New York Film Academy (NYFA)
This Los Angeles acting school started in New York focuses primarily on film acting. Different LA acting training programs are available: a one-year intensive acting program, a two-year conservatory acting program and a 4-semester MFA program.
Classes include Introduction to Acting, Improvisation, Movement, Voice and Speech, Acting for Film and Television, Scene Study, Meisner Technique, Monologues and Shakespeare, as well as filmmaking classes.
Acting students who choose the 2-year program or MFA take additional classes like stunt acting, voice-over acting, producing and more.
Performance opportunities: First-year student actors present scenes in front of an invited audience at the end of the first semester. Second-year students appear in one-act plays and other presentations. MFA students appear in live monologue, scene and sitcom presentations.
Career preparation: Since the school also has a program in filmmaking, screenwriting and producing, it allows acting students to build relationships for the future. Actors in training also get to work on a set and start their career with a reel in hand. This film acting school in Los Angeles is actually located on the Universal Studios backlot and all students work on at least one short film during their studies. Students also appear in an industry showcase and take a Los Angeles acting class in Audition Technique (plus a Business of Acting class for second year and MFA students). MFA students develop 1-2 screenplays and complete a short thesis film presented at a public screening.
Degree: Students in the one-year program earn 28 college credits. Students in the 2-year program earn 56 credits and can earn a bachelor’s degree through an affiliated acting college. Masters students earn an MFA in Acting for Film.
Financial Aid: There is no direct financial aid available but the school has a financial aid department that helps in the process of securing grants, loans and scholarships.
What you’ll need to apply: This is one of the acting schools in Los Angeles that has an open policy admission, which means you don’t need to audition to get in. In addition to transcripts, MFA students need to submit a narrative statement, resume, 2 letters of recommendation, a character study and taped audition. Foreign students whose first language is not English must submit TOEFL scores for the MFA program.
Website: www.nyfa.com