Sydney Film School


Sydney Film School is a private film school based in Waterloo, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. It was created to provide practical-based filmmaking training to students.
Sydney Film School is located at Waterloo Studios, a working professional production studio. The Studios house a Soundstage, Production Offices, Post-Production Edit & Audio Suites, and Rehearsal Studios.
Waterloo Studios won the Tertiary Category of the 2014 Master Builders Association Excellence in Construction Award.
Sydney Film School shares the facilities with Sydney Actors School, a practical-based stage and screen acting school. Film and acting students build relationships and collaborate through the duration of their studies. The studios also partner with international film and acting companies and programs, with many using Waterloo Studios’  facilities for their own shoots and productions.

History

Sydney Film School was established in August 2004 by a group of founding partners including Mark Allen, John Buckmaster, Ben Ferris, Phillip Handy, Leslie Oliver, Uracha Oliver, John Saunders, Joe Skrzynski, Emile Sherman and Willie Weinstein. Amanda King and Fabio Cavadini were founding faculty members, and taught documentary filmmaking from 2004 until at least 2015.
The school was officially launched on 3 February 2005 by the Premier of the State of NSW and Minister for the Arts, Bob Carr. The Founding Director was Ben Ferris.
The school's campus was located for many years at 82 Cope Street, Waterloo, before moving to a new building called Production House, Waterloo Studios.
As of February 2012, 78 films produced by Sydney Film School had screened at 106 international film festivals worldwide, with 34 first place wins
In 2019 Sydney Film School changed ownership as part of an amalgamation with Sydney Acting School at Waterloo Studios. This amalgamation took place after the school had moved into the Academy's Young Street campus from its Cope Street campus. Although the Sydney Film School name, brand and course structure live on, the original founders and staff are no longer involved with the current school.
Waterloo Studios, a purpose-built film and TV studio in Sydney, Australia, that is home to Sydney Film School, and Sydney Actors School.

Courses and admission

Sydney Film School offers a one-year Diploma of Screen & Media, and one year Advanced Diploma of Screen & Media.
Students are selected through an interview and pitch presentation process. Prospective students apply at the Sydney Film School website, and then prepare a film/TV pitch to present to the interview panel.

Accolades

In April 2020, Variety magazine included Sydney Film School in their list of "The Top Film Schools and Educators From Around the Globe".
Some of the accolades afforded to Sydney Film School graduates for their work include:
At the end of each semester, the school organises the Sydney Film School Festival to display the students' work. Previous guest keynote speakers at the Sydney Film School Festival awards ceremony have included: George Miller, Tom Zubrycki, Phillip Noyce, Paul Keating – Former Prime Minister of Australia, Gillian Armstrong, Bob Connolly, Phillip Hearnshaw, Bruce Beresford, Ray Lawrence, Virginia Judge, Gretel Killeen, Wayne Blair, John Duigan and David Jowsey.