In the five years since veteran movie producer Susan Ruskin was appointed as dean of L.A.’s American Film Institute Conservatory, she’s had a close-up view of the issues facing the industry today—among them, changing distribution models, multiple strikes, and growing fears surrounding the rise of artificial intelligence.
According to her, the skills students learn at the AFI Conservatory—and other programs like it—can help them withstand these challenges, as well as those to come. “Film education provides people with expertise well above whatever is happening in the day-to-day of the industry,” Ruskin says. Here, she discusses why learning the language of filmmaking is more vital than ever.
What changes do you see for cinema curriculums in the near future, and how is AFI preparing?
At AFI, the core abilities—and having a clear understanding of your voice and who you are as a filmmaker—in our six disciplines are still going to be taught in the traditional way. But the tools that we use will obviously evolve and change over time, as they have significantly over the five-plus decades that AFI has existed.
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Right now, my focus is on a new [initiative] called Innovative Programs. The idea is to [study] non-degree, short-term, bite-size pieces of emerging technologies from the point of view of storytelling [rather than] technology. If a cinematographer wants to brush up on virtual production and understand where it’s going in this era—not just the era of game engines, but also the era of AI—we will provide a course for them from a storytelling point of view.
What filmmaking styles and techniques are prominent right now?
Having gone through the whole period of: Oh, my goodness, VR is going to take over everything, or: Everything’s going to be done with motion capture, I’m a total optimist. We are in a third wave of innovation that is so brand new that none of us knows exactly how it’s going to take hold.
This is the first time that it feels serious to people, because they see the potential both for good and bad. Holding onto your digital footprint and your intellectual property is one of the most important things we can teach filmmakers. Understanding why that matters today is as relevant as understanding how to break down a scene or create a schedule.
We all want to be in the business so badly. We want to make that movie that, when somebody offers us a check, without thinking, we just give them the underlying rights. I’m telling my students and mentors who are now making their first movies that you only have power before you sign over those rights. Get the deal you want before you do that. Don’t settle just because you’re desperate and somebody’s offering you a few pennies; make sure you have a way of maintaining your IP.
Are there any filmmakers whose work you’ve found particularly compelling lately?
RaMell Ross, who just made “Nickel Boys.” It was tough to watch because it demands something of you. You’ve got to commit to this film; you have to allow yourself to be taken on the journey that he wants to take you on. What he’s doing is testing the boundaries of point of view. It’s exciting to see somebody not just fitting into: “OK, this is what everybody does. I’m going to break it down the same way.” I think he looked at the film as a photographer and a historian through a very intimate lens.
What should prospective students have in mind before applying to AFI?
Our curriculum works. It’s tough to get in because we don’t take as many people as a big university does. We take 144 people every year in six disciplines—24 people in each. If you [initially] want to be a director but then you end up wanting to go into producing or cinematography while you’re here, that’s not a bad idea. What we offer is a relationship between all these disciplines and a community that gets built.
We have a lot of successful alumni, and [our program] is fairly well-known as a good pathway to success. But you’ve got to commit to being a part of that community. We have fellows from all over the world; that’s important, because opportunities are no longer just in Los Angeles. And the ability to communicate with people who are different from you—and therefore, to listen to them—is a skill that every storyteller should have. AFI provides that in a culturally diverse environment where people work together.
How does AFI’s filmmaking program educate creators about working with performers?
In looking in our vaults at some of the actors who have gone through AFI’s thesis shorts and cycle films, I think we have been a training ground for a lot of people. We work with SAG-AFTRA quite closely, and we really are teaching our filmmaking students to understand how to work with union actors and what they’ll get out of that process. SAG also has a training program, so we often work with those actors.
We have a casting director on staff who’s here to help students learn how to work with actors. We help people pull their reels together; we give them [the chance to] practice. And [acting students] are very instrumental to our program, [especially] in screenwriting classes where we do table reads and in directing workshops where we do all kinds of scenes and blocking. Our relationship with actors is as key as our relationship with all the other disciplines [that are taught here].
AFI still teaches students how to shoot on film stock. What are the advantages of learning to work in this medium?
Understanding discipline. It’s not about whether it must be on film; it’s about the discipline of being on a set and having to yell, “Cut!” and not, “Back to one, and I’ll figure it out in post.” [Shooting on film] is a great way to teach people to be more thoughtful about what they are doing and to be more restrictive on themselves. It’s a constraint, and that’s what you’re going to deal with for the rest of your life, no matter how big the budget is. [By working within] constraints, you end up having to be more creative, resourceful, innovative, and a better filmmaker.
This story originally appeared in the Oct. 31 issue of Backstage Magazine.
