The Sidney Poitier New American Film School in Los Angeles
Connect with and learn in the entertainment capital of the world
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School operates across three cities, including the ASU California Center in the newly renovated ASU Herald Examiner building in downtown Los Angeles, the Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in downtown Mesa, Arizona, and ASU's Tempe Campus. The Los Angeles space gives film students from every background an opportunity to connect with and learn in the entertainment capital of the world. LA-based faculty include the school's founding director and former President of the Motion Picture Academy Cheryl Boone Isaacs; primetime Emmy Award winner, showrunner and deputy director Peter Murrieta, and MacArthur Grant Fellows and founders of the Borderlands Cinema Lab Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra.
Earn your undergraduate film degree in LA
The Poitier Film School offers its BA in Film with a concentration in filmmaking practices and its BFA in Film and Media Production in Los Angeles.
Qualified transfer students also have the chance to study in LA. Transfer to the filmmaking practices program in LA from a community college:
Immerse yourself in emerging storytelling as a graduate student
The ASU California Center Broadway in LA is home to the MA in Narrative and Emerging Media, a joint degree between the Herberger Institute and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Arizona-based students have the chance to spend a semester in LA
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School's Semester in Los Angeles program includes an internship with a film industry company (FMP 484) as well as networking events, screenings and site visits including Panavision, Universal Studios and the Academy Museum. This is a chance to take LA exclusive in-person courses at the ASU California Center at the historic Herald Examiner Building while staying on your path to graduation.
Hispanic-serving institution
The Poitier Film School study body includes about 20% hispanic students. Arizona State University is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution.
Meet our faculty
Director
Deputy director
Expert faculty
Powered by industry connections and experiences
The Poitier Film School has established relationships with Los Angeles-based companies that are eager for ASU students to fill their internship positions. Our students have worked with companies such as 3 Arts, Josephson Entertainment, Resonate Entertainment, Mar Vista Entertainment, NALIP, Amasia Entertainment, Rain Management, Roddenberry Entertainment, Painless Productions, The Hideaway Ent. and Avenida Studios.
