The Film Industry
in West Virginia

The West Virginia Film Connection affords you opportunities to connect to the real film industry that no other film school can boast.  How do we do it?  We skip the classroom completely, placing you into an actual film production facility as an apprentice (extern) from your very first day of training.  Your classes take place on-the-job and on the set, and your instructor/mentor is a real film industry professional with years of solid experience.  This gives you the chance to gain valuable work experience and make important industry connections that you could never get by sitting in a classroom. Ask anyone in the film industry, and they’ll tell you the best way to learn cinematography, screenwriting, film directing, film editing and other aspects of film is to learn directly from the pros, the people doing these things for a living.  They’ll also tell you connections are KEY to success in this business.  With the West Virginia Film Connection, you have the opportunity to gain all these things—all for a fraction of what other film schools cost. The best part is, you don’t have to start building your film career by moving to Los Angeles, because there are plenty of opportunities to connect to the film industry right here in West Virginia! 

Don’t believe us? Have a look at this partial list of major films that were shot right in West Virginia:

• Super 8 (2011)
• We Are Marshall (2006)
• Gods and Generals (2003)
• The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Unstoppable (2010)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Super Size Me (2003)
• Win a Date With Tad Hamilton! (2004)
• Out of the Furnace (2013)

You can see from this partial list that major productions come on location in West Virginia to shoot on a regular basis, in part due to generous incentives offered by the state.  These productions often rely on local talent—not to mention that there are plenty of projects on the local level to keep local production companies busy.  This gives you lots of opportunities to plug into the business—IF you’re in the right place when the call comes in.  That “right place” is NOT in some college or trade school classroom—it’s in the production facilities themselves.  As a Film Connection apprentice (extern), you’ll have access to these opportunities that other film school students just don’t get. With our training program, your work experience begins the day you start classes, because you’re on-the-job and/or on the set from your first day of training.  We pair you with a film professional who specializes in your field of interest (whether screenwriting, editing, cinematography, etc.), and our structured curriculum can be tailored to your specific needs.  You can prepare for a rewarding career in the West Virginia film scene, or if you so desire, your mentor can prepare you to pitch your own film idea directly to Hollywood—and when you’re ready, we’ll even set up a meeting in Los Angeles for you to do it!  No other film school on the planet can offer this kind of opportunity to break into the industry. Another bit of advice: student debt can kill your career before it ever starts, because debt governs your decisions.  With other film schools, you’re almost guaranteed to take on crushing amounts of debt.  Not with the West Virginia Film Connection.  It actually costs much less to train you on-the-job than in a classroom, so we pass those savings on to you.  The result?  With our apprentice-based training, you’ll pay 75% LESS than you would at a conventional film school, so you can focus on building your career, rather than paying off your debt. If you’re serious about breaking into the film business, you have to get yourself where the action is happening—and it isn’t in some college classroom.  We put you in the heart of it and let you train for the film industry from inside the industry itself.  You owe it to yourself to see what we can do for you!  APPLY NOW FOR FREE to learn more.