AFI Dean Susan Ruskin Talks Future of Filmmaking

variety.com:

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Since joining the American Film Institute faculty as dean and executive vice president in July 2019, Susan Ruskin has kept a steady eye on what lay next in the field of film school education.

Ruskin, Variety Entertainment Educator of the Year, discusses why TV and film are more alike than different, what advances in technology means for screenwriters and why film school is still a rock solid bet when it comes to forging a career in the cinematic arts.  With so many avenues to break into the biz, why choose AFI?  There are many different pathways to get into the industry, but I do believe that film school offers one thing that going straight into the industry does not–and that’s a safe place to fail, and a place to meet your collaborators for life.

And that is a fast track to success that you cannot get without the sort of protection of being in a space where you get the opportunity to make things and fail at making things and figure out who you are as a storyteller.

One of the greatest strengths about AFI is that you come into the discipline that you want for your MFA and you have a very bespoke curriculum.