Vancouver Film School

I Went there studying to study foundation /​sound design, definitely NOT a good investment of time. I spent a year working with out dated equipment, horrible recording rooms, it was a constant fight for equipment (literally). I could go on a year long rant on how disappointing this school was. Overall the price of admission vs the teachers & school overall feel and representation is very low. DO NOT GO HERE. the amount of money spent is ridiculous for the trade-​off of what you actually get to learn and do. The one of the few reasons the school caught my interest was the experience of the teachers themselves, this is true, however (as i soon found out) they merely throw /​read the teachings at you, rather than actually teaching you the skills. Since its such a fast paced course, one needs to ask questions, i would say 80% of the teachers hate or feel annoyed to help students out of school hours and to make things worse the feel of most of the staff is Pathetic moral, lazy, and plain rude /​unprofessional of an institute. The head of the department (no names mentioned) is rather unprofessional, lazy, etc. (i could go on & on).
overall synopsis;
VFS is a very intense, non proffesional feeling of an institute, where the materials learned is 70% self taught

No good. Waste of money. Audition for a real theatre school if you are prepared to spend that kind of cash.

I did go to Vancouver film school years ago before transferring and completing my more extensive film course at Cap U. The classes I took were pre courses for entry into the Cap U full time program with a few basics in still and animation drawing under my belt. Most were night courses that were taught well, teachers that were great and a class that was supportive. Due to cost and reputation at the time I did decide to finish at Cap U

Why is the VFS photo a picture of a dude? Is that guy the founder or something? Weird.
Anyways, I really enjoyed my experience at VFS in 2007. I was part of the Film Production program and I found employment almost immediately after graduation on a film set.
When I moved to Los Angeles and started working on Adult Swim and Comedy Network shows, I got to work with a bunch of other Production Assistants from schools such as USC, NYU and AFI who did not have their act together. They couldn’t operate a C-​Stand and didn’t know the general lingo that happens on a film set. While working on independent shorts by people from other schools, I saw some of the worst lighting set ups, disorganization, and unprofessional displays. but it was the complete opposite when I work with people from VFS.
I happen to be lucky enough to not have needed a student loan for the school. I forget how much it was when I went there but it wasn’t as much as it is now ($ 35,000). I vaguely remember that it was $ 10,000 cheaper!
Anyways, is it worth it now? I can’t say for sure… I think the quality of instruction is generally the same. A lot of the same instructors are there from when I attended. It really depends on what you want to do on a film set… I would suggest it for art, assistant directing, camera (assistant camera) but not if you want to be a director or writer.
Good luck!

I DO NOT recommend Vancouver Film School.
It is not really a school. Another Alum so perfectly described it:
«The ‘school’ seems to me to be little more than an assembly line, ushering people in and out as quickly as possible, while giving no thought or care to their personal well-​being: past present or future. Far greater priority is given to marketing and perception than to the actual quality of the learning experience it provides. VFS is not a school. It is a product. It does not have students or teachers. It has customers and employees.»
Do not believe the hype they spread all over the internet. I attended the Film Production Program in 2007 – 2008 and paid more than $ 50,000 in tuition to get treated with very little respect, to get sexually harassed by a teacher, to have instructors spread gossip during class time, and they set this criteria for students to know what they are judged on for film/​crew selections… but they don’t follow it! They say you have to pass certain tests to work in certain departments… but it doesn’t matter. They say you have to have good attendance to be selected to direct… but no. Students with terrible attendance get to direct all of the time. It’s a wild card.
The school has NO INTEGRITY. It is NOT A SCHOOL. VANCOUVER FILM SCHOOL IS A SCAM!

As an American i’d highly recommend reconsidering if you are attracted to this school for any reason. My post-​grad experience, even as a Canadian citizen, was that difficult. The city itself seems to be more of a service industry, outsourcing their land and talent to larger American productions, for a fraction of the cost. Correct me if i’m wrong. Anyhow it makes sense as well to stick to a city where you will make connections with the people you go to school with. It’s not impossible, but considering that post-​grad all you have is a silly student film to show (which may or may not have been directed by you, in most cases)– it’s really nice to get in with your classmates and develop together.
Another thing that should be taken into consideration (and I graduated 6 years ago) is the attitude of the instructors… as people had previously mentioned, they aren’t really too stoked to be teaching a bunch of young wannabe filmmakers in an institution that churns people through 6 classes at a time. So there isn’t a lot of time to get to know your instructors, and subsequently there is no help in job placement (save for the few lucky souls who get to work in the equipment room.) Ha!
I have heard a lot better from other schools, keep in mind that you are not admitted based on any academic history at all. It is a money making machine. You do get what you get from the education. and it’s a solid and broad enough foundation to get you as far as you want to go… but… I would say, skip this one, take a few independent classes first instead of committing to a full (2?) year course.

It has been a number of years now, so perhaps the place has changed. But let’s just say I wasn’t overly impressed with the quality of instruction or enthusiasm of this place overall. A lot of my (multimedia) courses ended up semi-​self taught (or more). When the teachers don’t believe in the future of the product they’re teaching, it’s not a good sign (and I can say for sure the product has a good future… I’m working on that very same product now). Just my personal opinion, of course, but I’d consider other routes where you’re not paying off the cost for many years.