Thread by @JStoteraux

There were 55 students in my incoming class at Columbia’s MFA Film program. Only 4 of us ever managed to make a career out of it. And of those 4, one guy dropped out the first semester. Funny enough he’s the most successful one having co-directed Avengers Endgame. Hi Anthony!

Many of the students in my class who didn’t turn their degrees into industry success were insanely talented, but Columbia traded on its reputation to sell them big dreams that it could never deliver.

During my 2nd year I suspected that the school wasn’t providing a launching pad to a career — most of the instructors were struggling to establish a career themselves & many weren’t even much more experienced than their students. A 4th yr student taught our cinematography class.

The brass ring the program dangled was that your film could be chosen for the annual festival where, in theory, big-time agents would see it and maybe sign you. But it was cutthroat to even be selected for the festival. And tuition didn’t cover the cost to make those films.

You were on your own to pay for them. One year the film that won the festival was a WW2 story shot in Europe complete with a fucking tank. Students were going into debt to the tune of 100K to make films with the hope that they might maybe have a chance to be seen by a CAA agent.

Not having the money to make a film, I switched to writing. I teamed up with a friend to write a screenplay that we hoped could be our calling card. We proudly entered it in the program’s script contest… only to have the faculty judges reject it in the very first round.

Within a year, that script sold — not because of anything my fancy school did, but because randomly I met a producer’s assistant who offered to read it, liked it, & championed to his boss. Best of all, that assistant was promoted — so it worked out for all of us. Thanks Justin!

I was officially a working writer, but I was still 2 credits shy of getting my degree. I asked if there was possibly a way I could finish my degree while in LA starting my career. But Columbia was offended by the request and refused. So I dropped out within 2 credits of MFA.

After a few years as a working writer, a Columbia administrator asked if I would speak as an alum at a student event. I agreed to talk to the students, but pointed out that I’m not an alum. Hearing the situation (2 credits short!) the admin lobbied the program’s Chair to help.

The Chair reached out and said he was confident that we could work out an arrangement to get my degree. But he insisted that I fly out to NYC immediately for an in-person meeting. So I spent a fortune on a last-minute flight in order to hear his proposal.

But instead of telling me what I need to do to satisfy the requirements to get my degree, the Chair began pitching me his idea for a TV pilot. In excruciating scene-by-scene detail. I nodded along, waiting to get back to the terms of me getting my degree. But to my horror...

…I slowly begin to realize this IS the deal. He made it pretty clear if I wanted my degree, I needed to help him sell his tv pilot. Yep, the Chair of Columbia’s prestigious graduate film program tried to shake me down in order to jump-start his own stalled out career.

I still don't have my MFA. That Chair is no longer the Chair, but still teaching there. And to my knowledge, they never sold their pilot.

For those asking, of the other 51 students, the most common use for their MFA is teaching... in MFA programs. However, one guy went on to win $7.5 million in the lottery. So if you're keeping score, my Columbia MFA class has just as many working directors as Powerball winners.

I've learned people are speculating about the wrong person. Dan Kleinman was one of my favorite professors, and the school is lucky to have him. I chose not to name the actual person because then it becomes about them & not the program. But fyi, reported everything at the time.