I had an opportunity earlier this week to present some information to the incoming class of graduate (and undergrad Television & Broadcast Journalism) students, and to share my experiences with them.

One of the true perks of going to film school is it’s your job to watch a lot of TV.

I spent Thursday evening with the incoming MFA students, watching some outstanding TV pilots (Nurse Jackie, Hung, and Modern Family) and talking about the exciting opportunities in TV – both at Dodge and in the professional world.

Our TV students should be especially excited for their prospects, because TV is where the majority of the jobs are!  Not only that, it’s where some of the very best creative work is being done as well.  And if you’re a writer – well, in TV the writer is the last word creatively, not the director.

At Dodge, students who take Professor Brown’s FTV 362/572 course each spring write a 30 minute pilot – either comedy or drama.  And two scripts are selected for production.  Over the past five years these pilots have consistently received significant festival recognition at prestigious festivals like the New York Television Festival and the ITV Festival.