC teaches Film Production, Screenwriting, Acting and more. One of the required classes is Faith and Artistic Development in Film, where you will discuss your beliefs in the context of Hollywood. You will also enroll in the Hollywood Production Workshop, our semester-intensive film production class. At the beginning of this class, you will be placed in a group of 10-15 students to work with throughout the semester. Each group is given a budget and a script to create one masterful piece during the course of the semester.
Electives include Narrative Storytelling, Professional Acting for the Camera, and Professional Screenwriting.
Please visit
http://www.bestsemester.com/lafsc/academics to see more about our curriculum.
Are you ready to get real, hands-on experience in the industry? Throughout your semester at LAFSC, you’ll intern in the aspect of the Hollywood entertainment industry that interests you most! You may work in a development company, agency, management company, post-production facility, casting office or another area that you are passionate about. Internship interviews and placement happen within the first few days of your stay in LA. You’ll work at this location 3 days a week (20-24 hours). At the end of the semester you will have accumulated a grand total of 200-250 hours for the semester! Talk about tangible experience! And it’s not just anywhere…LAFSC provides internships in many of the major companies within Hollywood.
A lot! During the semester you will make connections with industry professionals that will help you launch your career. For starters, you’ll work alongside industry professionals three days a week at your internship. The LAFSC also brings in many guest speakers throughout the semester. These speakers may include actors, producers, directors, studio executives, cinematographers, editors and more! In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to take advantage of all the city has to offer including advance screenings, Q&A’s with actors and above the line talent, and opportunities to tour the major studios. The city is at your disposal, so make the most of it!
Daily Life
You have probably already figured out that your day-to-day to life in L.A. will look quite different than it does right now. But you might be wondering exactly how different, right? In this week’s FAQ series, we will answer some common questions about daily life in LAFSC.
You’ll live at the Park La Brea Apartments, located a few blocks from the LAFSC. This public complex contains approximately 4,000 apartments. Apartments are two bedrooms, with 4-5 students in each apartment. When you aren’t busy with classes and internships, you can take advantage of the swimming pool, spa, fitness center, activity center, volleyball court, five miles of fitness trails, two cafés and an 84-seat movie theatre! There are also dry-cleaning and laundry facilities. Additionally, there is a large park across the street from Park La Brea with walking trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, etc.
You have endless options! You will shop for your own food and can work together with roommates to determine cooking and eating arrangements. Your apartment comes fully equipped with pots, pans, cooking utensils, dish and silverware, and a microwave. There are also thousands of restaurant options nearby including every type of ethnic food you can think of.
If you want to take full advantage of the semester, we highly recommend that you bring a car. Having your own transportation will give you more opportunities for internships and easier access to all Los Angeles has to offer. Don’t worry, though! There is extensive public transportation and the possibility of carpooling with other students if you are unable to bring a car.
Yes! There are many great local churches you can attend! Whatever your church tradition, you will be able to find a church in Los Angeles. And we encourage you to attend! To help make this possible, LAFSC alumni and staff offer to take you to their home churches during the early weeks of the term. The Center also has lists of churches where previous LAFSC students and alumni have worshiped.
You might get up early to hit the fitness center at the apartment complex or take a quick swim in one of the Park La Brea pools. On Tuesdays and Thursdays you’ll head to the LAFSC for class and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays you’ll head to your internship. Then, you could spend your evenings editing films, having production meetings or casting sessions. If you don’t have work to do, you might check out some of the local entertainment including movies, music, comedy or theater! On the weekends you’ll probably be shooting films, writing a screenplay or rehearsing an acting scene for class. And, of course, when you have some downtime, you’ll probably want to pop in a movie from our extensive film library’s thousands of options.
Career
So you might be wondering how your experience at the LAFSC might help you in the long run. This week's FAQ's will answer that question and maybe even allow you to dream a bit bigger!
Hollywood. It’s one of the most influential businesses since the Industrial Age. It’s where the movies that change the world—for good and bad—are made. It’s an epicenter for the formation of American popular culture and the port of departure from which this culture is exported to the world. For you, Hollywood is a place to be explored, engaged and critiqued; as a city, an industry and a calling. A semester at LAFSC is time and space reserved for your academic and experiential inquiry, using the city as the primary text for research. After the semester, the LAFSC continues to connect and support you. Last but not least, you’ll also make valuable industry connections through your internships and the networking opportunities made available to you throughout the semester. In short, this program can be a launching pad for a career in the film industry. Now, you just need to get here and make it happen!
About one third of the LAFSC alumni live and work in the entertainment industry in L.A. and around the world! LAFSC alumni include executives and staff at Paramount, Fox, Universal Studios, Disney, Warner Brothers, CBS, ICM, WME, and RSA working as directors, producers, writers, actors, editors, international sales agents, and development executives. For a list of alumni credits, please go to
http://www.bestsemester.com/lafsc/overview/page/alumni-credits.
