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Gold Stars
Santa Monica College’s film school garners top rankings from national magazine
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PHOTO CREDITS: COURTESY OF SANTA MONICA COLLEGE
By Bridgette M. Redman ovieMaker Magazine knows a good film school when it sees one. When it ranked all the schools in the U.S. and Canada, the Westside contained several of their darlings. Among the top 12 in the U.S. West and Northwest are Santa Monica College (SMC) and USC. Joining them in the top 40 in the U.S. and Canada is Loyola Marymount University. “Santa Monica College is a fantastic bet for someone who wants to live in the heart of the film industry without going into debt for years,” said Tim Molloy, MovieMaker editor-in-chief. “If you believe the film and TV industry should be open to people who aren’t the children of millionaires—and we certainly do— we need more institutions with the affordability and drive of SMC.” Salvador Carrasco, the college’s film production faculty lead, learned of the honor in an email from Molloy, an email that also told him MovieMaker plans to feature the college in a future edition. Carrasco was hired by SMC in 2010 to create a film production program from Professor Salvador Carrasco is SMC’s film production faculty lead. scratch. He said this task included
developing a curriculum, recommending instructors, writing grants for equipment and doing all the needed paperwork for SMC to obtain accreditation from the State of California, which they did in 2015. “My premise was to create a filmmaking program that would be competitive vis-à-vis the top film schools in the nation while at the same time offering universal access and being virtually free cost-wise,” Carrasco said. “This goal came about from my own experience as a student at NYU, and then teaching at USC, The Los Angeles Film School, Pomona College and SMC itself. I combined all the variables that I believed worked, didn’t work, and could be improved at those institutions, focusing on the student perspective.” Since his arrival, SMC’s film program has made more than 30 short films, all coming out of the capstone class, Film 33. “All of these films have won awards at domestic and international film festivals,” said Carrasco. “This stems not from any sort of black magic, but from the staunch belief in our SMC academic
Who We Are - Goethe International Charter School is more than a school. We are a dynamic, collaborative and diverse community that celebrates international cultures. What We Do - Goethe International Charter School empowers students to wonder about the world, embrace deep learning, and acquire essential life skills to shape a better future. How We Do It - Goethe International Charter School focuses on the whole child, engaging students through a curriculum guided by the International Baccalaureate and rooted in inquirybased learning in multiple languages. Please visit www.goethecharterschool.org to learn more about our school and to sign up for a tour. We are looking forward to meeting you! Reader Recommended Best of the Westside Elementary and/or Middle School. Advertorial PAGE 12 EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT - OCTOBER 27, 2022