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

Save your film school money and use it to make your dreams come true instead! The Film Connection Film School in Wilmington, North Carolina is your film school alternative that gives you way more than a diploma. Our graduates end up with real-world experience and industry contacts. During the six-month duration of our behind-the-scenes program, you will regularly meet with your mentors at their production houses or studios in order to cultivate some real-world experience that will put you way ahead of any other students that went to overpriced traditional film school. Our more comprehensive 8-month directors program provides local mentors and a dream mentor in Los Angeles. During the last week of this program, students fly out to L.A. to pitch their program to industry executives. It’s more than traditional film schools provide for a lot less money!

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

Wilmington, North Carolina is located along North Carolina’s southernmost coast, with a population of over 100,000 people, and anchoring a greater metro area of over 350,000. For a city of its size, Wilmington sees a remarkable amount of film and television production activity and is perhaps best known as the filming location for the popular television series Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill. With miles of great coastline, riverfront locations, and easy access to other major cities, the Wilmington area presents a great spot for learning filmmaking. If you are aspiring to a career in film but would rather avoid the craziness of hotspots like New York or Los Angeles, you’ll find plenty of opportunities here in Wilmington to learn film directing, film producing, film editing, and other industry professions.

Meet Our Mentors

Adam Weber

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Daniel Lir

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Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

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Alejandra Huerta

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Daniela Larsen

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Get Real World Film Production Experience in Wilmington

Besides the two popular television series mentioned above, Wilmington has hosted film shoots for numerous major motion pictures, both on a lot of Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, and in various locations around town. Just a few of the films on the list: The Crow, 28 Days, Super Mario Bros., Empire Records, Weekend at Bernie’s, Blue Velvet, and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Our Wilmington Film Industry Mentors Help you Build Real World Connections

With all the film and television production activity taking place here, Wilmington, North Carolina serves as a great connection point for filmmaking pros and film students–and connection is at the heart of FILM CONNECTION’s philosophy. We utilize the mentor-extern approach, pairing you with a working professional who gives you one-on-one training on real film and video shoots. Along the way, you’ll make lots of industry connections that can lead to permanent employment. Come find out why many of our students get hired, some even before they graduate. Let us show you what Wilmington FILM CONNECTION can do to jumpstart your career!

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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