I'm going to the one in LA this summer. Has anyone else ever gone - or planning in attending this summer? I'm excited, I'll be spending the summer in a place I love, doing something I love.

I'll be attending the one in Princeton.

I went a few years ago in NYC. It was awesome. There are no real admissions standards at NYFA, so watch out for the rich kids who think that filmmaking sounds like fun (until they realize how much actual work it is) and who are just looking to hang out in the city for a summer and spend their parents' money. To learn the most, find the two or three other kids that are just as serious as you and as willing to work their asses off(there probably won't be more than two or three) and just make all of your films with them. You'll have blast, you'll work your ass off, you'll learn tons of practical info, and, at the end, you'll know whether or not filmmaking is for you. Good luck!

seconding what GoKa said. I went to the NYFA NYC program last year and the section I was in had a lot of kids coming to spend their parents money in NYC. As a girl, this will probably be more true, or at least it was in my experience. Most of the girls in my class didn't show up to class half the time or were hours late and never wearing clothing near appropriate for lugging around equipment. So find some people who are there for the same reasons you are and then the experience will be awesome.

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find the two or three other kids that are just as serious as you and as willing to work their asses off(there probably won't be more than two or three) and just make all of your films with them.

I think that applies to filmmaking in general

Man, I remember when I first heard about NYFA like 5 years ago and I really really wanted to go. Alas, it is/was friggin expensive (esp for a Canadian) and I never got to go.

Oh well, I am heading to Uni now

I know a girl who went, but her movie was terrible. I guess it just proves that lots of money and great equipment don't mask poor filmmaking.

Personally, I saw it as a large sum of money that could be spent on something more useful, but to each his own. I'm sure you'll have some rich kids spending their parents money, and you'll have some dedicated people. Good luck.

I live in LA, and looked at an open-house sort of thing for the summer program a few years ago. It seemed like the single biggest waste of money I've ever seen. None of the teachers seemed to know what they were talking about, and all the sample films they showed were among the poorest student creations I've ever seen. I've talked to a few other people that have gone to the camp and come back with absolute crap- that might be laziness or ineptitude on their part though.
To me, it seemed like it was a bunch of kids given a backlot and a 16mm camera and told to come back in a couple of weeks with a movie. I'd rather do something on my own, thank you very much.

But hey, that's just me, clearly some people love it. If you really dedicate yourself I'm sure some good can come out of it. I was just very underwhelmed by what I saw that day.

what you dont understand is that you get out of it exactly what you put into it.

All those crappy films you saw we're from people who didnt put enough time and dedication into the program (ie: spent the whole time spending their parents money). When I went to the princeton program a couple years ago, there were several kids who dedicated alot of time to their productions, and in turn got great results.

No i totally agree that you get out of it whatever you put in, but remember this is what the company is showing kids to try to get them to come and spend their parents money. It's like, if this is the best of the best in their minds, what's the average stuff look like? y'know?

I did the NYFA summer program at Universal Studios three years ago. It's a pretty basic course and is very costly but I learned a lot and am glad that I did it.

"what you dont understand is that you get out of it exactly what you put into it."

So this is life. Why pay a couple thousand dollars to be placed in a situation where you alone determine the outcome? You already have that 'opportunity'...

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All those crappy films you saw we're from people who didnt put enough time and dedication into the program (ie: spent the whole time spending their parents money). When I went to the princeton program a couple years ago, there were several kids who dedicated alot of time to their productions, and in turn got great results.

I wish I ended up seeing a film from someone that I knew that was worth watching. I'm curious to see what someone who applies themselves can make. My friend who went is a real pain in the ass, she's kind of a stuck up *****. I had low expectations for whatever she directed because of a previous situation. She had to direct a music video for some band and asked me to do camera work on it. She had no idea how to shoot the video, and she kept freaking out. It was a disaster. I told her off, and then I decided to take action because I felt my time was being wasted. I directed her music video, then edited it, and put her name on it (because it lacked preparation, it wasn't anywhere near my best work, but I think it was far beyond hers.) This girl, the summer after being a drama queen to shoot this video, went to the NYFA where the probably pulled the same **** and made some crappy video to a crappy NoFX song. I think her problem is that her parents always lied to her and told her that everything she did was good, and hence she expects everything to be easy because of it. I mean, if I have to go shoot a 5 minute spot for someone, I expect it to take more than 5 minutes. I don't think she does.

I decided not to go, because I can deal with people every day who don't understand how difficult it is to shoot films, and I don't need to pay lots of money to do so. I've got equipment and naysayers, no need for me to travel over the bridge and drop money that I could spend on something like tapes, cameras, RAM, microphones, etc.

As I am leaving next Saturday (the 1st) for the summer program in Paris, this thread is making me a little nervous... I actually browsed this forum earlier in the spring when I was making my decision to go or not, and a lot of the positive feedback I read really sold me on going. So some of the more negative comments in this thread are disconcerting to me.
Though, I think my ideals on what I'm going to be getting out of this program may be a little different. I, honestly, realize that out of the 4 films I will be making in 6 weeks, most (if not all) are going to be absolute crap, but that's why I want to do it. I'm quite frankly looking forward to learning as much as I can through experimenting first hand and realizing what works and what doesn't. This program is a dream come true for me because, although I have the ability (and also the drive and patience) to make films on my own, a more formal setting that also happens to be group oriented is what I'm looking for right now. Hopefully when I come home after 6 long weeks abroad I will be even more excited to make my own films. I really hope that there won't be... any (though holding out for "not too many") people in the program who aren't too nonchalant about filmmaking. Though, I could really care less. I am driven, passionate, and most of all, ready to do this, so I'm not going to let anyone else "bring me down."