Get started with a tour of a Pennsylvania externship location. Or call us for more information at (267) 713-3920.
* Not all programs are available in every state. Consult an Admissions Representative to learn more.
In the Film Connection for Film Production & Editing program, you will study directing, producing and screenwriting inside a real film production company in your city as you develop your movie idea with a professional filmmaker. Then, upon meeting the necessary requirements, you will be given the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles or New York and pitch your film idea to an executive who could buy or get your movie made.
Film Production & Editing DetailsIn the Film Connection for Cinematography program, you will learn the techniques involved in capturing a moving image and will start to develop “the eye of the DP.” The cinematographer is literally the set ‘magician.’ DPs are responsible for the technological wizardry required to get the needed shots and to shape light to achieve the director’s desired artistic effect.
Cinematography DetailsThe screenwriter is the person who creates, takes, or adapts an idea and formulates a screenplay. Without the writer, there would be no movie. Period. He or she is the starting gate. He or she is the person who gets the ball rolling down the hill.
In the Film Connection for Screenwriting workshop, you will learn the elements that make for a “Killer Script” by developing and writing your own feature length screenplay under the direction and mentorship of a working professional screenwriter.
In many ways the film editor is the most misunderstood of all film professionals. Often considered just a film technician, a good editor is so much more than that. He or she is also a qualified storyteller of the highest order.
In the Film Connection for Film Editing workshop, you will develop your knowledge of storytelling and screenplay structure as the foundational blueprint of a film. You will also develop your technical understanding of editing as an extern to a professional editor in a post-production facility.
From directing to producing to editing and screenwriting, our externship-based, mentor-taught programs avoid the unnecessary costs and unrelated requirements of ordinary film schools and programs. Work directly with an accomplished industry filmmaker at a film production company.
Film Connection’s mentor styled education is a cost-effective approach to hands-on, curriculum backed education in film production and editing and cinematography.
Learn More About Tuition
**Total cost varies by program
*Average Accrued Interest Charges
Sources: Sallie Mae student loan calculator - Nerd Wallet - Best Value Schools - Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Learn filmmaking in the real world with the Film Connection’s mentored externship-based approach. We make building relationships an integral part of what we do.
Film Connection mentors work in the real world where the competition is fierce and having the right gear matters. As an extern you have access to the latest hardware and tools of the trade.
Knowing how to handle yourself on the set is a prerequisite for any successful career in filmmaking. Your mentor will guide you through proper etiquette during real film shoots.
We believe the whole point of going to any film school or certificate program should be to learn how to make movies—especially YOUR movie. Our Film Production & Editing curriculum is designed around this concept, from start to finish.
We get it. This isn’t your normal four-year college requiring coursework not associated with your area of interest. We are a post-secondary institution or trade school that's different in its approach. Here's how you can get more info:
Why learn from teachers when you can learn from the professionals?
Greg Freeman is an award-winning Director of Photography with nearly two decades in news, sports, entertainment, special programming, documentaries, and commercials. Greg has directed projects for nearly every major television network including ABC, Discovery, ESPN, HBO, HGTV, NBC, PBS, and more.
Request an InvitationThe Alphabet Killer, Love N’ Dancing, The Attic, Hero of the Underworld, Law & Order: SVU
Request an InvitationPast productions include LMN’s Monstresses; Investigation Discovery’s Cuff Me If You Can; America’s Most Haunted and UFO’s Crashed my Vacation; America’s Most Secret and I Faked My Own Death for Discovery; National Geographic’s 42 Ways to Kill Hitler and Don’t Try This At Home; Vampire Secrets and Ancient Ink for The History Channel; Las Vegas Bikers for truTV; Weather Channel’s Full Force Nature; True Confessions for WE-TV as well as Beyond Death and Investigative Reports for A&E.
