London Film School
Encyclopedia
The London Film School is a private film school
in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden
, London, close to a hub of the UK film industry based in Soho
. The LFS was founded in 1956 by Bob Dunbar as The London School of Film Technique. It is recognised as a leading private film school in the United Kingdom it is only one of two institutions which solely provides post-graduate film courses in the United Kingdom. The LFS is a Skillset
Centre of Excellence.
The school's current director is Ben Gibson and its current chairman is Oscar-nominated Mike Leigh
O.B.E.
After precarious early days, the School settled in Brixton
as the ´London School of Film Technique´. It was set up around the belief that the future health of film making in Britain could be promoted by properly designed formal training for people entering the industry, then run on a traditional apprenticeship basis. Since there was little sign of any official action to carry out these plans, a group of enthusiasts decided to take the classic British way and constitute such a school.
The approach to the old school, through a gaunt passage and up winding brick stairs to a handful of rooms over shops in Electric Avenue, Brixton, was likened by an intrepid visitor to a set from "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari". In the early 1960s the school moved to premises in Charlotte Street in the West End. The 18th century warehouse in Covent Garden, in which the school has been since the mid 1960s, maintains a similarly dramatic and individual character.
In 1974 the school was re-named as LIFS, the London International Film School. The LIFS constitution, which remains in force, is very unusual. The School is a registered charity, a non-profitmaking company, limited by guarantee. All students become members of the Association, and, together with the other members, elect a Board of Governors on which they have representation. The Board of Governors has the overall responsibility for the management of the School. The current Chairman is the internationally renowned director and LFS graduate Mike Leigh. The school has always been completely independent, and remains so following the validation of its course by London Metropolitan University
.
Filmmaking is taught on stages, and in workshops rather than in classrooms so the building functions like a studio. On the MA Filmmaking, students work on a minimum of six films, at least two as director, with all costs included in fees. In addition, the films are mostly made on film, including two 10 minute 35mm studio/location drama exercises. With an approximate annual intake of 60 student, and just 125 full time students at any one time on the MA Filmmaking course, it generates over 170 finished films a year. It's an exceptionally busy place.
LFS is a living creative community and not a short term 'immersion experience' or a commercial training product. It's a very independent non-profit school run by passionate and experienced filmmakers with 18 full-time faculty, including Les Blair
and Mark Solomon, and a varied and hugely talented group of visiting lecturers, technicians and artists. The LFS hosts a masterclass programme that reflects the school's status: Abbas Kiarostami
, Hanif Kureshi, Franc Roddam
, Dick Pope
, Seamus McGarvey
and Stephen Frears
have all been recent visitors and lecturers. Such is the School’s global reputation that Al Gore
chose to launch Current TV
in Europe at the School recently.
2008 has been year full of innovations and success stories for LFS. 2005 graduate Carlos Armella, following a major festival career for his documentary feature Toro Negro, won the Golden Lion
in Venice for his short Tierra Y Pan. LFS filmmakers achieved over 30 first prizes at international film festivals. These included a record three awards at the Exposure UK Student Festival, one of which was the Grand Jury prize for Samuele Romano's Camille E Marriuccia and five awards at the Kodak Student Commercial Awards.
MA Screenwriting students also received accolades, including an International Emmy award
for 2008 graduate Felicity Carpenter and Best Comedic Short at the prestigious BlueCat Screenwriting Lab Short Screenplay Awards in Los Angeles for 2007 graduate Gabriel Valejjo.
LFS attracted a group of leading figures from the cultural world to support its vision to create a new building incorporating the LFS Centre: a two screen centre for filmmakers and public, fostering innovation, internationalism and independence in cinema with seven day screenings, presentations, workshops and colloquia. LFS patrons are Chris Auty, Tony Elliott, Roger Graef
, Christopher Hird, John Hurt
, Hanif Kureishi
, Charlie Parsons
, Franc Roddam
, Anthony Smith
, Iain Smith
, Tilda Swinton
, Jeremy Thomas
and Alan Yentob
.
