Catalyst – Institute for Creative Arts and Technology
speciality: Art & Design

I was a student at Catalyst enrolled in the 3-year Bachelor Film Production program. Overall it was very much worth the experience for me. The principle behind the school is to learn by doing, and although it might depend on the person, for me it was the perfect way to learn everything I needed to learn. You pretty much learn mostly from just making films right away. The first year we made films every other week, the second year a film each semester, and the third year, one last big project, and this is besides all the film sets you might help on in other capacities or make on your own free time or weekends.
I loved that you were given a lot of freedom in your learning, as long as you are sticking to your deadlines, I was working on and learning how to make the films I wanted to make, the school projects and my own projects on the side, and working on so many other people’s films and film sets in every role one can think of. I don’t think I could have gotten the amount of experience in film I did elsewhere or in any other school or format in such a short time. It was really just being in that film and creative environment that is the biggest advantage.
It is also really nice that the teachers are all people who actually work in the industry too. The best classes also were when they invited people to do masterclasses. It helps a lot to be near people who are actively working in the industry you want to join. Teachers and staff are also all very open to feedback and interested in improving things, so I imagine the school will be even much different for students in the coming years then it was for me, they are always changing and evolving.
Overall it was a really good experience, I made countless friends and connections (one of the best parts of the experience), I have a varied portfolio of work now which I didn’t before, and know what it takes to put a film together now and what it will require. If you go you’d have to be prepared to put as much into it as it gives you. Be prepared to bring your own initiative in making films for example, networking, and collaborating with others. If you do you can get an enormous amount out of your time at the school. If you go just to attend classes you won’t really get much. It all just depends on how much you’re willing to put in or how passionate about it you are. But that is what I was personally looking for anyways, somewhere I can learn and work practically and develop for the next 3 years. Anything else you can learn online anyways and is sort of becoming obsolete I think for an institution. Film is an art form after all and you will only really learn it by practicing it, and here they give you all the equipment and resources to do that. One complaint I have actually is that the program should be 4 years instead of 3, just because of how fast it will go by, I could have used one more year probably.

This university is a great place for artists who wish to be find their own creative voice and create projects independently, while still feeling the realistic flow and pressure of client work out in the real world. The briefs and assignment frameworks and requirements given at Catalyst were just loose enough where I could express myself creatively while still having deadlines and specific demands that an actual client would give you. Now being a working creative I definitely feel like the briefs we were given and the timeframe provided for finishing each brief prepared me for how it would be in the real world. The highlight of this university was the networking opportunities – by being active in the Catalyst community and looking out for events I was able to fine one that Catalyst partnered with, get a volunteer spot there (the university recommended me to the organisers and I got the spot easily although there was a bit of competition for it), network with some people and land a job in my chosen industry immediately after graduating. But of course, its also due to my own efforts, it wouldn’t have happened if I sat around and waited for something to happen. That’s what Catalyst is like – the resources they provide are great but you have to be proactive and take as many chances as you can and it will pay off. I’m happy I chose Catalyst, without it I would not be making money off of my own art now!

It’s a playground – not a school. If you want good quality education – don’t come here for that.
For a community maybe. For practical experience. But the quality of education and management are pretty poor…

I signed up for a Bachelor Degree in Film first and then switched to 1 year program because I realised that it is not worth it.

The structure of the program is very intense and quite sporadic. And not in the good way. 90% of the people who come here have zero experience, which is normal of course. But the teachers barely teach you the basics and then just throw you into the production (with very stressful deadlines) to see if you can swim. Almost no good work comes out of the first year of course – first of all because they just want you to make your own mistakes to learn from them instead of giving you good education.
Second of all 90% of the students are rich kids that don’t want to work – they just want to “make art”. And the teachers indulge that.

But the film industry doesn’t work like that. Film is discipline, work, professional standards, vision.

I would say it’s a playground. Not a school.
Now about the lessons and teachers. The good thing is that they invite some really cool industry professionals to teach on a freelance basis. I enjoyed some classes a lot when an established director or scriptwriter led the lessons. On the other hand, majority of the contracted stuff seem underqualified or disengaged…

The cinematography taught in the first year is just shallow. I don’t think I learned anything from those classes. Later on, the same teacher gives us feedback and advice on our projects, and I’m sorry, but this is just not the person I want to hear feedback from. He imagines he’s an amazing mentor while making factual mistakes and not being able to get his thoughts straight. And then he gives us feedback on our final projects.

And our adviser is literally just not trained for this job, as she admitted herself. Why do they put a person without training in such an important position?

She made my year so stressful. First of all, when she’s supposed to guide and support us throughout our productions, she just reads the academic guidelines out loud. Where she’s supposed to help resolve a problem or conflict (which happens a lot in production), she just avoids it and sugarcoats everything until it blows up. She literally humiliated me at the screening of my first-ever short film. And you can’t do anything about it. You can’t go up the chain of command because everyone just says, “Talk to your adviser.”

So you’re just stuck.

There are two other advisers who are better, so if you’re going to this program, pray that you get lucky.

On the positive side – the community. Catalyst brings very different people together, and I’ve met some truly great people here.

It’s up to you in the end.