This isn’t a boring San Francisco film school classroom. This isn’t an overcrowded college laboratory. This is life. Real Life. YOUR LIFE.

You live in San Francisco. You dream of becoming a director or filmmaker. You’re asking yourself what the best way to achieve your goal. To start, you’re in a great city to learn to become a film director. With the help of the San Francisco Film Connection Film Directing Program you can LEARN TO BECOME A DIRECTOR without ever leaving the Bay Area.

Here’s why: The secret to becoming a film director is to start directing. Therefore, it follows that the best place to learn to become a director is the place where you can do the most directing. Forget film theory, forget the rules of cinematography, forget traditional concepts of education, just find a way to start making films and learn how to tell a story in pictures.

Get Real World Film Production Experience in San Francisco

As a student, you will have access to this equipment and studios plus the mentoring expertise of Sean and find yourself directing your own films from virtually the get-go. Spoiler alert. Your first films are most likely going to suck. Don’t worry, that’s to be expected. And that’s where the San Francisco Film Connection Film Directing Program excels. Imagine being able to go over your first efforts, scene by scene, frame by frame with a true professional, like Sean McCarthy offering you suggestions, tricks of the trade, while he critiques your films on a one-on-one personal basis. Your learning curve to becoming a director has went supersonic. It’s not rocket science, the more films you direct, the better you will become at directing and the San Francisco Film Connection provides you with virtually unlimited access to all the gear, studio space and instruction you need to make as many movies as you can.

Meet Our Mentors

Adam Weber

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Daniel Lir

About This Mentor

Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

About This Mentor

Alejandra Huerta

About This Mentor

Daniela Larsen

About This Mentor

Don’t Spend More on your Film Education if You Don’t Have to

Homefield advantage: You already live in San Francisco. You know the city. You know some of its great locations. You know people in San Francisco who can become your cast and crew. You know what things cost in San Francisco. You presumably have a roof over your head in San Francisco. You might have a job or a thriving side-gig setup. Because you live in San Francisco, you can establish home town connections with local businesses to sponsor your films or become clients of your work.

So, isn’t the real question you should be asking yourself is, “How many films am I going to direct in the next six months if I attend film school to become a director?” It’s also the first question you should be asking of film schools you are thinking of attending. You’ll find their answers interesting. Because at the end of the day, degrees don’t matter when it comes to directing. What matters is your reel, and the more films you direct, the more content you will have for your reel. The San Francisco Film Connection will make sure you graduate with a great reel and awesome real-life Houston film connections.

Nearby locations

Hours: M-F 9:00AM - 6:00PM
Film Connection

555 California Street, Suite 4925
San Francisco, CA 94104

(415) 230-2810 GET STARTED
Film Connection

1700 Industrial Rd. Suite 231
San Carlos, CA 94070

408-790-1576 GET STARTED

Learn the skills you need to take your idea from paper to the big screen.

Real world film education by filmmakers for filmmakers, optimized for today!

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Success stories

Since he started his extern program with Uptone Pictures in Raleigh, NC, Grant Gilbert has been taking…

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Please take the time to read the experiences of one of our own, Korey Hehn of Pineville, OR…

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The Film Connection program provided me with an opportunity to "see it and believe it"!…

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