Hey, so I started my journey at TFS when the whole world shut down. So naturally my class were the pioneers of the Acting program online. Of course we were bummed out by the situation but anyone of us could have left the program at anytime, but we didn't. My overall experience over the last two years we're mostly great. The teachers were fantastic and really drove us to become greta actors (so long as you did the work and applied yourself). Admittedly, it took me a while to see the grand picture of everything but once I did, it made sense and everything fell into place for me. I could never thank the teachers/mentors who made this experience worth while and really forced me to grow. Rosanna Saracino, John Tench, Chad Snider, Andrew Moodie to name a few were just fantastic, and honestly kept me invested in this school after I wanted to quit. I also loved the fact that we got a taste of all aspects of the industry, from auditioning class to actually auditioning for student films, to writing, to pitching, everything was just so hands on, even through zoom. I do, wish we could've gotten more moneys worth, especially being on zoom majority of the diploma. One more thing to had is that this school feels like family, the instructors are so supportive (even if they don't know you, they know you and support you!). Overall, great experience!
Reviews
*This review is my own personal experience and does not reflect the school or the program in its entirety. (2016 to 2018)I was not the most professional during my time at Toronto Film School... ie.) Hanging with the wrong crowd and not always putting my craft first. Big mistake.... as reputation is everything. Thankfully I proved I am a professional working actor and producer of television post TFS. There's the context. What about the school experience?I learned essential acting tricks and lessons from very influential instructors. Whether that was in class or watching them perform in their theater plays or film projects. Each instructor taught me something valuable about the craft of acting and filmmaking... putting yourself out there and asking for feedback will strengthen you. The instructors are all working professionals, and have the resumes to back it up. (Search them on imdb and you may be surprised!) Some instructors are now my co workers... so ya... that's possible.You will get lots of theater experience (You get to perform in a class play!) and on camera experience that can help towards a demo reel. Voice over work is a great experience, along with producing/writing your own short film (if greenlit by jury, which highlights how competitive and unforgiving the business can be...)Business class was also important to understand the essentials to getting an agent.Overall you get what you put into the program, I didn't even mention after school hours.... you should be networking and getting to know other students in different programs. Audition for student films and build that reel while all the tools are available.Make TFS a positive experience... especially if you are serious about working in the biz. Everyone will have a different experience... so make sure you join for you and the right reasons.
Toronto Film School gave me so many opportunities to challenge myself, both as an actor and a person. Obviously, you have to be proactive and create some of these opportunities for yourself. Being able to audition for the short films made by the students of the Film Production and Writing programs allowed me to build a solid network of film creatives. I'm grateful for that. My teachers were knowledgeable, attentive, supportive and most of them are also working as actors, producers, filmmakers, etc. I was even hired or recommended by some of them on their various projects. Yes, tuition is expensive, but I personally got a lot out of it. It definitely gave me the confidence I needed to tackle this demanding industry.
For me, the benefits were an accelerated course load and one on one time with great teachers. It was exactly what I was looking for because I didn't want to waste time doing a four-year degree then transitioning from school to a real job. Be prepared to work hard on your portfolio (goes without saying). Other benefits: The school is big on peer support and networking, and it will help you understand the industry and where you fit into the puzzle. For game design and development, I recommend!
Toronto Film School is in CourseCompare's top film schools, even if it's #10. It's also in the Princeton Review's ranking. I recently stated at TFS in film production and applied to VFS but wanted to stay close to home. I also looked at Ryerson and York but I was looking for something that's hands-on and experiential and not theory/film studies liberal arts type classes. So far so good! I'm meeting great students and getting intros to industry people even during this awful pandemic.