I’m always asked what the top filmmaking courses online I’d recommend to filmmakers. As Jack Nicolson says:
“If you don’t keep learning, you die.”
I am a HUGE consumer of online courses of all types. I’m a visual learner and online courses help me keep my skills sharp. Below I’ve put together a list of some of the best Filmmaking Courses Online I’ve personally taken and recommend. Some I even teach = ) Keep on hustlin’ and learning.
Light and Face: The Art of Cinematography
This workshop will walk you through how to light the most important and emotional subject you could put in front of your lens, the enigmatic face on a low budget. This workshop is unique in that it will literally guide you through the entire process of making your film. Taught by award-winning cinematographer Suki Medencevic A.S.C.
Suki has been lighting Hollywood films and television for over 25 years. Some of his work includes American Horror Story, Stuck in the Middle, and several high profile documentaries for Pixar, ILM, andDisney+ including The History of Imagineering for Disney Studios. Suki has taught around the world to sold-out crowds as well at USC Film School and New York Film Academy. He is also a member of the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers.
Some of the things you’ll learn from this course:
- Single Source Lighting
- Single Light Bulb
- LED Lighting / Fresnel Light
- Small Paper Lantern
- Ring Light / Kino Flo
- Flashlight / iPad
- Christmas Light
- Open Face Source + Umbrella
- Diffusing the Light
- Hampshire / Opal
- 251, 250, 216, 129 Diffusion
- Chimera Diffusion
- 1K Chimera
- Color Temperature Breakdowns
- Three-Point Lighting
- Film Noir Look
- Romantic Comedy
- Glamour Lighting
- Horror Look
- Fantasy Look
- Old Hollywood Look
- Warm Period Look
- BONUS: Detail Diagrams of Each Lighting Setup
The Complete Film Distribution Blueprint
Taught by Indie Film Hustle Founder Alex Ferrari, this course is an insider’s look at how the film distribution side of the business works. It will teach you how to avoid predatory film distributors and aggregators, what to look for in distribution agreements, VOD myths, film deliverables, working with sales agents, and much more. Don’t become a statistic. Educate yourself and thrive.
- What is Film Distribution?
- Producers Rep and Sales Agents
- Film Markets
- Video-On-Demand Ecosystem
- DVD, Blu-Rays, and Physical Media
- Television Syndication
- Selling to Airlines Hotels and Cruise Lines
- Educational Rights
- Theatrical Distribution & Deliverables
- Film Distribution Agreements and Pitfalls to Avoid
- Film Deliverables (Physical Masters)
- Film Deliverables (Paperwork)
- Film Deliverables (Marketing)
- Marketing Your Film
- Film Aggregators
- How to Secretly Track International Sales of Your Film
- Keeping Your Film Distributor Honest
- Latest COVID-19 Film Distribution Updates
- Plus Hours of Bonus Interviews
Learn how to protect yourself from predatory film distributors and sales agents. Don’t become a statistic.
The Complete Indie Film Producing Workshop
Award-winning film producer Suzanne Lyons is about to take you from script to screen and beyond in this Mastermind workshop. After producing a number of bigger budget features Suzanne thought producing the SAG ultra-low and modified budget films would be a piece of cake. Boy, was she wrong? Wearing 100 different hats was a challenge and she learned so much. And now she will be sharing all that great info with you. This workshop is unique in that it will literally guide you through the entire process of making your film.
Included in this course:
- Learn How to Sell Yourself
- The Script: Option and Development
- Creating a Business Plan
- Setting Up Your Company and Opening a Bank Account
- Sales Presentations and Finding Investors
- Soft Prep
- The Casting Process
- Pre-Production
- Principle Photography
- Post Production and Deliverables
- Delivery and Sales Agents
- BONUS PACK: Paperwork, Contracts, and Examples (Word & PDF Versions)
Screenwriting Masterclass: How to Write Great Characters with James V. Hart
Drawing on three decades as a major film industry screenwriter and 20 years leading seminars and workshops around the world, a HartChart masterclass provides an immersion in HartChart visual story mapping tool directly with J.V. Hart, as you learn to get your script production and market ready.
Writing can be a solitary experience. And knowing what you’re supposed to do is sometimes not enough. Being able to ask questions, exchange ideas and work directly with J.V. Hart in a roomful of writers facing the same issues we all do can be the catalyst to taking your writing to the next level.
