Your first step into the film industry
Advancing Sidney Poitier’s legacy of inclusive excellence
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School, part of Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, is a dynamic hub for aspiring filmmakers and storytellers. One school operating across three locations – Tempe, Arizona; Mesa, Arizona; and Los Angeles, California – The Poitier Film School upholds the legacy of its storied namesake in its commitment to inclusive excellence. Like Walter Cronkite and Sandra Day O’Connor, luminaries within their disciplines for whom ASU’s School of Journalism and College of Law are named respectively, Sidney Poitier is a national hero and international icon. His talents and character have defined ethical, inclusive and powerful work in filmmaking. This is also a full-circle moment. Poitier is the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his role in the 1963 film “Lilies of the Field,” which was set and shot in Arizona – as was “Stir Crazy,” the blockbuster comedy with which Poitier became the first Black director to helm a film that grossed over $100 million. We are honing a new generation of strivers and doers, students who will use their voice and vision to tell important stories and break down institutional and societal barriers – just like Sidney Poitier.
“…the tools for meeting life head-on, as I see it, are acquired knowledge, belief, and hope.” - Sidney Poitier
One school, two states, three cities
The Poitier Film School operates across two states and three cities: The ASU main Tempe campus in Arizona, the state-of-the-art ASU Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in downtown Mesa, Arizona, and the ASU California Center in downtown Los Angeles.
A new kind of film school
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School at ASU operates in locations across three cities, including a 118,000-gross-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in downtown Mesa, Arizona, located 7 miles from the university’s Tempe Campus. The Poitier Film School also operates at the ASU California Center Broadway and Grand buildings in downtown Los Angeles, at the heart of the entertainment industry. With more than 1,000 undergraduate film majors, more than 40% of whom come from under-represented backgrounds, The Poitier Film School upholds the legacy of its storied namesake in its commitment to inclusive excellence.
A new kind of film school
In the last 15 years, the film program in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts has thrived, and with the launch of the new school and new facilities in 2020, ASU debuted a new kind of film school. Unlike many other top film schools, which measure themselves by who they exclude, The Sidney Poitier New American Film School is inclusive. ASU's 750 undergraduate film majors represent the creative diversity of our country, with more than 40 percent of its students from under-represented backgrounds. The Sidney Poitier New American Film School operates across three cities, including a brand-new 118,000-gross-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in downtown Mesa, Arizona, 7 miles from the university’s Tempe Campus. In addition to Mesa and the ASU Tempe campus, the film school also operates at the ASU California Center in the newly renovated ASU Herald Examiner building in downtown Los Angeles, the former home of the Hearst publishing empire. The Los Angeles space gives film students from every background an opportunity to connect with and learn in the entertainment capital of the world. Students also have opportunities to use Hollywood technology through partnerships, including with the John Hughes Institute and with Dreamscape Immersive, the world’s leading virtual reality company.
Discover why The Sidney Poitier New American Film School is right for you.
And you’ll find a cutting-edge film school dedicated to training the next generation of cinematic storytellers, digital media artists and innovators of the imagination.
Your passion. Your vision. Your future. In your hands.
Through hands-on learning experiences and instruction from industry experts and mid-career professionals, our program helps you develop the skills necessary to define your career and magnify your unique creative voice.
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