Request an Invitation“All aspects of filmmaking are primarily experiential, so a program like this one gives the students what they need most- the opportunity to DO.” — Matthew Temple, Producer of “The Advocate” and Universal’s “Dragon Nest: Warriors’ Dawn”
Matthew Temple has long stood at the crossroads of art and social action–his work and passion split between telling stories and participating in the creation of new paradigms wherein new stories for the future can be created. As a storyteller, he works as a screenwriter, director, producer and actor. As a social entrepreneur, he is the founder and president of the non-profit WeStrive, where he is the executive director of the Wandering Reel Traveling Film Festival. Temple is currently VP of Production and Development for Mili Pictures Worldwide.
Request an InvitationNick is your basic military brat. Except for the fact that neither of his parents were actually in the military. But, like many military families, his family moved several times during his youth, living in Omaha, Chicago, and Minneapolis among other places. And although he wasn’t living on military bases, he developed a deep interest in History, and all things military. Ask him about the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, and you may just get an entire lesson on the Pacific Theater of World War II. When he’s not painting tanks for his war game simulations, Nick works here. He shoots video. He edits video. He talks about World War II. A lot. Anyone who comes into contact with Nick will become much better versed in the history of mankind and all the wars it has produced over the years. Nick provided 50% of the formula that founded Full Effect Productions over 18 years ago, and has played a vital role in its success. Nick is a 1987 graduate of the University of South Dakota, and his previous experience includes working at a local TV station as Commercial Videographer/Producer. Not taking a cue from his parents, Nick has decided to keep his family in one city, and has called Sioux City, Iowa home since 1988. He has a wife of 29 years and an adult son and daughter. In his free time, Nick can be found studiously painting small military ships, tanks and airplanes. He has amassed large numbers of these items that comprise entire military units used for battles at the MAGECON gaming convention. He’s a film buff who’s recently installed home theater has him positively giddy, and hardly ever seeing daylight.
Request an InvitationLogan is a lifelong filmmaker. With 8 years of experience in Event and Experiential Marketing, Logan has a passion for communicating the brand message and essence with artistic quality and creativity.
Request an InvitationMegan is an award-winning photographer and videographer with over 10 years of video production experience, from directing and editing national PSA campaigns to producing feature-length documentaries.
Request an InvitationCalix Lewis Reneau is a producer and writer, known for An Even Worse Joke (2013), Canyon Road (2013) and My Cousin’s Ghetto Wedding (2016).
Request an InvitationProducer, Being John Malcovich, Saved!, Velvet Goldmine, Pump Up the Volume, Thirteen Conversations about One Thing, Equinox, Red Hot
Request an InvitationRob has experience with major corporate ad agencies Publicis, Medicus, Digitas based in New York and Chicago. He has always been on the bleeding edge of technology and believes that services should be simple for the viewers.
Request an InvitationIt’s great that you have an idea for a movie. It’s a great first step! All movies begin as an idea so you’re ahead of the game. Do you know how to turn your idea into a movie? We do, and that’s where we can help you. In fact, it’s the very reason the Philadelphia Film Connection exists—we’re here to help and guide you through the movie making process.
When you think movies and Philadelphia, the first things that come to your mind are probably Rocky, Creed, Creed 2, National Treasure, Made in Chinatown and Philadelphia. But did you know that M. Night Shyamalan, producer/director/writer of The Sixth Sense, The Visit, Split, and Glass films all his movies in and around Philadelphia? Philadelphia has an aggressive Film Office to support the local film industry and because the Philadelphia Film Connection film directing externships work directly with many Philadelphia based filmmakers and production companies, we can help you gain entrance to Philadelphia’s film culture.
The Philadelphia Film Connection knows the steps required to go from movie idea to finished movie AND we know how to teach you these steps in just six months. Your teacher will be an active film director who works in Philadelphia who will mentor you, guide you and help you transform your idea into a movie, along with a second mentor we provide who is a credited screenwriter.
The late, legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey; A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut) once said, “the best education in film is to make one.”
His statement is the guiding principal behind the Film Connection film director technique–you come to us with your idea for a movie and we teach all the steps, using our experiential educational model, that are necessary to make your movie. These include:
We pair you with a professional screenwriter, with feature film credits, to work with you to make your script the best it can be.
We pair you with a film director from a Philadelphia production company to teach you film production and directing—the skills you’ll need to make your movie.
