Unlock Your Potential at our Portland OR Film Production School

Get Real World Film Production Experience in Portland OR

“I was taking some classes over at P.S.U. and then took a class at the Northwest Film Center and I really wanted an atmosphere that was a lot more progressive.” Stephen Blanquie of Portland, OR on why he chose the Film Connection:

“I felt like I was setting myself up for something that I wasn’t really into. At P.S.U. they had something called ‘cluster classes’ that was meant to make us more well-rounded artists (prerequisite classes.). It was basically an excuse for us to meet up with other (professors) and focus on things we weren’t really interested in and wasn’t really related to film-works… I always had been a real independent kind of person, I was always looking for an environment where I could do my own thing and focus on the stuff I really wanted to focus on… So I wanted to actually work in a studio and be around people that were actually making a living in film and what I wanted to do. That seemed like something I wanted to be around.”

“They do a lot of commercials and promotional type edits and they do training videos…The first few weeks were on a health reform seminar and with that, I was merely holding down the third angle, getting reaction shots from the crowd and when you’re in a room full of doctors things can only get so enthusiastic. Hahaha… Then afterward they had a helicopter which was really cool, Lisa’s husband had these things called drones that he can pretty much take a Go-Pro camera and he can get some overhead shots, some overhead views. They used overhead shots of warehouses in the desert for a secret terrorist organization feel for some other stuff and they called it a ‘Rosswell flight-test crew’. We went up to the mountains to get overhead shots of some snowboarders… I shot some B-roll, it was a lot of grip work. A funny thing with that was that none of us brought sunscreen on the shoot, so we all ended up getting burned and peeling so bad that when I would walk into the office for the next couple of days I would start laughing so hard. But it turned out great and hopefully, we will be happy to see how the footage looks.”

— Stephen Blanquie, Portland, OR

Read More from Stephen Blanquie

Portland offers close proximity to a great diversity of beautiful scenery, including mountains, rivers, and the Pacific coast, making it a great central location for filming. Additionally, besides being home to several production companies, Portland attracts a significant amount of feature film and TV production activity.

A number of major companies are based in Portland Oregon, or at least use The Rose City as a base for their Northwest headquarters. Nike, Adidas, Precision Castparts, and others mean there are plenty of opportunities to produce content. Because of that, there are many film schools to choose from in the city to learn production services.

But how many put you in the middle of the action from the start? The Portland Film Connection places you inside a full-service video production company, giving you a mentor where you’ll receive one-on-one guidance on the technical aspects of making films and post-production as well as the practical side of making movies, tv shows, commercials, and other videos.

Whether you want to make your own films or work as part of a production company, you’ll learn the tricks of the trade in the protection studio, on the set, or on location. Why sit in a classroom when you can be gaining real-world experience? Why commit yourself to four years at university, taking classes you don’t really care about, and paying up to six figures for tuition?

Portland Film Connection programs last around six months cost a fraction of those “name” schools, and you don’t have to uproot your entire life to move hundreds or even thousands of miles away. But you will have to work hard, be responsible, and take this seriously. You’ll work closely with the crew, learning, and gaining experience with people who are doing this for a living.

Just ask yourself what makes more sense.

Our Portland OR Film Industry Mentors Help you Build Real World Connections

Close to home or in your home?

Film Connection believes the best way to learn about the industry is to do it from the inside. Being on the set, operating the equipment, and having the face to face interactions with those on a shoot just can’t be replicated in a classroom. And we feel these opportunities should be accessible to as many people as possible. That’s why we have locations in more than 40 different states. Why move if you don’t have to?

But we also understand that getting to your hometown production studio can be a hardship. With job commitments, family priorities, and whatever else life can throw at us (2020 ring a bell?), even leaving the home on a consistent basis can be difficult. That’s why Film Connection has been offering remote learning for decades.

You’ll still have that one-on-one time with your mentor, it will just be over a strong internet connection. This also means you have access to all of our mentors (based on availability). We believe in increasing the availability of our programs, not limiting who can attend. And we believe our virtual learning allows anyone who wants to put in the work gets a seat at the table (upon acceptance).

Take advantage of your opportunities.

Much of making it in the film production industry is having the technical expertise but also the ability to learn new things and the versatility to take on different projects. Even when making your own movies, there will be times you’ll need to lean on the experience of others. The key is knowing who to talk to and, frankly, getting them to talk to you.

This could be the most valuable aspect of the Film Connection: We give you the opportunity to meet, greet, and work with the people who are already making a living in the industry. In many cases, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And we put you in a situation where you can meet someone that can help you reach your career goals in the industry.

The question is: How do you handle these opportunities? To put it bluntly: No one likes working with a flake. But do your work, be willing to take direction (so to speak), and show that you belong in this setting, this industry, and people will remember. At times this industry can be a very “closed community.” But show them what you can and you can find you’re welcomed with open arms.

Your Portland Film Connection mentor.

The ability to shift from small independent films to marketing to promotional work is how many filmmakers make their careers sustainable. With Film Connection, you’ll learn how to produce those pieces as part of a real-world production company in Portland. Our mentors have worked with Adidas, Columbia, Subaru, Intel, University of Oregon, WeWork, Getty Bros., The Nature Conservancy, and have taken the helm of a number of socially conscious dramas and action short films.

Not only will you gain the technical skills needed to make a living, but you will learn how to cultivate a client list and maintain those relationships. You’ll learn how to work with both actors and producers, lighting and sound, and set, costume, and other designers. The ability to take a screenplay and bring it to life takes patience, vision, and a certain amount of bravado. With us, you can train one-on-one with an experienced professional screenwriter via remote video conferencing or phone calls, so that you can take that film idea from concept all the way to “The End.”

These are the skills you’ll pick up with the Portland Film Connection mentors. Will you leave the program with a job as a director for a big-budget film? Probably not. But you’ll learn what it takes to become a director and how to get there, and you’ll learn how to be an editor or a member of the crew, and you’ll get some real-world experience in just a fraction of the time students spend in expensive film schools.