Pathways to screen and stage

Your guide to the top performing arts and film colleges, schools, and academies in Australia.
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Deciding on which course to enrol in and what educational institution is right for you can be difficult.

But discovering the values your potential college or school holds dear, and looking at how these fit with your own career goals and what is important to you can help make that decision easier.

Here is our overview of four of the top institutions offering degrees and diplomas in film, theatre, television and radio to get you started.

Academy of Film, Theatre and Television

The merger between the Actors College of Theatre and Television (ACTT) and the International Film School Sydney (IFSS), two of Australia’s longest standing private institutions, resulted in the foundation of the Academy of Film, Theatre and Television (AFTT) in 2016.

Its three pillars are collaboration, practical experience, and cross-disciplinary engagement; values with which students become intimately familiar as they work together on one another’s projects. For example, students enrolled in the Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media: Screenwriting, Directing and Producing get to script, direct and produce five fully funded films by working collaboratively with students from other program streams.

Those studying to become filmmakers, directors and producers are able to cast from campus, as actors and music theatre students work together with stage managers and live producers in order to create polished work.

AFTT Open Day on Saturday 17 September

This focus on hands-on learning is evident across each of the courses available at AFTT. In the Advanced Diploma in Cinematography, students participate as a cinematographer or director of photography on other student projects, again collaborating on five fully funded film projects. 

Read: Teaching beauty to emerging filmmakers

National Institute of Dramatic Art

NIDA endeavors to strike a careful balance between practice and theory. To achieve this, the Institute places value on collaboration and creativity.

‘We provide practice-based industry-facing conservatoire training to prepare our students to be effective collaborators in the performing arts,’ said Deputy Director of NIDA Michael Scott-Mitchell.

Also Director of Undergraduate Studies and Head of Design for Performance, Scott-Mitchell said NIDA draws on the strong ties to the Australian performing arts community to enable students to undertake significant industry placements during their study.

NIDA graduate, undergraduate and vocational course applications for 2017 are currently open

NIDA offers fully-accredited bachelor degrees in Acting, Costume, Design for Performance, Properties and Objects (props), Staging, and Technical Theatre and Stage Management, masters degrees in Cultural Leadership, Directing and Writing for Performance and diploma courses in Musical Theatre, Live Production and Technical Services and Specialist Make-up Services.

‘The majority of our teaching staff are drawn from the profession, ensuring that our students benefit from current industry knowledge and skill,’ said Scott-Mitchell. 

Read: Graduate studies make artists more experimental

Australian Film, Television and Radio School

What is now known as the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) began its life as the Film and Television School with its first intake of students in 1973. 

Fast forward 43 years and today the school is rated one of the top film schools in the world by the Hollywood Reporter. It is the only screen arts and broadcast school in Australia.

‘AFTRS was established by the Australian government to fuel and empower Australian creativity and storytelling,’ said AFTRS CEO Neil Peplow.

Attend AFTRS Open Day: 10 Sept, 10am-3pm

AFTRS’ new degree program and specialist program (introduced in 2015) encourage critical thinking and practical knowledge of relevant technical skills, which students put in practice throughout the course.

‘As an AFTRS graduate you’ll join Australia’s most awarded screen and broadcast alumni. You’ll also experience theory and practice based learning which will fast-track you into a screen and broadcast career and ensure you are industry-ready from day one,’ said Peplow.

Read: AFTRS Open Day opens doors

JMC Academy

JMC Academy is known for its state-of-the-art technology and equipment. They have recording studios, sound studios, post-production suites, and film and TV studios.

They offer qualifications in music, audio, animation, game design, film and television, digital design and entertainment business management.

Visit a JMC campus at the next open day

JMC are also known for their unique integration program, designed to enable students from all departments to work together on collaborative projects. The program gives students valuable insight into how the real industry operates, replicating processes in the creative industries and networks involving producers, buyers and distributors.  

Another example of JMC’s valuable industry partnerships saw students collaborate on a project involving music industry portal TheMusic.com.au and major company Warner Music, in which students from JMC Academy’s Film and Television and Audio Engineering departments helped film and record Australian acts Stonefield, Neil Finn’s Pyjama Club, Eskimo Joe, and Frankie and the Heartstrings.

Read: How to break into the arts and entertainment industries

Brooke Boland
About the Author
Brooke Boland is a freelance writer based on the South Coast of NSW. She has a PhD in literature from the University of NSW. You can find her on Instagram @southcoastwriter.