NYFA I New York Film Academy — Attraction in New York

I took the 1-year online screenwriting course. In theory it sounded perfect for me, since I wasn't in a position to go to school full-time. I had high hopes.

On the positive side, I did learn the basic principles of screenwriting. Also, I finished a first draft of a film script, which was pretty cool. The discipline of meeting weekly to report on my progress helped me achieve my goal. I wish my review could end there, on a positive note.

But on the negative side, I found the instructor extremely rude to anyone who didn't agree with their opinions 100%. The person often ridiculed students and dismissed their contributions. The surly attitude shut down conversation more than once. I have a Masters degree, and have been a student in several schools as an adult - and I have encountered only a few instructors as abrasive as this person. (That's saying a lot, considering how arrogant many professors are!)

Also, the instructor was late to class more than once. To be fair, the person did make it up, by extending the classroom time. Still, when you've arranged for child-care, it's a drag to sit and wait in front of your computer, while your instructor fumbles around, making half-baked excuses why they were late. I have kids at home who play the same tricks in an attempt to evade their responsibilities, I don't need my screenwriting instructor doing the same!

Worse yet, the instructor once shared personal information about their family of origin that was unnecessary to the classroom context. (We paid a hefty tuition fee to learn screenwriting skills, not to hear sad facts about this person's childhood. Hey, we all have a few sad memories about childhood! Get over it! An online classroom is not the place for a paid instructor to share personal memories). I would have been more sympathetic to their plight if they had been a nice human being from the beginning. They weren't nice, so I'm not sympathetic.

Finally, the instructor went back on a promise they had made to me during a classroom session. Another student hadn't come to the online class, and we were scheduled to read their script. So I volunteered to submit my rough draft - with the understanding that I could re-submit my script once it was finished, for another classroom review. The instructor agreed to those terms - but went back on their agreement a few weeks later.

When I questioned the instructor about it, my concern was dismissed. So, I copied the transcribed conversation in which the instructor made the promise. They replied that they were way too busy to give each student individual attention! (Then why make the promise in the first place?).

My poor rating is entirely based on the habitually unprofessional conduct of the instructor. The actual course content was very, very good. Had someone else - with a good work ethic, a sense of punctuality, and a commitment to personal and professional integrity - taught the course, then I would have given NYFA a perfect score.

So, although I'm indebted to NYFA for helping me acquire basic screenwriting skills, and giving me the opportunity to complete a rough draft, I found the personal conduct of the instructor a very serious obstacle to the learning experience.

My suggestion to anyone who wants to enroll in an online screenwriting course: Make sure the educational institution has a professional code of conduct Make sure the school holds their instructors to that code If you can't afford the cost of tuition: Buy a good book on screenwriting. It will give you the exact same info about skills that this course provided, at a fraction of the cost Enroll in a writing class at your local community center, where you can find like-minded people who will hold you accountable as you write your next project -Keep writing! Don't give up. Update: It's 2023; July...

The New York Film Academy is, plainly and simply, a misconception. To be frank, I'm not in favor of insulting businesses with poor reviews, but after attending this school for over 2 months, I thought I'd advise those of you who are thinking about attending the New York Film Academy in the future. First off, NYFA, in one way or another, is a scam for your money. The school, primarily in New York, offers no career advancement, no film festivals and invests more in its advertising internationally than its students. Most of the kids at this school are international, living in and around NYC on an academic visa. The primary goal of this school is to get you in and out...whether it's a 4 month, 8 month, or 1-year program, this school simply wants your tuition money, hence the name: a "for-profit" conservatory. Secondly, on a more professional note, the film industry is almost entirely connection based. There is not an artist in the world who can graduate from a school like NYFA, or even Tisch or USC for that matter and automatically get a job on a real movie set controlled by a production company. It simply does not work that way. For example, take some of the most A-list directors today (James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg). These directors, first off, were extremely talented and had a vision. The question is what did they do with that vision? Did they drop 20-thousand dollars a semester on a film degree or did they go out in the real world and build professional contacts? Think about it. What does a director have to do to get "in" the film business... he or she has to be talented, have an original vision of creative work (preferably a screenplay), market that screenplay to industry members or friends of industry members (whether it's a producer, screenwriter, gaffer, reader... whoever), and then finally, he or she has to make a great film, either independently or production based. The bottom line is, if you truly want to reach a certain level of success in the film industry, don't go to film school, and especially do not attend the New York Film Academy. It's simply a scam for your money. There are so many other ways to learn the art...

The (limited) number of students that actually care is the only reason this school gets 2 stars. I attended the Masters Cinematography program in Los Angeles, and I am here to tell you that for that program- I can't speak to the others with as much in depth knowledge- the school is a joke, and serves to print money for itself. I was to attend for two accelerated semesters, and during the first, I found work doing what I was going to school to study and basically checked out mentally. When time came for my second semester, I had done very little for my classes, and went to our instructor to tell him I was leaving. The part that confused me was when he said that I was one of the best students in class, which made me laugh, as I had been working on set for the proceeding two months, hadn't attended class, or screened any projects for the class. I pointed out these facts to him, went to the bursers office with my story, and within 5 minutes I was holding a check for 40 thousand dollars: a complete refund of my tuition for both the previous semester, and the upcoming semester. My question is this: if they don't know they are scamming all their pupils, why were they so eager to hand over so much money and bid me farewell? Seems like an admission of guilt, and an effort (which admittedly worked) to prevent me from commenting on my experience. All you need to do is look at the top 5 most common jobs for degree holders from NYFA. The most common is elementary school teacher. The rate of alumni body working in thier field of study is a jawdropping .008%. Yea. Not worth it. Do yourself a favor, and watch all the films on AFI 100 greatest films list, then learn how blender and composition work, buy yourself a camera, and...