MPI's Blog

In the film business, there are a lot of tricks to the trade that help to move a story along. We all know that actors are the backbone to the storytelling process, but there are times when actors need to switch with a stunt double in order to...

Filmmaking is an art that takes training to master. You have to understand the tools and techniques that are deployed in the industry to make the script come to life on screen. This takes time and dedication because you have to find your creative...

When Letitia McIntosh walked into her first class at the Motion Picture Institute, we knew she had an eye for detail. She quickly learned that on film sets there are plenty of details that need to be taken care of....

  Finding your way around a film set is easy for people like Keith Arnold. He went to the Motion Picture Institute and worked on sets everyday as part of his classes. He also shot his own films and worked on the sets of his fellow...

Pandemic, social distancing, stay-at-home, quarantine!  These terms have become common in our lexicon and have forced everyone to adapt to a new, but hopefully temporary normal.  As a film school renowned for our hands on training, Motion...

There are a lot of people out there who have great movie ideas. You’ve probably only heard of a few though. To be successful, you need both the vision and the drive to see things through to completion. That’s where having the proper...

Feeling Fancy - An Oscar Night Celebration Event Recap   People are at their best when they feel included. What better way to feel included than to come together and celebrate an interest that we all have - films and filmmaking. There is...

Today in the film industry, there is no standard formula for success. Making it as an actor requires just as much savvy as it does actual talent. Some might even say talent comes secondary to savvy. Because of this, MPI is finding more and more...

MPI Asks... What Type Of Film Student Are You? For 22 years the Motion Picture Institute has been offering a cost and time-effective career path into the movie industry. For many, MPI offers a sensible alternative to costly four-year...

The filmmaking process has many moving parts, from writing the script to assembling the crew, casting for the acting roles, editing the scenes and getting the sound and music just right. Let’s be clear, this is not a quick process in the...

MPI Alumni, Heidi Philipsen (Class of 2007), launches the kick-off of her feature film, "LOVE & VODKA."   A team of native Michiganders and University of Michigan alumni have partnered with the Ann Arbor Distilling...

Golden Hour for Golden-Oldie Cars MPI Honors Dream Cruisers at  Berkley's CruiseFest - August 16, 2019  A one-hour parade of nearly 200 classics--edited into 29 minutes! What began in 1995 as a local...

  We are all visual storytellers and because we are living in a world that is becoming increasingly visual, movie making is no longer a thing reserved for, "artsy types.”   You're in a crowded public venue where...

Interview with MPI Student, Pascal Rehm MPI's Director of Enrollment, Kevin Walsh, sat down with soon-to-be graduate, Pascal Rehm, to get a glimpse into the Film Production Program.     Q:  Thanks for joining us,...

  For decades, technical and vocational schools have been falling out of favor, as more and more people opt for getting advanced degrees at four-year colleges. But recently, with the job market over-promising and underpaying, the trend has...

The Movie Business Is the Entrepreneur Business    The Movie Business is the Entrepreneur Business, and if you are a Filmmaker or Actor make no mistake: You are an Entrepreneur. What is an Entrepreneur? The definition of an...

Citizen Kane and Raging Bull are often regarded among the greatest motion pictures of all time. They were also completely snubbed by the Academy Awards for Best Picture.  For me, the Oscars took a major nose dive when they increased the...

Hey, Filmmaker! You Don’t Need Money. You Need An Idea You Can Afford There’s a saying that if you give someone a million dollars they’re suddenly a filmmaker, and the idea here is that filmmaking is an art form that...

Cost, proximity, job placement rate these are the types of things we and parents are conditioned to think about when looking for the right college (or post secondary school) for ourselves or our children. Yet overwhelming research indicates...

Few, if any, independent filmmakers embark on their first feature with any real idea of the scope of the endeavor they are about to undertake. If they did, most might reconsider… The 5-Year Cycle of Independent Feature...

As the trend for online schooling continues, and the "No Film School"ers hope to hit it big by avoiding formal schooling and educating themselves thru the Internet, the simple truth is that if you're on-line, you’re not on...

Good Experience vs. Bad Experience We've heard the saying before, that "all experience is good experience, even a bad experience." That saying suggests that we learn something even from time wasted. But, what if I told you...

Your pathway to success starts before film school. In fact choosing what film school to attend could be your career defining moment. Allow me to explain. A Four-Year Track Someone I know was fortunate enough to attend an ivy league college...

THE ONE AUDIO TOOL YOU CAN’T START YOUR FILM CAREER WITHOUT? Okay you need a full tool bag to get started in film making but one item you should use on your first film, last film and all the films in between is a 2 pop. If you...

You've heard it before. "Getting work in the film industry is all about networking. It's all about who you know." But, what exactly does that mean? How do you go about meeting the people who will help you get those desirable...

Is it cheaper to take the "no film school" route and teach yourself filmmaking? Or, would it be easier on your budget to find an affordable film school and spend the time learning in a structured environment?