I've been accepted to the UT Austin Program for Screenwriting and was hoping to find anyone else that is either currently in, just accepted, or has graduated from this film program. I have a million questions and would love to connect with some future fellow classmates...

Where did u live? (or planning)
Were you involved in things like the film festival and script reading for contests?
Was it a tight-knit group or were people competitive with one another?
Did you do the LA internship? What did that consist of?
What are your career plans? Have you been able to sell/direct/produce anything since graduating?
What was your schedule like?

Wow. I have a lot of questions. Thanks in advance for easing some of the anxiety.

Lisheebee

PS. Anyone that didn't apply... any specific reason? warnings?

I didnt apply because my dad wouldnt let me apply to schools in red states...

I am a current student at UT Austin film program. Im graduating in May and have really enjoyed the program. It's probably the cheapest-best film school you could apply to. I'm not saying that UT is the best film school in the country, but because I am a Texas resident, I pay in state tuition. The result is a 4 year program for the cost of one year at USC or NYU.

Austin, has a great film community and is beautiful.

If you have any specific questions I'll be more than happy to answer them. Hit up my email and we can talk over AIM.



As for Palm Tree Armada, your dad is a dumb ass. Your limiting your options based on a political choice? Not a wise decision. And FYI, Austin is about as liberal as they come.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
Where did u live? (or planning)

Live on campus the first year. Do Not live on Riverside any of the other years.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:

Were you involved in things like the film festival and script reading for contests?

I have been hanging out with the filmmakers of the biggest movie at SXSW this year and have gotten into the DGA and WGA parties the past week.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
Was it a tight-knit group or were people competitive with one another?

The school has over 50,000 students. You'll find some friends and work with them. People tend to be pretty nice.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
Did you do the LA internship? What did that consist of?

I didnt do that, but I have heard alot of good things about it.

Ryan- It's more complicated than that, that was sort of a joke. The main concern was that it was too far from Hollywood/NYC and I wasn't looking for a big, public, state school like UT Austin. I know Austin's a pretty liberal place, I just feel its my duty as a Californian to poke fun at Texas in general.

It's ok. Sometimes I get defensive when people make the assumption that everyone in texas is some conservative redneck.

Ryan,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions... but now I have a bunch more!

I'm assuming you did the undergrad program? (U mentioned a 4 yr education for the price of 1 at other schools.)
What were you in for? (producing, directing, screenwriting?)
Why shouldn't I live in the Riverside area? I can't live on campus b/c I have 2 cats. So, I have to find an apt. I definitely don't want to be on party row or living with a bunch of 18yr olds, but I do want to be near campus and around some social twenty-somethings...any suggestions? What is the Hyde Park area known for?
What do you plan on doing right after graduation? (Career-wise and live in LA or Austin?)
Did you do any kind of TA work?

Thanks,
Alisha

PS. tomorrow I'll probably think of another zillion questions. Just tell me when I get too annoying.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
Ryan,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions... but now I have a bunch more!

I'm assuming you did the undergrad program? (U mentioned a 4 yr education for the price of 1 at other schools.)

I am an undergraduate.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
What were you in for? (producing, directing, screenwriting?)

UT isn't like other film school's where you get on a certain track. You said that you got accepted for screenwriting, but in reality all you got accepted to was the college of communication for a Radio-Television-Film degree. You can take any RTF classes, there are RTF students who only take Radio and TV classes and their are RTF students who only take film classes. It's up to you. You're also not going to be taking just screenwriting classes either, you'll probably take a production class. I'm primarily interested in production and I took a writing class, two producing classes and as many production classes as I could.

The way the production classes work, is you usually make an individual project and then a bigger final group project. If you are only interested in writing then take these production classes and just be a writer.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
Why shouldn't I live in the Riverside area? I can't live on campus b/c I have 2 cats. So, I have to find an apt. I definitely don't want to be on party row or living with a bunch of 18yr olds, but I do want to be near campus and around some social twenty-somethings...any suggestions? What is the Hyde Park area known for?

I really should urge you to get rid of the cats before college. They are going to hold you back. College so far has been so ****ing amazing for me and having cats is really going to give you extra responsibilities you don't need.

I lived on riverside for two years and let me say, It is the ******* of Austin Texas. It's ghetto as all get out and traffic is not so good. It's kind of far from campus too. UT was voted the biggest party school in the country last year, so wherever you live there are going to be parties. I say just embrace it. Living on riverside was a mistake for me because you save a little bit of money but it's alot further than it seems and inconvenient for other people to come over. Try to live somewhere north of campus. I live in a house about a mile north and it's great. I pay $500 a month and share with 3 other guys. The bike ride to school is about 15 minutes.

Hyde park is probably the best part of town for you. It's kind of where I live. It's not really known for anything. I would suggest finding an apartment around the hyde park area.

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
What do you plan on doing right after graduation? (Career-wise and live in LA or Austin?)

That's a great question

quote:

Originally posted by LisheeBee:
Did you do any kind of TA work?

Only grad students are TAs here.

quote:

Thanks,
Alisha

PS. tomorrow I'll probably think of another zillion questions. Just tell me when I get too annoying.

Hit up my aim, galeninjapan, and we can talk even more. It's spring break right now so I have lots of time.

I've been admitted to the UT Austin film production program. Anyone else out there?