Two Years ago Pace Univesity started a BFA Program in Film, Television, Commercial and Voice Over - the first one in the nation.
Jkellyn17, there are a number of similar classes in the DC area, but I think it would be prudent to sign up for one that has good name recognition. As a previous poster mentioned, some agents actually require their new clients to take this type of class if they have not done so already! And I’m thinking it might be good to start working on this before doing a lot of student films, so that the reel footage would be better.
It’s just frustrating that this element of training gets short shrift in the typical BFA. I recently heard a student say that the “older faculty members are in denial about the future of the industry.”
I hear you but I do think that our kids will be taking classes for the rest of their lives. We have talked about funding the Green Street class if the S ever has an uncommitted summer in Chicago.
Thanks for stopping by Fishbowl. Its been a little too quiet around here lately.
No prob. I’ve basically retired from the forums since I don’t actually know anybody in a college program anymore and most of my info is out of date since I’ve been out for close to five years. But I still look occasionally and might chime in if I see something I can help with.
@nansan It sounds like he’s doing everything right as long as he’s also getting out to network and building his list of industry contacts. If he’s getting callbacks from the auditions his agent is getting him, he’s in business. If not, he should touch base to see if there’s been any feedback from casting and maybe get in one of the first four classes I mentioned. Lesly is also great about giving the appropriate swift kicks if she finds a student isn’t handling his business. I don’t know John, but he apparently is too in a somewhat kinder gentler way. Another plus at both those studios is that the students are producing a lot of their own work and John’s students even have a short film festival. Check out this spoof disaster movie trailer some of them did … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqrhiC-mrJk 
Oh, and if he’s auditioning for commercials, another name I didn’t mention before is Killian McHugh who everybody says is the man to see for that. I also assume he has a copy of Self-Management for Actors which is widely considered the best book for newbies trying to get their bearings with the LA way of doing things.
Thank you, Fishbowlfreshman, for all the helpful information. I know my S would be interested in taking classes with a group of actors that also like to write and produce a humorous film. I watched the Precipitation “trailer” - it was fun to see how the group played with the “very rare” event of rain in LA. I am pretty sure my S is making an effort to network with industry folks in LA. I asked him whether there are any theater opportunities in LA. He Is an EMC and has a bunch of equity credits but he pretty much laughed when I asked that question. He reports that theater in LA is mostly MT or productions with celebrities. Is it the case that there are few non-MT theater roles in LA? I thought that the theater scene in LA was on the upswing.
No. There is [plenty of straight theatre in LA]( http://losangeles.bitter-lemons.com/la-theaters/#sthash.b0ytkIbc.bnHarFoq.dpbs ) and some of it is very good. It’s just that most of it isn’t anything you can make a living at, but is rather done as a means to feed one’s soul as a respite from the Tinseltown rat race. I finally got around to doing a play myself and it felt as if I’d had an artistic blood transfusion.
A former student of mine won a directing award in LA this past winter and her acceptance remarks were widely quoted–I love that she said this about directing live theater (and her troupe, Fugitive Kind) in LA: “Theater is a terrible way to make a living but it’s an incredible way to be alive, and I am a better director because of the people I get to be alive with.” I shared that with my son and wanted to shout it from the rooftops! 
Some of the acting students I know have discussed doing TV and film and commercial work in order to finance their love for live theater. I suppose that would be the ideal. In the meantime, in college they are receiving superb training to do very difficult theatrical works for which there is no audience. (My kid disagrees: “Just because you wouldn’t want to see it, Mom, doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for it.”) The larger pool of available work will require additional specialized training.
I just feel frustrated to get the news that they will not, after all, be fully prepared for their chosen profession after graduation.
Many people go into film with no training at all, so there’s that.
That’s what they say, but I am skeptical that there are many with NO training. Many without a BFA, for sure.
CCM Drama (where I go) has started a big film initiative. We had our first annual 48 hour film festival this year. Starting next year, we will be adding a film to our season. We will film all of fall semester and it will be edited all of Spring Semester and show at the end of the year. We also have many opportunities to act in student films that the EMEDIA majors produce. We have an acting for the camera class and various masterclasses with TV/Film folks.
So if you are into film acting, CCM definitely has stuff for you in addition to the hardcore theatre training!
BTW absolutely loving it there. I’ve been kept so busy. Acted in two lab productions, the 48 hour film festival, the new works festival, and I’ll be a directing a lab production before the year closes. Hope all my CC moms are doing well
Very glad to hear that you’re thriving at CCM, @josh703!
Great to “see” you, Josh! So glad you are enjoying the cool opportunities at CCM. Love all the new film stuff coming your way. My S is really enjoying his film opportunities at USC, also!
That might have been somewhat true 15-20 years ago if you were 18, somewhat talented, and exceptionally hot or a totally unique character type. But the market has changed and the actors who came in that way without having taken the time to learn a craft can no longer compete and have been mostly phased out. The market has gone truly global, less big budget films are being made, shooting schedules have gotten tighter with less takes especially in TV, and nobody has the time or money to mess with an untrained greenie anymore.