As the course unfolds, you will discover how to get to the heart of your story and visually map the rise and fall of your character’s emotional journey toward a satisfying ending, every time.
- 8 Magic Questions you must answer before you begin
- Identifying tangible signposts to create definitive narrative structure
- Why a character-driven story is key to successful scripts
- Understanding the all-important role of the audience in your writing process
- Functional use of the HartChart to visualize every story you will ever write
- Ability to identify major themes when charting your character’s journey
- How and why a story moves an audience
The Indie Film Funding Formula
In this Webinar you’re get the information, tools and strategies you’ll need to enroll investors into investing in your projects.
Also, included will be:
- A detailed outline on how to prepare your sales presentation
- Bonus pack of forms
- Suzanne’s business plan she used to raise millions in film funding
- Sale presentation templates and more
Hollywood Filmmaking & Television Directing Masterclass
Veteran film and television director Gil Bettman teaches you how to enhance the drama in a scene, heighten the action by using different lenses and how to move the camera in your next film and video production. The key here is that camera movement must be invisible. It should serve the story without calling attention to itself.
Next, learn How To Move the Camera most effectively by systematically fulfilling Five Tasks when designing each moving master shot. Finally, learn how a master of visual design like Zemeckis customizes his application of these Five Tasks to the unique demands of each scene.
How to Build a Screenwriting Career in Hollywood with Gary W. Goldstein
An intensive, immersive, and intimate program designed to help you make real progress and create meaningful success, so you can finally share your stories and talent with the world.
Through practical, self-paced training, and Gary’s real, raw and hands-on bonus coaching, you’ll finally be able to transform your talent into a real career that supports and sustains your lifestyle.
It’s time to stop waiting for permission. Take hold of your own creative career with laser-like precision, and become part of the ‘lucky’ few who enjoy the rewards of a successful screenwriting career.
- Develop your own personalized action-plan to break into Hollywood, gain access, and finally have your work acknowledged.
- Level-up your inner circle to create meaningful relationships and build a supportive network of people who can make a difference in your life and career.
- Get noticed by Hollywood’s most influential people from anywhere in the world (even if you’re not based in LA).
- Craft the winning pitch to make your scripts absolutely irresistible, increase your success rate and get your screenplays read.
- Avoid wasting time sending out dozens of ineffective blind query letters. Learn how to get the right person’s attention easier, quicker and more effectively so you can accelerate your career much faster.
- Develop a unique creative signature to give your work an edge against your competition in an authentic and lasting way.
And most importantly, you’ll gain the self-belief and confidence you need to stop playing it safe, and turn your dream into a reality!
The Dialogue: Learn from the Masters
The Dialogue is a groundbreaking interview series that goes behind the scenes of the fascinating craft of screenwriting. In these 70-90 minute in-depth discussions (over 37 hours in all), more than two-dozen of today’s most successful screenwriters share their work habits, methods, and inspirations, secrets of the trade, business advice, and eye-opening stories from life in the trenches of the film industry. Each screenwriter discusses his or her filmography in great detail and breaks down the mechanics of one favorite scene from their produced work.
How to Pitch Your Film Projects to Studios, Investors & Producers
Whether you’re pitching yourself or your projects, if that’s how you perceive pitching, how can you possibly relax, have fun, feel comfortable, powerful and confident while you’re pitching.
Pitching should be easy, fun and natural. And in my webinar, the Formula for the Perfect Pitch, I’ll give you a whole new way to look at pitching… a completely different spin on it.
Pitching is simply ‘a conversation that enrolls someone into your vision is such a way that they want to come play with you’. So join me for my webinar as I go through the stages of how to perfect your pitch and have fun at the same time.
BONUS: Storytelling Blueprint: The Hero’s Two Journeys
Experience two of Hollywood’s most sought-after story experts, authors, and lecturers with Screenwriting and Story Secrets: The Hero’s Two Journeys. If you’re a screenwriter, novelist, filmmaker, game developer, or storyteller in any arena, this course will empower you to captivate your readers and audiences to achieve both artistic AND commercial success. Modeling what works is the philosophy at the heart of this course. Taught by Michael Hauge and Chris Vogler.
