This workshop is designed for students with video production or related arts experience who are interested in exploring higher education and career opportunities in media and film. Through hands-on instruction, students will learn to master the technical and creative skills necessary for professional level work. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of filmmaking while being encouraged to think critically about their communities and the world around them. Students will write, produce, direct, and edit their own film projects, shooting in locations around the City under the supervision of the instructors and using state-of-the-art equipment. By the program’s completion, each student crew will have produced a short film (either fiction, non-fiction or experimental and based on a predetermined theme) and a personal film statement (non-fiction). The Film Studio is in partnership with Ghetto Film School and Magic Box Productions.  For more information on Ghetto Film School, please visit www.ghettofilm.org.  For more information on Magic Box, please visit http://www.magicboxproductions.org/. 

Basic/introductory level filmmaking/video production or related arts experience is encouraged for application to this program. Basic filmmaking experience may include screenwriting and/or storytelling, camera operation, interviewing subjects, experience with sound and lighting, and editing on Final Cut Pro or similar programs. Related arts experience can include photography, creative writing, digital art, etc. Applicants need not have taken a previous film/video production class and do not need experience in all areas listed above.

Note: The film studio will have two mandatory, full-day Saturday workshop sessions in May June prior to the start of SAI, dates to be announced. A screening of the completed film projects will take place during the final week of July.

STEP 1. Writing Sample

Please answer each of the questions below in 100 - 300 words per question (typed, double-spaced).  The total writing sample should not exceed 1200 words.

1. Imagine you were given a video camera and a crew to shoot a film about New York City. What would you choose to focus on that would be most representative about your experience of the City? What genre would your film be (a documentary, a narrative, an experimental film)? What type of music would you use? What would be your point of view? Why?

2. Talk about two films you have seen recently that you thought were “powerful,” one documentary and one narrative. Describe why and how these films affected you.

3. What was/were your role(s) in creating the work that you are submitting as part of your portfolio? What roles do you want to explore further?

4. The pandemic has created challenges to us as storytellers, but sometimes, constraints can foster great creativity. What is a compelling story that you could tell from your immediate environment, perhaps from even just one room?

STEP 2: Work Sample:  Video submissions should be no longer than 3-5 minutes.

Please upload one of the following:

1. At least one and no more than three video work samples

2. A portfolio of eight to ten pieces of original photography or visual art presenting a series of images that tells a story.

3. A film-related writing sample such as a script or storyboard.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: March 2, 2025