We set up a pitch meeting (after thoroughly preparing you) with film executives where you get to sell your idea (now a screenplay and sizzle reel) to them.
The Philadelphia Film Connection Film directing mentored-externship walks you through every step along the way, so let’s break these three steps down.
Remember that idea you have for a movie? Great. Do you know what your next step should be? Answer: you need to turn that idea into a screenplay. Why? Because ideas themselves are basically worthless, at least in the film marketplace (unless you are a movie titan.) In the movie business, ideas that are written out as a screenplay have value. Screenplays can be sold. Ideas can’t.
The Philadelphia Film Connection film directing methodology helps you turn your idea for a movie into a screen play. We accomplish this by pairing you with a professional screenwriter, with feature film screenwriting credits, and they work directly with you to help transform your idea into a screenplay.
Without the screenplay, there is no movie. A good screenplay tells your story idea in a way that translates into film. This sounds a lot easier than it really is which is exactly why we team you up with a professional screenwriter.
Here’s why this is important:
“People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don’t have a middle or an end any more. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning.”
Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter for: The Sugarland Express, Poltergeist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, AI: Artificial Intelligence.
“A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end… but not necessarily in that order.”
Jean-Luc Godard
Leading French New Wave director famous for the auteur theory of directing.
“If your goal is to become a film director, you must master screenwriting.”
Akira Kurosawa
Famous Japanese filmmaker who wrote Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Last Man Standing and whose screenplays were adapted for The Magnificent 7 and A Fistful of Dollars.
In order to turn your idea into a film, it’s also important to understand all aspects of filmmaking. While you take our structured course curriculum online, and while you work with your screenwriting mentor, we immerse you in the filmmaking process by placing you (as an extern) inside a Philadelphia film production company.
Once you are on the inside—in a real-world filmmaking environment, you will observe, up close and personal, how professionals make films. And in this Philadelphia film production company, you will be paired with your own personal filmmaking mentor. They will teach you in a hands-on, over-the-shoulder way, just how films really get made, step-by-step. You’ll learn first-hand about “hurry up and wait” and how to thrive in absolute chaos. And while this is going on, you’ll continue working on refining your screenplay and start transforming your vision into your movie as you go through our film directing training which includes:
Story Telling: Without a story, there is no film.
Scene Settings and Look: Staging the Perfect Shot.
Working with Actors: Getting the Best Performance From Your Cast.
Working with the Crew: It Takes an Army to Make a Movie.
Working with the Editor: How to Fix it in Post.
Budget Considerations: The Business Side of Film.
All this is what makes the Film Connection film directing mentorship special and different from most traditional film schools. It’s bears repeating–we place you inside a Philadelphia film production company, as an extern, surrounded by film professionals while they work on real-world film projects. And yes, you’ll get to work on some of these projects too. The benefits of being in this real-world learning environment cannot be overstated as an alternative to most traditional film schools.
“The real trouble with film school is that the people teaching are so far out of the industry that they don’t give the students an idea of what’s happening.”
Brian De Palma
The Untouchables, Body Double, Mission: Impossible, Scarface
“…the curriculum is often abstract and not relevant to real life, teachers and students don’t connect with resources and experts outside of the classroom, and schools operate as if they were separate from their communities.”
George Lucas
American Graffiti, and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises
The men and women who make movies for a living are generally far more concerned with their crew members having relevant skills, experience, and knowledge than they are about talking about the film movements of the 1920s. Our curriculums are written by working professional filmmakers. Designed to work with our hands-on in-industry approach, the lessons are geared towards providing our students with the foundational and historical knowledge they can use to deepen their understanding of the practice of the craft and art of making films. In other words, with us you can forget about having to write long term papers. What we want to see in our students is a deep and observable commitment to the work, the acquisition of filmaking practices, skills, and knowhow, and a go get ’em mentality.
