“Understanding festival strategy changed how I finish and launch a project.”
Learn film production in Kentucky directly from an industry pro, in the real world, not a classroom. One-on-one mentorship. Build Industry Connections and Gain Real Experience.
Even though many people find the film industry alluring, knowing how to “break in” into the industry can be a mystery. Film Connection film school in Paducah, KY specializes in matching our students with professional filmmakers who give them real-world experience as externs inside of their own studios, on-location, and at production companies in the Paducah area.
Typical film schools can be expensive, time-consuming, and oftentimes do not provide a clear, commonsense approach to enabling hardworking students to gain a holistic understanding of what production is all about. Attending lectures, reading lots of books, and studying film critique and criticism can be interesting and enriching. Nevertheless, the conventional film school approach which culminates with that hard-earned diploma in hand usually leaves graduates as removed from the film and production industry as they were when they enrolled.
Movies, commercials, TV shows, and documentaries are filmed regularly throughout Kentucky, including in the Paducah area. A few of the films that have been shot in Paducah or surrounding regions include The 3rd Floor, The River Rat, Secretariat, Stripes, and The Perfect Gift, just to name a few. Paducah was also a location site for several classic films, including How the West Was Won and Raintree County.
Imagine yourself working on one of these feature films; with Film Connection, you can train as a student extern inside of one of our externship facilities i.e. production studios in Paducah. Give yourself the benefit of a working professional who serves as your instructor, with whom you receive one on one lessons, and have the privilege of actually having conversations with. Get yourself into an environment where you can attain hands-on experience while you get to know the pros who are working now, in your area. Just read our newsletter or peruse our site to learn how so many of our students and graduates have gotten hired and launched careers they love. You could become one of them. Apply to Paducah Film Connection today, or reach out and call us at 1-800-755-7597, from Monday – Friday, Pacific time. Get in and you could be externing in the real world, even going on a local shoot before the month is up!
The Film Connection for Film Production & Editing program in Paducah places you as a student extern at a film production company in your area, where you receive direct, hands-on lessons with your mentor, an experienced filmmaker. That’s not all. During your six-month externship, you also receive direct coaching from a professional screenwriter on how to develop your own idea into a fully realized, polished screenplay. The Film Connection for Film Production & Editing curriculum covers numerous aspects of production including: shot-blocking, working with actors, lighting, grip and electric, interviewing, and how to “make your day.”
Because of our direct in-industry approach, we’re able to provide something most ordinary schools just can’t do. We place our students where they need to be to build their network and make connections in the Paducah area. In other words, building one’s experience, credits, and contacts with current, working film, television, and new media professionals is a priority, the Film Connection Paducah film school alternative is one to look into.
If a diploma and college experience is something you’re serious about, go to a traditional film school. If you’d rather jump in, train for a number of months, and receive curriculum-backed lessons that are geared precisely to grow your understanding and put you in a prime position to get a foothold in the industry, come to Film Connection.
To APPLY for our Paducah, KY film school alternative, click here.
Paducah, Kentucky is a small town of about 25,000 people, situated in western Kentucky where the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers connect. It is situated near both the Illinois and Missouri borders and is convenient both to plenty of beautiful outdoor scenery and to larger cities like Nashville and St. Louis–making it a strategic spot for finding good filming locations. Film schools are admittedly scarce in this part of the world (except for FILM CONNECTION, of course), but there are production companies that make their home in this area. If you desire to become a film director, film producer, film editor, or cameraman, Paducah can serve as a surprising entryway to the business, as opposed to relocation to other filmmaking hotspots–provided you have some help from Film Connection.
Some of our graduates have gone on to become film directors, script writers, and production company owners. Others are creating and producing their own films across genres like documentary, drama, comedy, action, and animation
“Understanding festival strategy changed how I finish and launch a project.”
Casey O.
“I thought writing was lonely — but getting notes each week made it collaborative.”
Tori W.
“You walk away with more than skills — you walk away changed.”
Taylor K.
“What I learned applies to everything — not just film.”
Morgan Z.
“I made more progress in two months here than in two years elsewhere.”
Quinn L.
“I didn’t just shadow — I got to lead a crew by the third week.”
Sasha B.
“I am more motivated than ever before because I can already see an enormous improvement in my writing skills, understanding of film and screenplays, and my understanding of the movie business because my mentor and I have a boxer / trainer relationship. Now that might not work with others but for me as the extern I couldn’t be happier.”
Avery Parker
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