Pittsburgh Film School: Attend School in an Up-and-Coming Film Industry Locale

Prospective filmmakers researching film school programs may be a bit surprised to learn that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a vibrant and growing marketplace for the film industry. In the metropolis of Pittsburgh, film school students have access to not only one of the oldest and largest independent media arts groups in the nation, the Pittsburgh Filmmakers, but also to an industry that had a record-breaking year in 2008, when film productions invested $50 million in southwestern Pennsylvania alone.

With significant government incentives like the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit, film production companies are increasingly viewing the Pittsburgh area as a viable option for media projects. As a region, it provides a diverse selection of environments for film and television, including urban centers, suburban neighborhoods, small towns, and historic architecture. Over 123 motion picture and television productions have chosen Pittsburgh as a location, from 1914's The Perils of Pauline to well-known modern films such as Dogma, Wonder Boys and Sorority Row and television shows including The West Wing.

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Pittsburgh also boasts the Andy Warhol Museum, dedicated to the locally-born artist and filmmaker, but he's not the only prominent industry icon to have called the region home. Even film industry luminaries like Ethan Hawke and George Romero came to Pittsburgh for film school, with respected colleges like the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University attracting creative minds from all across the country.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is another popular film school available in the area, offering relevant media arts programs in Digital Filmmaking and Video Production (A.S and B.S.), Media Arts and Animation (B.S.), and Visual Effects and Motion Graphics (B.S.).

• In Digital Filmmaking and Video Production, students are prepared for future careers in the film and media industry through creative and intellectual training, as well as practical education in the technologies used in the world of filmmaking today—from scriptwriting to sound design to post-production.
• Media Arts and Animation provides a solid foundation in animation techniques and technologies, used everywhere from advertising to gaming, movies to television.
• A bachelor's degree in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics prepares graduates for careers in multimedia, animation, special effects and more.

If you're planning on attending film school, you'll find plenty of industry opportunities in Pittsburgh.

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Related Reading:

• Film and TV School: Who Should Go?