<p>Hi, I'm a junior this year looking for colleges for acting. I have looked through these posts on this page tons of times but I had some additional questions to ask! So, first, I want to be in California. I know what the forums say, you don't need to be in California (and I will probably apply on the east coast too) But it's my personal opinion acting wise and just plain me wise that I'd rather go out there. So, of schools in california which ones do less musicial theatre and do more straight acting and also work with film students more. I'm not a singer. And I know all about that no schools are "film acting schools" but based on involvement with the film students on student films I feel like you could get the on camera experience with theater training. In my town we have a film school and I know many actresses who work a lot with the film students and that is my hope to do in college. So, this is a long post for one question but in everyones opinion what are the top schools and programs for acting and working in student films? Thanks!!</p>
<p>UCLA, USC, Cal Arts, Chapman, CSU Fullerton, Loyola - probably in that order (the first two are kinda tied…)
But keep in mind, none of these schools have “acting for film” as the emphasis.
My D is at UCLA. She is a Theatre Major, acting specialization. But she has done nine student films in her first two years, two of which are senior thesis film and one of which is a graduate student film. She had to go out and seek those opportunities out. She got that advice from a student at CalArts when she went to the admitted students day there. It was a great piece of advice. The film work will not walk over to you. You have to seek it out. But, you want to place yourself in a school that has a good film school so you can do the film work. So, look for a school that has a good BA or BFA acting program and ALSO a good film school. Then, when you get there, go hunting down the film work, even if it is only short student films for their classes. Those short films are what lead to the senior thesis and graduate student films.</p>
<p>Are the BFA Acting programs need blind when it comes to considering auditions or does it vary between schools? I am curious if the need for financial aid affects the perception of the auditioner’s talent.
How do you find out what the schools position is on that? I think it would be sad for some of these kids auditioning at these schools and not be aware of that element of the process.</p>
<p>Thanks! Yeah, I know no schools have acting for film. That is why I was curious about schools with good film programs as well. Thanks for the help. I’m putting all of those on my audition list!</p>
<p>NYU Tisch has an advanced studio for film and television acting: Stonestreet. But you would have to do two years in a regular acting studio (stage acting) first and then move to Stonestreet.</p>
<p>Bozozo04 - you may want to start a new thread. Since this thread is mostly about film acting programs.</p>
<p>The people who see the audition are not generally the same people who review the university application or the financial aid information.</p>
<p>I’m assuming the nyu program is by audition to move to the film program?</p>
<p>No. I think that program is the acting program. You are in the acting program, and then in your latter two years, you change your studio to an acting for film program. I got the impression, though, that your interest was to find an acting program at a school with a really good film school. I have no knowledge about the quality of the NYU film school independent of its acting program. The schools I have mentioned have very good acting programs AND really high quality film programs, particularly UCLA and USC… plus they are in LA, where most of the large studios are still headquartered.</p>
<p>So far as I know, Tisch students do have to audition for the advanced studios.</p>