film & acting school Los Angeles
shooting at Universal Studios

Life and Learning in the City

Los Angeles has great weather, a vibrant and culturally diverse population and inseparable ties to the film industry. Go almost anywhere in Los Angeles and it is apparent that you are in the heart of movie land. You can cruise Sunset Strip and check out the giant billboards for the summer's blockbusters. Stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame to see the stars of the film and television universe planted in the sidewalk. Everywhere you go the world-famous Hollywood sign seems to follow you. All are reminders that you, too, can be a part of the exciting world of film and television one day.

The Backlot and Shooting in LA

The New York Film Academy's central administration building, classrooms, and school facilities are adjacent to the Universal Studios backlot and in the surrounding area. Universal Studios sprawls over 390 acres of offices, interior sound stages and outdoor movie sets. In-class production exercises are shot on the world-famous Universal Studios backlot.

Driving around the lot, one alternately happens across a dusty Mexican villa, an imposing Roman square, a New York alley straight from the 1930s and a street with saloons and wooden sidewalks that would be right at home in an old Western. Nearby, multiple lakes, (including the infamous Jaws lake!), an old New England street and a Renaissance courtyard make up the landscape of the Studios' backlot.

For their individual films, students shoot in Los Angeles, where a wide variety of locations can be found. Participants in our filmmaking workshop can shoot in gritty, urban neighborhoods downtown; on a beach at sunset in Malibu; on the famed shopping strip of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills; or on the boardwalk of Venice Beach. Indeed, one of the attractions of Los Angeles for the film industry has been the city's incredibly varied landscape - from seaside to desert to mountain slope and fruit grove.

Students can take their cameras and crews to the hills around the city and to Sunset Boulevard, to the shops of Chinatown, West Hollywood, Koreatown, Little Tokyo and to the ocean cliffs of Santa Monica.

Transportation

Living in LA requires a car, especially if the student plans to pursue a long-term program in the city. In order to scout locations, transfer crew and equipment or just to go out on the town, it is necessary to drive in LA. However, once you have a car in the city, the possibilities for filming locations opens up enormously. Los Angeles allows for a variety of natural scenes and open spaces, as well as the urban and suburban environments in and around the city.

Course Catalog

Click here to read the Course Catalog.