This isn’t a boring Wheeling film school classroom. This isn’t an overcrowded college laboratory. This is life. Real Life. YOUR LIFE.

There’s nothing like sitting in a dark movie theatre when the lights come down. There’s just not. It’s a magical experience.

Do you long for a career in the movies? Are you lost for where to start?

Well, the Film Connection Film School in Wheeling, West Virginia can help you out.

The Film Connection finds currently working Hollywood filmmakers and introduces you to them. It’s ostensibly an externship program for aspiring filmmakers.

Do you have the next great blockbuster film franchise? Well, the Film Connection wants to help you make it a reality. We’ll team you up with a screenwriter, an editor, and two mentors to help make your dream a reality.

We’ll also set you up with a meeting with a Hollywood studio executive. When would you ever have a chance at a meeting with a studio executive?

Yeah, stew on that. Think about it. You done thinking?

Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say. You’re totally right. It is the chance of a lifetime.

Don’t Spend More on your Film Education if You Don’t Have to

Located at the northern tip of West Virginia along the Ohio River, the town of Wheeling is home to around 29,000 people. Although small in size, this town has a fairly strategic location, being close to plenty of beautiful scenery as well as convenient to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the north–making it a great area for location filming as well as a pleasant small-town alternative to living in the big city. A number of entertainment professionals have ties to Wheeling, also–including actors John Corbett, Bobby Campo, Joanne Dru, and Joyce Dewitt.

Meet Our Mentors

Adam Weber

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Daniel Lir

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Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

About This Mentor

Alejandra Huerta

About This Mentor

Daniela Larsen

About This Mentor

Get Real World Film Production Experience in Wheeling

Numerous movies, documentaries, and television shows are filmed in West Virginia, thanks in part to generous financial incentives offered by the state to filmmakers. Wheeling is no stranger to this filming activity; some of the movies that have been shot in Wheeling and surrounding regions include Unstoppable, Reckless, Courier, and The Night of the Hunter, to name a few. If you’re pursuing a film career as a film director, film producer, film editor, or cameraman, Wheeling offers more opportunities than you might think.

Our Wheeling Film Industry Mentors Help you Build Real World Connections

The secret to FILM CONNECTION’s success is our mentor-extern approach, in which we pair you with a working film or TV professional who personally instructs you on real film and video shoots. This puts you close to the action in ways other film schools can’t match, helping you make valuable industry connections that can lead to future work. In fact, we see many of our graduates go on to permanent jobs! You could be next! Enroll in Wheeling FILM CONNECTION today, and let us get you started.

Learn the skills you need to take your idea from paper to the big screen.

Real world film education by filmmakers for filmmakers, optimized for today!

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Success stories

Since he started his extern program with Uptone Pictures in Raleigh, NC, Grant Gilbert has been taking…

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Please take the time to read the experiences of one of our own, Korey Hehn of Pineville, OR…

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The Film Connection program provided me with an opportunity to "see it and believe it"!…

READ THE STORY

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