In this week’s deep dive, our series that figures out why some colleges have a reputation for excellence in particular majors so you don’t have to, we’re sleuthing around the University of Southern California’s film program — otherwise known by its more sophisticated title, USC Cinematic Arts. While USC already has a very selective acceptance rate of just 10% overall, remember that you have to apply to a specific program to gain admission to USC — and, though USC doesn’t publish the exact numbers for each school, rumors over the last decade have consistently maintained that the USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) has an acceptance rate of just 3% for first-year undergraduates. And that, of course, begs the question: what the heck is going on here?
The History of Film Studies at USC
Well, if our use of the word “sleuthing” earlier gave the impression that there would be a long and drawn-out investigation, just go ahead and call us some Nancy Drew posers. Unfortunately, we don’t have any red herrings or plot twists here. USC’s School of Cinematic Arts has risen to prominence among undergraduate film programs through a pretty straightforward journey: establishing their department early, using its hometown advantage in the City of Angels to attract illustrious faculty and future talent, and providing top-dollar resources that are otherwise inaccessible to anyone not already working in the industry.
As relayed on SCA’s history page, “USC became the first university in the country to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in film” when it launched in 1929. Since then, SCA has blossomed into a robust academic department, claiming to be “the only media school in the world that teaches all the major disciplines of the Cinematic Arts” as it prepares its students for every facet of the industry. It offers seven disciplines: the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts; the Division of Cinema and Media Studies; Film and Television Production; Interactive Media and Games; Peter Stark Producing Program; the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television; and Media Arts and Practice.
As you can see, USC is the end-all-be-all for so many future filmmakers because it has a uniquely comprehensive curriculum, but it also has archives that other schools just can’t touch. In 1977, Warner Communications (yes, “Warner” as in “Bros.”) donated their archives to USC, gifting “the largest and possibly the richest single studio collection of paper documents in the world.” The entertainment industry is notorious for its opacity; from the outside, it’s hard to know how directors, producers, showrunners, agents, managers, studio heads, and developers work with (or against) each other. How does a project go from a writer’s brainstorming session to a fully realized blockbuster on the big screen? Most aspiring young professionals can’t learn the industry ins and outs unless someone powerful gives them the time of day or they spend years working their way up from the mailroom. And that’s what makes resources like these invaluable; information is a leg up.
The USC Warner Bros. Archive is “the only collection to bring production, distribution and exhibition records together to document the activities of a vertically integrated studio,” and they’re a singular historical reference evidencing how some of the most famous movies ever made (like The Jazz Singer, Casablanca, and Rebel Without a Cause) came to life “from story acquisition through theatrical release, including daily contributions of actors, directors, producers, and writers.”
The State of Cinematic Arts at USC Today
Probably unsurprisingly, we can report that SCA is as impressive as ever! USC once again got the coveted top spot in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2024 “Best Film Schools in the U.S.” list, and not just because their insanely populated “notable alumni” directory is a veritable who’s-who across careers in entertainment, but because they have continued to stay on the cutting edge by investing in state-of-the-art facilities and burgeoning technology.
What features like these come back to time and time again is just how much USC puts its money where its mouth is so that students get the training and equipment to become the auteurs of tomorrow. On the campus level, that looks like “additions at the Robert Zemeckis Center, including a new LED wall and virtual environment lighting, have led to a massive overhauled curriculum that allows students to take advantage of the space.” On the curricular level, that looks like “a new $5 million endowment to create the John H. Mitchell Program in Episodic Television [which] will offer courses on docuseries and single-camera comedies.”
And, ok, credit where credit is due… THR did a pretty good job hitting the highlights for this one, underscoring three alumni who have had sensational success recently (Ryan Coogler, Shonda Rhimes, and Hiro Murai). Coogler, of course, is responsible for producing, writing, and directing Sinners, and therefore also accountable for taking over the internet for this spring; we can thank Shonda Rhimes for everything from Grey’s Anatomy to the Bridgerton cinematic universe and Never Have I Ever; and Hiro Murai has had a hand in almost everything that’s made waves in the last decade — he directed Childish Gambino’s viral “This is America” music video and many episodes of Atlanta, and most recently he’s been an executive producer on TV’s beloved and secondhand-stressful series “The Bear.”
Need we say more? No, and we’re not going to. We’ve got a few movies to get to… popcorn, anyone?
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