RIT, SU and Ithaca College ranked among the top 25 American film schools

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – RIT, Syracuse University and Ithaca College have been ranked on ‘The Hollywood Reporter’s top film schools list’.

This is the first time RIT’s School of Film and Animation earned a spot on ‘The Hollywood Reporter’s top film schools list’.

The Hollywood reporter sited RIT’s emphasis on the intersection of Hollywood and STEM, touching on the university’s reputation for students who graduate with an immediate ‘tech-savvy’ impact.

“This prestigious recognition highlights RIT’s and the School of Film and Animation’s commitment to excellence in film education and its innovative approach to integrating technology and creativity. We are excited that the school is being recognized with this accolade from such a respected source in the entertainment world,” College of Art and Design Todd Jokl said.

Students in this program have access to technology, equipment, and different facilities that help them experiment, research, create, produce and publish multi-platform entertainment experiences.

SOFA’s motion picture program was also noted, which allows students to dive into imaging and color sciences within the industry.

Faculty and staff in SOFA also support student participation in the annual Coca-Cola Refreshing Films contest where a team of students won the contest in 2022, and another team visited the semi-finals out of 900 plus submissions.

RIT will be launching a new RIT LA academic initiative centered on the entertainment industry in the fall, allowing students from other programs to learn relevant skills in games, marketing, imaging science, color science, design and more.

Thanks to a large donation from alumni Dick Clark, Syracuse University is expanding its LA presence as well.

The university is finishing up new postproduction suites and has launched courses like Screenwriting with Gen AI in an effort to help students find ethical applications of AI when going through the creative process.

Ithaca College is the highest ranked among the three, sitting at 15 on the list.

Students at Ithaca can receive funds for off-campus opportunities such as trips to the Bentonville Film Festival and the Merced Queer Film Festival where they can receive honors for projects.

Ithaca also emphasizes independent production for digital and celluloid filmmaking and an LED stage allowing 3D visual effects.

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