Film School Cool

I have known a few people in film school programs who know nothing about what it takes to make a film. All they care about is the money (“Film School Daze,” by Robert W. Welkos, Nov. 18).

Some students in filmmaking classes complain about watching old movies or foreign films because they think they are boring, but what better way to learn how to make a movie than to watch a movie where you can see all the director’s techniques?

Films from Italy from the postwar era show what a filmmaker is capable of doing without many resources. We have beautiful films driven by stories that became classics.

JESUS ALBERTO ALVARADO

Pasadena

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An important element was left out of your story on film schools--relationships. As a film student at USC, the most valuable part of the program has been my relationships with my peers and my professors. As at any educational institution, there have been a few that I’ve not gotten along with but, overall, these relationships have been the most valuable part of my growth as a filmmaker, and my main emotional support network as I wander through the jungle of Hollywood.

The article was right about the money, the debt afterward (thanks goodness for deferment), but I just feel it’s important to acknowledge the relationships--you can’t put a dollar figure on it. But there’s no way I would have grown as a filmmaker as much as I have without them.

TARA KITTLE

North Hollywood