Brigham Young University - Provo

Date: Jun 13 2003
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
If you want to attend an educational program that gives you actual on-set opportunities, I must recommend BYU's film program. They have studio-grade equipment, facilities and access for students. The BYU Film Program's weak spot is faculty. While they are experienced, there is no comparison to the faculty you will encounter at a schools like USC, UCLA, NYU, etc.

Keep in mind that BYU has serious problems with academic freedom, and you will have to work and learn in environment where no R rated films are shown in classrooms, professors live in constant fear of the iron-fisted administration, and student films are heavily censured. If you are LDS, you will be accustomed to this, but if you are not Mormon you will find yourself bound creatively. BYU has a murky reputation outside of Utah because of this (believe it or not) and many people are not necessarily impressed to see it on a resume.

Also…people in Showbusiness tend to be quite liberal, and things like

BYU's policy towards homosexual students, and the Church's checkered history with African-Americans and women can generate frowns should you choose to flaunt your alma mater. People in Showbusiness also tend to be other religions besides mormon (along with just about everyone in the world outside of Utah), so I strongly recommend a secular grad school, or at least spending some time out of Utah. You will need to quickly become accustomed to working with great and talented people that drink, smoke, swear, screw and don't give a damn about Pioneer Day. If you grew up in Happy Valley this is especially important.

That being said, BYU is an excellent (I repeat, excellent) place to learn the craft of production. You will be well trained in all below-the-line aspects of filmmaking at BYU; I recommend grad school to focus on screenwriting, etc. I was working as paid crew on professional films by my second year at BYU thanks to the production emphasis (and to the dismay of my instructors).

The other benefit of BYU is the cost. At around $2000 per semester, it is cheaper then many state and community colleges, and may be cheaper then many of these "independent" film schools. Nowhere else will you get so much production experience (with professional film equipment). Kids graduate from BYU with reels of multiple 35mm films, which the student owns and can distribute (unlike USC, where the school retains ownership of student work.)

I went to BYU for two years and then transferred to a school in New York

City. I have yet to finish my degree, but in the past three years I have

worked on the following projects:

The Sundance Film Festival (3 years+)

The Sundance Filmmaker's Labs (1 year)

Firestarter: Rekindled (Sci-Fi Channel)

Con Express (Feature Film)

Home Box Office

The Caroline Rhea Show

The 2003 Grammy Awards

The 2003 Lifetime Achievement Awards

The 2003 Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards

Law & Order: SVU

The Sopranos

Sex & The City

I have personally worked with artists such as:

Bon Jovi, N*SYNC, Creed, Train, Nelly Furtado, Barenaked Ladies, Goo Goo

Dolls, Queen, KISS, Norah Jones, Foo Fighters, Eminem, etc. …and I turn 21 next week.

As you can see, a degree isn't necessary to earn a living in showbusiness.

This industry is a meritocracy; those who are good are given jobs. Don't be the jerk with the expensive degree and no work experience…get both, and

BYU is a good place to do it.