This year marks the 10th time TheWrap has ranked the top 50 U.S. film schools and the second year we’ve partnered with the data research company Screen Engine/ASI to implement a data-driven ranking system. Kevin Goetz’s company created a detailed survey and used the answers to score each institution on a wide variety of factors, which are explained in greater detail in the methodology page at the bottom of this post.
https://www.thewrap.com/top-50-film-schools-united-states-2025/Many excellent schools teach film history and theory, but the ones on this list especially highlight hands-on filmmaking experience that can help you survive in a famously tough field. Some are obvious choices, like USC, the alma mater of Sinners director Ryan Coogler, and NYU, whose alums include Sean Baker, a four-time Oscar winner for his latest, the Best Picture winning Anora. If you can get into a top-tier school like USC or NYU — and can afford it, perhaps with the benefit of big financial aid packages — of course you should attend.
https://www.moviemaker.com/best-film-schools-us-and-canada-2025/Justin Trevor Winters, a screenwriting instructor at Loyola Marymount University, spent a year developing the syllabus for his “Producing and Screenwriting With AI” course, revising it more than a dozen times. But even that preparation wasn’t enough. When he launched the class last fall, there were no video generation models widely available to students.
https://www.thewrap.com/films-schools-ai-classes-controversy/LMU’s Innovation Symposium has aimed to promote the intersection of established ideas and practices with new and progressive technology for three years, previously focusing on education and business pathways. This year, the Symposium focused on how the introduction of emerging concepts — such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency — can be used to advance the entertainment industry.
https://www.laloyolan.com/news/cutting-edge-technology-mixes-with-the-entertainment-industry-at-third-annual-innovation-symposium/article_1d7e9264-eb23-11ee-b1f2-7bb842bc6a24.htmlIndieWire: Justin Trevor Winters, LMU Professor, screenwriter and principal of Verified Labs, is teaching an upcoming AI and screenwriting course in the School of Film and Television. He said, “The whole goal of the class is to encourage students to use the technology they have at their fingerprints to create the best product possible.”
https://newsroom.lmu.edu/lmu-in-the-news/hollywoods-top-film-schools-are-taking-generative-ai-seriously/Notable festival participants will include Ed Ulbrich, Metaphysic’s chief content officer, president of production; Sydney Bright, Webtoon’s head of global animation; Holly Willis, chair of media arts & practice division at USC School of Cinematic Arts and co-director of AI for Media & Storytelling and Dave Clark, Promise’s co-founder and chief creative officer.
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/lmu-innovators-film-festival-ai-2-1236346513/The Innovators Film Festival, LMU’s first ever artificial intelligence (AI) film festival, comes to campus on March 27 and 28, showcasing films made with at least one element of AI from around the globe. The festival not only showcases high school and college student voices, but those of industry professionals and technology companies. These panels, workshops and screenings provide an inside look at how AI is being utilized in entertainment and the software that companies are developing in the present.
https://www.laloyolan.com/life_and_arts/the-innovators-film-festival-brings-the-ai-conversation-to-campus/article_a5eb3a60-6602-5aca-b0fb-719f6f526b1b.htmlLMU was recently awarded the school’s first-ever Mellon Foundation grant, which will promote various projects and contributions through an initiative with the goal of redefining the ethical and social injustices of the disabled community through artificial intelligence (AI). The grant will support nine faculty fellowships, nine community-based learning courses and three symposia.
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/lmu-innovators-film-festival-ai-1236218695