In 2009 LFS launches Fast Forward, its first integrated groupings of 'upgrade' programmes for working professionals, offering a combination of intensive workshops, film crewing, mentoring and career strategy work. International projects presented by LFS will include A Few Euro Less, a sequel to the highly successful A Fistful of Euros, which brought together students, directors and producers from LFS, La Femis
in Paris, the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
and the National Film School of Denmark
, for a major workshop and screening event focussed on low-budget feature case studies. A Few Euros Less will take place in Budapest in June.
Manousos Manousakis
Film school
The term film school is used to describe any educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are usually incorporated into...
in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, London, close to a hub of the UK film industry based in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. The LFS was founded in 1956 by Bob Dunbar as The London School of Film Technique. It is recognised as a leading private film school in the United Kingdom it is only one of two institutions which solely provides post-graduate film courses in the United Kingdom. The LFS is a Skillset
Skillset
Skillset is the Sector Skills Council which supports skills and training for people and businesses to ensure the UK creative media industries competitive and productive.-History:It was founded 1992 and is jointly funded by industry and government...
Centre of Excellence.
The school's current director is Ben Gibson and its current chairman is Oscar-nominated Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
O.B.E.
History
The London Film School is the oldest-established international school of film technique in the world, at 50 in 2006. Rather than try and create a national cinema, as so many government-funded schools have done, LFS from the outset fostered a broad, craft-based culture of excellence with students from more than 80 countries. Since 1956 the school has trained thousands of directors, cinematographers, editors and other film professionals now working across the globe. It is the most truly international school anywhere, with 70% of its students from outside Britain. This diversity fits very well in the melting pot of London.<50 years on
In 1956 the Principal of the Heatherley School of Fine Art, Gilmore Roberts, set up a short course in film making, but before the applicants could enrol, found that his school had been sold from under him. He decided to continue the course independently, but could hardly have imagined that forty-five years later a thriving, multinational school, descended from his embryonic idea, would be working in a converted warehouse in Covent Garden, London.After precarious early days, the School settled in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
as the ´London School of Film Technique´. It was set up around the belief that the future health of film making in Britain could be promoted by properly designed formal training for people entering the industry, then run on a traditional apprenticeship basis. Since there was little sign of any official action to carry out these plans, a group of enthusiasts decided to take the classic British way and constitute such a school.
The approach to the old school, through a gaunt passage and up winding brick stairs to a handful of rooms over shops in Electric Avenue, Brixton, was likened by an intrepid visitor to a set from "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari". In the early 1960s the school moved to premises in Charlotte Street in the West End. The 18th century warehouse in Covent Garden, in which the school has been since the mid 1960s, maintains a similarly dramatic and individual character.
In 1974 the school was re-named as LIFS, the London International Film School. The LIFS constitution, which remains in force, is very unusual. The School is a registered charity, a non-profitmaking company, limited by guarantee. All students become members of the Association, and, together with the other members, elect a Board of Governors on which they have representation. The Board of Governors has the overall responsibility for the management of the School. The current Chairman is the internationally renowned director and LFS graduate Mike Leigh. The school has always been completely independent, and remains so following the validation of its course by London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University , located in London, England, was formed on 1 August 2002 by the amalgamation of the University of North London and the London Guildhall University . The University has campuses in the City of London and in the London Borough of Islington.The University operates its...
.
>50 years on
In 2006, students’ films were screened at 80 film festivals and they won 12 major, international festival prizes and a BAFTA nomination while in 2007 LFS students’ films played at 100 festivals and won 15 major prizes.Filmmaking is taught on stages, and in workshops rather than in classrooms so the building functions like a studio. On the MA Filmmaking, students work on a minimum of six films, at least two as director, with all costs included in fees. In addition, the films are mostly made on film, including two 10 minute 35mm studio/location drama exercises. With an approximate annual intake of 60 student, and just 125 full time students at any one time on the MA Filmmaking course, it generates over 170 finished films a year. It's an exceptionally busy place.