It all started with your idea for a movie. Next came five or six months working with your screenwriting mentor to get your screenplay honed and sharpened and ready to be pitched. Along the way you learned a lot about film production, film directing and the business side of filmmaking. Then you took all of that and put it into a sizzle reel—a short promotional video designed to sell your idea to those who you are about to pitch it to—film industry executives who can fund your screenplay. Finally, you’ve spent time with your mentors getting prepared for your pitch meeting. You have:
In addition, through your mentors, you have insights into what to expect, how to act and how to pitch or present your idea during this meeting. If you’ve done it right and they love your idea and are impressed with you and the stars align, you’ll get the green light to make your movie.
While most of our students do not get their films funded on their first try by the time they graduate, they’ve gained valuable experience on the screenwriting, production, and the pitching process, established great industry contacts, and they have a much better understanding of how things actually work in the real world of filmmaking.
And sometimes magic happens, like it did with these students (with the help of their mentors).
Film Connection graduate Melissa Merkel flew to Los Angeles for her pitch meeting and her screenwriting mentor hired her for a Lifetime Series Project he was working on the first week she was there.
Film Connection graduate Victor Cobb sold his script to a company in Atlanta that turned it into a Lifetime Original Film Project.
Film Connection graduate Anne Marie Cummings movie was optioned by Intrinsic Value Films.
Film Connection graduate Yuqing Chi wrote Lost in Love which is being directed by Emmanuelle Gallissi.
Film Connection graduate Ofu Obekpa sold his script and directed his own feature called Klippers starring WWE’s Kevin Nash.
If you are serious about seeing your idea for a movie become a movie, we recommend you apply to the Philadelphia Film Connection Film Directing program.
It will take hard work and long hours. It will take dedication. It will take passion.
Give us these three things, and we’ll guide you through our film directing approach—everything you’ve been reading on this page—in as little as six months. The Philadelphia Film Connection film directing student externship is open enrollment, which means you can start anytime. Are you ready?
Because of our unique brand of externship training, the Film Connection isn’t limited to one or a few campuses. We’ve got locations nearly everywhere, including in Philadelphia! No need to move or to quit your day job. Your pathway to Hollywood can start right where you live!
Learn near where you live. Advantage: Film Connection.
The cost of education has been skyrocketing. How can you launch a film career when you’re buried in student debt? It doesn’t have to be this way, and we have a system that proves it every day. Our tuition is so low that you can graduate with little or no debt and get on with your film career.
Typical film schools not only cost more, they often have lots of add-on charges. Advantage: Film Connection.
At the Philadelphia Film Connection, we don’t believe in classrooms. You will have a structured curriculum, but you won’t spend a single day in a classroom with other students. Instead, we train you on-the-job by placing you as a working extern in a real film production company. It’s a more effective way to learn, and it’s a great way to get connected to the film industry.
Real-world experience, not useless theoretical classroom instruction. Advantage: Film Connection.
There’s no classroom with our approach; there’s also no “class.” You’re the only student, paired with an established film professional with actual film credits and lots of connections. This seasoned pro will become your personal mentor, training you in your chosen film discipline one-on-one.
One teacher to one student. Advantage: Film Connection.
We’ve got so many endorsements from high-profile film professionals that they are too many to list here. These pros endorse us because they know our way helps break people into the film business in less time and for less money than most conventional film schools or film programs.
More professional endorsements than any other film school. Advantage: Film Connection.
No informal “cold call” job lists from us. We don’t just clue you in on the latest job offerings—we work hard to help you get hired. Our one-of-a-kind Stay Connected Program provides up to 12 months of active job placement assistance after you graduate. Work hard and play your cards right and your mentor is one professional who just might hire you! It happens all the time with the Film Connection.)
“Job placement” at typical schools often means handing you a cold-call lead list when you graduate. Advantage: Film Connection.
Usually the biggest challenge to breaking into the film business is getting your foot in the door—getting noticed by busy people who don’t know you from Adam. With the Philadelphia Film Connection, we’ve got you covered in this area. From day one, you’re placed as a working extern inside a real film production company, so you can build those relationships as you go. By the time you graduate, you’ve become an insider.
The other guys are on the outside, looking in. Advantage: Film Connection.
