"Why go to film school?" I asked Director Nanette Burstein.

"Film school stops procrastination, otherwise, life takes over." Burstein responded. She is the executive producer and creator of IFC's new television show FILM SCHOOL that premieres on Friday. Burstein was nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category in 1999 for her boxing film ON THE ROPES and co-directed the extremely good documentary THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE in 2002. FILM SCHOOL concentrates on four NYU graduate students struggling to make their student short film. The series offers anecdotes about filmmaking from well-established NYC alumni, including Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, and Amy Heckerling.

"You have the advantage of equipment and a free crew when you go to film school." Burstein continued. "And the structure of the school environment helps."

After watching a couple episodes sent to me by IFC, I was hooked. One thing that stood out in the press materials was the huge cost of film school reportedly averaging around $65,000.00 for the entire education. I thought about the endless number of independent filmmakers I've interviewed over the years who would gladly give the services of their spouse for a budget of that amount let alone spend the money on schooling.

"Well, some students get scholarships but some end up in debt, like director Brett Ratner who supposedly ended up $250,000.00 in debt." Burstein said. FILM SCHOOL smartly uses interviews with NYU Film School graduates together with reality TV coverage of the exploits of the four filmmakers featured.

Many of the students who attend NYU Film School for graduate school come from full careers and have a great amount of experience.

"There are great teachers at NYU." Burstein, an NYU graduate herself told me. "It was the film [ON THE ROPES] I made there that gave me my real start. You get to use the equipment for free and the idea that you're just gonna do this is a great motivating factor."

Burstein told me that film school is hard on relationships of the students. This is very clear in IFC's FILM SCHOOL as temperatures rise and conflicts develop.

"A lot of relationships break up and there are even divorces because suddenly lives change in film school." Burstein said. "Personality-wise, film school made me more confident and I became a happier person because I believed in my abilities."

NYU's graduate school in film is a very competitive program.

"1000 apply and there are only 36 in each class." Burstein observed. She told me that the school looks for diversity and a creative portfolio. "But they want people who are still learning, although many of the students may have made a film before or have a script written."

Burstein pointed out that FILM SCHOOL is different than PROJECT GREENLIGHT because the students are really underdogs who often aren't dealing with professional actors and are fighting for every penny of financing to make their vision a reality. The episodes that I saw dealt in part with the struggles to raise money for the student film productions that are 15 minute shorts. Even 15 minutes can be expensive.

One the students featured in FILM SCHOOL is Alrick Brown.

"I wasn't that bothered by being followed by a camera," Brown told me by telephone.

Brown's short film is entitled THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERNIGGER (there is more but as of post time, the subtitle wasn't available) and deals with the 1999 police shooting of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed immigrant who was shot by police some 41 times.

"When I read about it in the papers it read like a comic book-unarmed man shot 41 times by police," Brown said. His film approaches the tragedy as a comic book-style allegory. "I want to tell the story using a Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay style and the film will have an action movie look."

Brown told me that instead of the dark graphic novel comic influences, he borrowed from the more light-hearted ones and from there he takes his audience to a very dark place.

"I want it to feel like you are watching something big like a big comedy then you get to the event and the tone of the film changes drastically." Brown said.

Brown admitted that the title to the film makes people uncomfortable and he thought about changing it.

"But he [Diallo] was shot because he was a nigger. And no matter what you do, you are still a nigger." Brown said. "I wanted people to come to terms with the word. When you see the film it works in the context of the film. It has been screened for different audiences and all have had a different ride."

FILM SCHOOL premieres on the Independent Film Channel Friday, September 10, 2004, at 10:30pm ET/PT. For more information about the show, visit the IFC website: http://www.ifctv.com/ifc/index

Jonathan W. Hickman