LFS is a living creative community and not a short term 'immersion experience' or a commercial training product. It's a very independent non-profit school run by passionate and experienced filmmakers with 18 full-time faculty, including Les Blair
Les Blair
Leslie "Les" Blair is an English television, film and theatre director.Gaining notoriety for his controversial mini-series Law And Order , Blair has gone on to direct films characterised by their political and social awareness.Blair currently teaches at the London Film...
and Mark Solomon, and a varied and hugely talented group of visiting lecturers, technicians and artists. The LFS hosts a masterclass programme that reflects the school's status: Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
, Hanif Kureshi, Franc Roddam
Franc Roddam
Francis George "Franc" Roddam is an English film director, businessman, screenwriter, television producer and publisher. He is married to photographer, Leila Ansari, and has six children from previous marriages. He currently lives in London.-Career:Roddam's films include "Quadrophenia", "K2",...
, Dick Pope
Dick Pope (cinematographer)
Richard "Dick" Pope, B.S.C. is a British cinematographer who has worked numerous times with British film director Mike Leigh. He is most recently known for the cinematography in The Illusionist directed by Neil Burger, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.- As Cinematographer:* Women...
, Seamus McGarvey
Seamus McGarvey
Seamus McGarvey BSC, born 29 June 1967 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, began his career as a still photographer before attending film school at the University of Westminster in London....
and Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
have all been recent visitors and lecturers. Such is the School’s global reputation that Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
chose to launch Current TV
Current TV
Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
in Europe at the School recently.
2008 has been year full of innovations and success stories for LFS. 2005 graduate Carlos Armella, following a major festival career for his documentary feature Toro Negro, won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
in Venice for his short Tierra Y Pan. LFS filmmakers achieved over 30 first prizes at international film festivals. These included a record three awards at the Exposure UK Student Festival, one of which was the Grand Jury prize for Samuele Romano's Camille E Marriuccia and five awards at the Kodak Student Commercial Awards.
MA Screenwriting students also received accolades, including an International Emmy award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for 2008 graduate Felicity Carpenter and Best Comedic Short at the prestigious BlueCat Screenwriting Lab Short Screenplay Awards in Los Angeles for 2007 graduate Gabriel Valejjo.
LFS attracted a group of leading figures from the cultural world to support its vision to create a new building incorporating the LFS Centre: a two screen centre for filmmakers and public, fostering innovation, internationalism and independence in cinema with seven day screenings, presentations, workshops and colloquia. LFS patrons are Chris Auty, Tony Elliott, Roger Graef
Roger Graef
Roger Arthur Graef OBE is a criminologist and film-maker. Born in New York, he moved to Britain in 1962, where he has made ground-breaking documentary films with his ability to gain access to hitherto closed institutions, including Government ministries and court buildings.-Early life:Graef was...
, Christopher Hird, John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
, Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi CBE is an English playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. The themes of his work have touched on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality...
, Charlie Parsons
Charlie Parsons
Charlie Parsons is a British television producer who created a number of notable television shows including Survivor. He also created The Big Breakfast and The Word....
, Franc Roddam
Franc Roddam
Francis George "Franc" Roddam is an English film director, businessman, screenwriter, television producer and publisher. He is married to photographer, Leila Ansari, and has six children from previous marriages. He currently lives in London.-Career:Roddam's films include "Quadrophenia", "K2",...
, Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith (producer)
Professor Anthony Smith, CBE, is a British broadcaster, author and academic, who was President of Magdalen College, Oxford University between 1988 and 2005.-Life:...
, Iain Smith
Iain Smith (producer)
Iain Smith OBE is a film producer. He is known for his productions of Seven Years in Tibet , The Fifth Element , The Fountain and Children of Men , among many others.-Biography:...
, Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
, Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder of the Recorded Picture Company. He was the producer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World...
and Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob
Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...
.