If you’re having trouble with your assignments and your mentor isn’t available to ask—ask us! We offer tutoring at no cost to all our students to ensure no one falls through the cracks.
Private tutoring for you. Advantage: Film Connection.
The Film industry is basically centered around connections. You could be the best cinematographer, director, producer, screenwriter or film editor on the planet, but if no one knows you—good luck with that. The advantage with the Film Connection is that all your classes take place in the industry—on-the-job and on the set—where you can meet and connect with numerous established pros. These are the people of influence you’d most likely never meet in a classroom—the people who can one day hire you.
Real world film industry connections. Big Advantage: Film Connection.
You might be perfectly content to work in the thriving Philadelphia film scene, but if you want more…we’ve got more. Your curriculum is structured to guide you through the steps of developing your own film idea. When your externship is complete, we’ll arrange a meeting in Los Angeles with actual Hollywood film industry professionals, and you’ll have the chance to pitch your movie to them! Can you think of one ordinary film school that does this? We think not…
A real chance to break into Hollywood. Big Advantage: Film Connection. NO CONVENTIONAL FILM SCHOOL DOES THIS.
Among Philadelphia film schools, only one actually gets you inside a real Philadelphia film production company to work as a film student extern, learning the arts of directing, producing, editing, camera, screenwriting or general production from the pros. Hands down, we ardently believe that the smartest way to break into the film business in Philadelphia is to extern inside a Philadelphia film production company–and Film Connection is the film school alternative that puts you there.
Don’t make the mistake of spending 10-50 thousand dollars to go to film school at a college or film trade school when you can get your film school education in a real production company for far less money. Be smart, get on the inside track, learn from the pros and make vital industry contacts while you learn in a real-world environment! Our film school alternative is the cost efficient approach to getting going in film.
To APPLY for our Philadelphia film school alternative, click here.
Home to more than 1.5 million people (and anchoring a metro of nearly 4 million), PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA is the 4th largest DMA in the United States. A city rich in history, music, art, culture and sports fans (with SIX major teams calling Philly home), the “City of Brotherly Love” is bustling with things to see and do. This city’s legacy in the entertainment industries can’t be understated, either. Entertainment icon Dick Clark first launched his star-making dance/music show American Bandstand at a Philadelphia television station in the early 1950s. Other major entertainers and film professionals with Philadelphia roots include Peter Boyle, David Brenner, Bill Cosby, Bradley Cooper, Tina Fey, Grace Kelly, Irvin Kershner, Will Smith, Holly Robinson Peete, Boyz II Men, Frankie Avalon, M. Night Shyamalan, Kevin Bacon, and John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, just to name a few.
Since the late 1980s, Philadelphia has been home to an emerging film industry as well, thanks in part to generous incentives and the support of the Philadelphia Film Office. MovieMaker Magazine once named Philadelphia as the second best location to make a film. Today, local soundstages, great local talent and diverse locations make Philly a popular site for film and TV productions. Here are just a few noteworthy films and shows that have done location shooting here:
You can see that there are plenty of opportunities in Philadelphia to connect to the film industry, and the FILM CONNECTION’s mentor-extern approach can get you closer to the action than any average film school can. Whether you desire to be a director, producer, editor, camera operator, lighting director, special effects master or any film professional, the FILM CONNECTION has a tailored curriculum and workshops for you.
You will study one-on-one with your mentor who will be a film professional in your field of study. Your classroom will be on-the-job and on the set in Philadelphia. Upon graduation, you will have gained the on-the-job, real world experience and industry connections that you need to succeed in a career in the film industry—and if you choose it, when you’ve completed your externship, we can even arrange for you to pitch your OWN FILM to REAL INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES! Want to see what you can do for your film career?
The Film Connection film school alternative is endorsed by filmmakers who are making movies, maybe even the movies you love.
Professionals in the film business—including famous producers, screenwriters and directors—endorse Film Connection’s programs for one simple reason: they know our immersive hands-on method works.
Philadelphia Film Connection Film Institute
155 North Wacker Drive--4250
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(267) 713-3920
Email: [email protected]
Hours: M - F 12:00PM to 9:00PM
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