When I went to college, my professors where academics who had very little passion for being successful or creative. Working at the "institution" meant job security and freedom from market forces... something I saw as a cop out of sorts.

I taught college for a time and feel I have to stand up for professors just a bit. If you had professors like this you had bad professors. I worked with many people in academe who were brilliant and creative and cared a great deal about the experience they provided students with and who worked 70 hours weeks to provide the best education they could ( I am married to one such prof.)

The truth is there are hacks in most professions who take the path of least resistance over the course of their careers, it ain't unique to academe. Another truth is that brilliant, creative people are always in short supply.

If you want to find a good academic experience you have to do your homework. Do research on the professors who will teach courses (university websites make this easy now). Find out what they've published or the work that they've done. Talk to current students about their experiences. Most importantly ask about graduation rates and job placement. You want to find a school from which students are being placed into the best entry-level positions and that have the best industry networks. Of course these are the hardest schools to get into, generally speaking.

She's now considering returning for more studies, but is also interested in the Digital Film Academy in New York: http://www.digitalfilmacademy.com. I don't know anything about this place myself - anybody else have an opinion?

Boyd,

I agree with Peter, and I'm speaking as both a producer/writer/director and a college professor. I teach a college video course and I can vouch a professor can make all the difference. The course itself is secondary. I used to teach at NYU's Tisch School, and we had a good balance between good professors and well-designed courses. This is not always the case.

Your friend who comes from theater, and already has some training in film-making will probably not learn much that is different in the digital film making course. The introduction to how a digital camera works, and some lighting considerations, are hardly worth the cost of the course. A quick seminar might be more useful. From what you describe, she already has 95% of what she needs to know, the rest is technical.

Of course, if she has the money and the time, go for it.

I'm not familiar with this particular place, but I'd say your friend should shop around and see what is out there, and make a selection entirely based on her needs: general knowledge? technical knowledge? aesthetics? Different programs and schools have different strengths.

It seems she has a lot of knowledge and experience in some areas, and perhaps just needs some practical experience, some direction, since self-study is an important part of being a filmmaker, and a film she can crew on (or films!).

Some good ones I've had friends attend are the workshops in Maine, and the Sundance Directors Workshop (as interns); a couple also went to Cannes, but that offers another side of the business.

There's also a one year filmmaking program at the london film academy that another friend attended and thought was good.

K.