And don’t believe the hype about so-and-so A-Lister being an untrained natural, either. Remember all the hype about Jennifer Lawrence having never taken an acting class a couple of years ago? [Oh, really?](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2121264/Fresh-faced-Jennifer-Lawrence-pictured-famous–acting-coaches-praise-natural-talent.html)
And if you think for a second that’s all she’s had, I have some beach front property in Nebraska that I’d like to sell you. No doubt extremely gifted, but best coaches in the business …
Lots of working and name actors don’t have degrees in acting, but don’t believe for a second that they’re untrained and don’t take their craft seriously. That’s all contrived marketing to a public that for some reason values a strong work ethic for everybody except the celebrities who inhabit their fantasy lives.
Meh … I could go on and on, but here’s a recent Entertainment Weekly article entitled [What does the latest British invasion say about the state of American acting?](What does the latest British invasion say about American acting?) along with a companion piece by one of the teachers at Maggie Flanigan’s Meisner studio entitled [A Crisis in American Acting.](http://www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/acting-classes-nyc/crisis-in-american-acting/)
Chapman in Orange County also has a Screen Acting BFA program.
Jennifer Lawrence is the one people are always bringing up, when we have the conversations about getting training! Thank you for that link, @fishbowlfreshman. I will be able to make considerable use of it!
To me, the idea that someone has accomplishments at that level without training, is akin to expecting a basketball player to get signed to a NBA team without training. Born with talent, yes, but that’s not enough!
@fishbowlfreshman I was wondering, if you could change any part of your training (college and post college) what would it be? My son is trying to make his way as an actor and any incite you could give would be very much appreciated.
I wouldn’t change a thing. I did my best with what was available to me and made the most of the opportunities that presented themselves. Even my first year of college when I found myself in an unhappy fishbowl and transferred home second semester ended up being a learning experience and actually helped get me where I am in a roundabout way.
I definitely wouldn’t go to LA or New York for supplemental screen actor training if I could turn back the clock even if I could have afforded to do so. Those summers spent doing repertory theatre back home where I was a big fish were too valuable. I was fortunate enough to be able to play some of the great young womens’ roles of the classic stage and really grew from it. It wasn’t like I was just lunch waitressing and getting in protracted arguments with CC parents. So maybe it wasn’t a case of too much stage and not enough film.
I guess if I could change anything in my conservatory training, it would be to introduce on-camera earlier like I said before along with including more work in TV styles. But I’m scratching my head wondering what would have to be sacrificed in the schedule to do it. Plus, I wouldn’t have been turned on by that when I was looking at schools. I was a hardcore repertory gal with every intention of being ensconced as a resident member of a regional Shakespeare company by now. I had little interest in TV or most commercial film, so my 18 year old self would have certainly looked at my 28 year old self as a big sellout. I really struggled with that for awhile … So, if I’ve sent any kids who are looking on into eye rolling mode with all this Philistine screen actor talk, I salute you!
Just found this thread – over the past month this is weighing deeply on our hearts & minds in light of D’s crushing rejections. In no means are we savvy in this business, However, it seems the inverse (too much film) is truer of getting past the gate-keepers for the opportunity of advanced training than stage training is to the Film industry.
D has a good balance of stage & film over the past 10 years. Given that we reside in a small film market (Upper Midwest large city), many consider her film experience of performing almost 80 commercials over the past 5 years as extraordinary- certainly her casting agency does, LOL (while oddly, the BFA programs seem to frown). This experience does not happen by chance.
Besides talent, D has learned of two other key aspects of acting in successful film: that reputation as a professional is just as important, and that film is a different environment than stage which requires the use of different muscles: it’s dynamic and rarely goes exactly as planned. Cold-read auditions = absolutely critical; adapting to Scripts changes during shoots= absolutely critical; taking direction off-script; grueling multiple long shoots taking entire days; working & coordinating with support crew = absolutely critical; long & boring waiting between shoots; performing minimum number of takes— to name a few on a long list … In short, it’s hard work and is not easy for the faint of heart. The other aspect D has learned is that her passion for acting has not waned, but has expanded with this experience. Of course, D has been taking Film/screen training for many years.
Moreover, D started with stage, with no training at all, capturing leads at community theatre productions including CTC, professional theatre (made it to final-cut auditions at Guthrie main stage productions twice), and community support troupes (but no HS productions). Later, D has some stage training (two summers at Stage Door Manor she paid for herself)… Stage or Film – acting is her passion.
However, we believe she needs the advance training that the conservatory BFA offers, especially with stage, before striking out on her own. Last year, we met with a long-time well-respected LA agent (who’s D is a recent CMU BFA grad) that reinforced this idea – that is, training & perfecting skills is absolutely required. We concur. But the BFA programs don’t? At the Chicago Unified, some red-flags went up; the auditor at PACE ignored her monologues (cell phone was more interesting); the auditor at Purchase questioned her why she was pursuing a BFA – told her she already had enough experience (LOL), and the auditor at UNCSA expressed the same. Very odd stuff indeed. LOL. It’s a WIP conundrum that’s certainly a reflection of the illogic, uncertainty, and chaos of the entertainment industry that all aspiring actors/actresses face regardless of having a BFA or not.