Type | educational charity |
---|---|
Established | 1956 |
Location | London, United Kingdom |
Campus | Covent Garden |
Affiliations | CILECT [Creative Skillset] [GEECT] [NAHEMI] |
Website | www.lfs.org.uk |
The London Film School (LFS) is a not-for-profit film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, close to a hub of the UK film industry based in Soho. The LFS was founded in 1956 by Gilmore Roberts as the London School of Film Technique in Brixton and later moved to Charlotte Street, becoming The London Film School under Principal Bob Dunbar. From 1971 to 2000 it was known as The London International Film School, and reverted to the name London Film School in 2001. It offers MA degrees in Filmmaking, Screenwriting and, in partnership with the University of Exeter, a unique MA in International Film Business and a PhD in Film by Practice, recruiting from all over the world. It also offers an expanding range of short and part-time professional development courses under the LFS Workshops banner. LFS is the only graduate-only film conservatoire specifically constituted as an international community; around 75% of its students are from outside the UK. The LFS is one of three UK Creative Skillset "Film Academy" Centres of Excellence.
The school's current director is Jane Roscoe and its current chairman is Oscar-nominated Mike Leigh O.B.E.
Filmmaking is taught on stages, and in workshops rather than in classrooms so the building functions like a studio. On the MA Filmmaking, students work on a minimum of ten films, at least two as director, with all costs included in fees. With around 130 full-time students at any one time on the MA Filmmaking course, it generates more than 170 films a year.
LFS is a living creative community and not a short-term "immersion experience" or a commercial training product. It is a very independent non-profit school run by passionate and experienced filmmakers with 18 full-time faculty and a varied and hugely talented group of visiting lecturers, technicians and artists. The LFS hosts a masterclass programme that reflects the school's status: Abbas Kiarostami, Hanif Kureshi, Franc Roddam, Dick Pope, Seamus McGarvey and Stephen Frears have all been visitors and lecturers. Such is the School’s global reputation that Al Gore chose to launch Current TV in Europe at the LFS.