Is the Vancouver Film School good?

Yes and no. It depends on what you want to do in the industry.

I took the full-time acting program there in the mid 90’s when the school first started. The programs were all in their infancy then and there was plenty of work that needed to be done. Since then I’ve since taken some part-time filmmaking courses there and have enjoyed them and leaned a lot.

I hear the multimedia and web dev programs are great there, but if it’s work in the film industry in Vancouver you want just start as a P.A. and skip film school. It’s easy to get work as a P.A. and then figure out what it is you want to do from there and make money doing it. Film school doesn’t teach you what you really need to know to work on a film set only experience will help you there.

You can download the productions list at the Director’s Guild of BC site: http://dgcbc.com/productions.pdf (I’m a DGC member and sometimes hire folks) or the film list at the BC Film Commission site: http://www.bcfilmcommission.com/about_us/film_list.htm

Look at the list every week (the DGC updates on Fridays) and fax your resume and a cover letter expressing your desire to start work in the film industry care of the A.L.M. (Assistant Location Manager) on every show.

You will get work.

This is a slow time of year so be persistent and patient. Good luck.

I have a friend who just graduated from there..

I will e-mail him and see if he is cool with letting you have his e-mail address. If he is I will PM his e-mail address to you. That way you can speak with him.

My little brother graduated from VFS a couple of years back and according to him it was one of the best schools he could have gone to. He took the 3D Modeling course, which was pretty intense by the sound of things, but if you’re really into it and you push yourself, then purely going to VFS will give you the visibility and recognition that you’ll be striving for.

From what I’ve been told, the quality of instruction is pretty good, but probably won’t give you a heads up over other students at other institutions. It’s all about paying for the name.

If you’re curious, try to see if you can talk to current students (often the admissions office will arrange this for you). Students are surprisingly candid about their experiences and are willing to tell you the good and the bad about their school. If you can talk to an alum, they can also give you a peek, but their experience is much different than what’s going on now. Good luck!