Page Text: What Makes Us Unique
Learning By Doing
Students must make movies to learn how to make them, which guides each program at the Academy.
Full Immersion
Students fully commit themselves to their chosen craft, working on their own projects and assisting their classmates.
Hands-On Experience
From day one students are behind the camera, working with equipment, and gaining first-hand expertise in their craft.
Entertainment Capitals
Whether studying at the Academy’s NYC, LA, or additional campuses, students are exposed to rich artistic environments outside of NYFA.
Professional Education
Each department’s faculty is comprised of professional experts who are accomplished and active in their field.
Always Evolving
The Academy is continuously expanding its course offerings to keep up with the ever-evolving entertainment industry.
Academy Philosophy
It is the Academy’s belief that the most significant art form of our time is the moving image. Through the medium of film, individuals, communities, and nations express their most profound visions of humanity to the world. The ever-growing and evolving mediums of animation and video games are creating new platforms for creative professionals to express themselves and the Academy’s programs have grown to reflect these advancements in the visual arts.
Intensity is a hallmark of the Academy's workshops, which range from screenwriting to documentary filmmaking to producing for film and television. Students who partake in these workshops eat, drink and breathe filmmaking, acting, or photography from day one. Their classes emphasize hands-on learning and inspire creativity. They also provide hard facts students need to begin the process of developing creative, thought provoking, and entertaining work. This is not a course for passive participants. Students must take an active role in every aspect of the workshop.
Students write, direct, shoot, and edit their own short films, create their own video games, or design their own animated characters in the Academy’s hands-on workshops. Students in the workshops develop skills that apply to all their future pursuits. The organizational, leadership, writing, and critical thinking skills learned through producing complex productions will be of enormous value to students at the Academy and in all their future endeavors.