In 2009 LFS launches Fast Forward, its first integrated groupings of 'upgrade' programmes for working professionals, offering a combination of intensive workshops, film crewing, mentoring and career strategy work. International projects presented by LFS will include A Few Euro Less, a sequel to the highly successful A Fistful of Euros, which brought together students, directors and producers from LFS, La Femis
La Femis
La Fémis , is the French state film school. FEMIS is an acronym for Fondation Européenne pour les Métiers de l’Image et du Son. Based in Paris, it offers courses balanced between artistic research, professional development and technical training...
in Paris, the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest
The Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest is a university founded in 1865 in Budapest, Hungary.-Notable alumni:*László Kovács *Vilmos Zsigmond*József Mikó*István Szabó*Miklós Jancsó*Lajos Koltai*Gábor Bódy*Dezső Magyar*Béla Tarr...
and the National Film School of Denmark
National Film School of Denmark
TheNational Film School of Denmark is an independent institution under the Danish Ministry of Cultural Affairs. It was established in 1966 and is based on Holmen in the harbour of Copenhagen.-History:...
, for a major workshop and screening event focussed on low-budget feature case studies. A Few Euros Less will take place in Budapest in June.
Notable graduates (a selection)
The school has produced many famous and successful alumni, including:- Bill DouglasBill DouglasWilliam Gerald Forbes Douglas was a Scottish film director best known for the trilogy of films about his early life.-Biography:...
- Tak FujimotoTak FujimotoTak Fujimoto , A.S.C. is an American cinematographer. A graduate of the London Film School, he has worked with filmmakers Jonathan Demme, M. Night Shyamalan, John Hughes, Howard Deutch and Terrence Malick. Early in his career, he worked on the second unit of the first Star Wars film...
- Mike LeighMike LeighMichael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
- Michael Mann
- Ronis Varlaam
- Danny HustonDanny Huston-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
- Don BoydDon BoydDonald William Robertson Boyd Hon D.Litt is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist...
- Duncan JonesDuncan JonesDuncan Zowie Haywood Jones , also known as Zowie Bowie is an English film director, best known for directing the science fiction films Moon and Source Code .-Childhood and family life:...
- Ali MustafaAli MustafaAli F. Mustafa is a British-Emirati filmmaker, director and producer who is credited as the director of the first Emirati feature-film City of Life. Born in 1981, Mustafa received wide acclaim for his debut in filmmaking; he has been branded as "Best Emirati Filmmaker" in the Dubai International...
Manousos Manousakis
Manousos Manousakis
Manousos Manousakis is a well-known Greek director, producer, writer and actor. He was born in Athens, Greece on 14 January 1950 under the name Manousos Tatakis. He studied at the London Film School. His spouse is named Maria and they have two children. He is a nephew of Irene Papas and first...
Honorary Associates
- Lynne Ramsay
- Stephen FrearsStephen FrearsStephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
- Pawel PawlikowskiPawel PawlikowskiPaweł Pawlikowski is a Polish-born, Oxford-based, BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker and academic. He garnered much acclaim for his BAFTA Award-winning Last Resort which he wrote and directed in 2000 and My Summer of Love, loosely based on Helen Cross' novel, which also won a BAFTA and a string of...
- Mike FiggisMike FiggisMichael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
- Abbas KiarostamiAbbas KiarostamiAbbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
- Amma AsanteAmma Asante-Biography:As a child, Asante attended the Barbara Speake stage school in Acton, London, where she trained as a student in dance and drama. She began her film and television career as a child actress, appearing as a regular in the British school drama Grange Hill...
- Jeremy ThomasJeremy ThomasJeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder of the Recorded Picture Company. He was the producer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World...
- Jim BroadbentJim BroadbentJames "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
Sponsors and funders
- British Board of Film ClassificationBritish Board of Film ClassificationThe British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
- Soho Images
- Kodak
- PanavisionPanavisionPanavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...
- UK Film CouncilUK Film CouncilThe UK Film Council was set up in 2000 by the Labour Government as a non-departmental public body to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee governed by a board of 15 directors and was funded through sources including the...
- AvidAVIDAVID stands for:* Advancement Via Individual Determination, a college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges in the U.S....
- TechnicolorTechnicolorTechnicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
- Film London
- Cobra BeerCobra BeerCobra Beers main product is an extra-smooth premium beer with an alcohol strength of 5% volume. The beer was founded in 1989 by Karan Bilimoria, who thought that Britain needed a smoother, less gassy lager, which would appeal to both ale drinkers and lager drinkers alike...
- Institut Francais
- Copious Interactive Agency
- Skillset