4 /5 Samuel Blake Jennings: I am a second year student at Feirstein. I had to take time off due to having health issues and the staff and community has overall been very supportive. For the money the facilities are very nice and over all the atmosphere is a positive one which is not always the case at more well-known universities. One of the best aspects of Feirstein is that it has a very diverse student body and it’s rewarding connecting with other minority filmmakers with similar perspectives. Unfortunately the people who run it aren’t as diverse and like any college this school has a real clique problem, but many of the teachers here are deeply passionate about what they do and I’ve made quite a few friends. I had a lot of trouble my first year because I found out my interest was in post production and not on set filmmaking. I had to change my entire track but the administration was very flexible with me. The school is currently in the midst of a big curriculum change so my main advice is to keep in close touch with your advisors and faculty just so you don’t get confused by where you are in your program and about what classes you need to take. This was a consistent problem with a lot of my peers. Also the equipment while good (they have RED and Alexa cameras) can often be unreliable so be prepared to quadruple check everything when preparing for shoots.
