Two leading summer programs of film study in Boston and Cambridge are the Boston Film & Video Foundation, which offers both a blend-you-own variety of courses for all ages and a youth video boot camp, and The New York Film Academy which offers a fixed intensive summer program. Both have excellent reputations, and which one you choose depends on your goals, budget, and time available.
The Boston Film & Video Foundation, founded in 1976, headquartered on Braintree Street in Boston, has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as the leading regional media arts center serving New England. BFVF has been an active part of Boston's independent film and video scene for the last quarter century, and has over a thousand members.
Courses include screenwriting, sound, lighting, and courses from beginner to advanced on 16mm film and video cameras and film production, and a range of editing courses on Avid and Final Cut Pro.
In the Media Studies department this summer there are courses on Film and Video Storytelling, Film Reviewing, and, at the Coolidge Corner Theater, The Films of David Lynch and the Movie Musical.
BFVF has partnered with WGBH to offer a new career development opportunity, The WGBH/Boston Film & Video Foundation JOB workshop. And, new this summer, BFVF is offering a Summer Video Boot Camp in Boston and Waltham for ages 8-17.
Prices of BFVF courses run from approximately $200 to $700 depending on the length and the equipment involved. Video Boot Camp is $2,200 for a three week session. There are discounts for BFVF members. Certain courses may be eligible for college credit. Classes start in early June.. See www.bfvf.org, phone 617 783-9241, or e-mail info@bfvf.org.
The New York Film Academy has, for the last eleven years, offered a hands-on, intensive course to students and adults at locations which now include New York City, Florence, Paris, London, Princeton, Universal Studios in L.A. and Cambridge, MA.
NYFA has designed their total immersion workshops for students with little or no film experience, and attracts high school and college students, as well as adults. Student films are shot without dialog on Arriflex cameras in order to teach students classic filmmaking and visual storytelling.
Costs for the four week filmmaking program are $2,000 tuition and a $1,500 equipment fee, plus $450 for film processing and production expenses. The six week program has the same equipment fee costs, with $1,000 for processing and production, and tuition of $3,000. Students have the option of on-campus dormitory housing at Lesley University, with buffet lunch in the Harvard Faculty Club.
New this summer is a five week digital filmmaking course, with a tuition of $3,500 in which students shoot on Sony PD-150 cameras on DVCAM tape. Classes start June 23rd. Students can petition their universities for college credit. See www.nyfa.com, phone 212-674-4300, or email film@nyfa.com