(not affliated with)

NYFA didn't defend our country...

2011-11-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

From our comments section:

Before I start my complaint, I would like to qualify this by saying that I am a United States Military Veteran. My life experience as well as my respect has been disrespected more than once at this institution.

First lets start with the Admin Department, particularly the Financial Aid portion. Not only do they NOT have the proper staff to handle the processing and distribution of Financial Aid (There's only one financial aid office and it's in NY, i'm in LA), they are at least a semester behind in paperwork. The ONE person Brian Kaplow that works in the FA Office screens calls and DOES NOT return calls promptly, if at all. I've seen students receive threatening emails from the Bursars office because of their Financial Aid not being taken care of when in all actuality, the students are waiting on the one person who controls all the proper paperwork for financial aid in the first place. I'm STILL waiting the overage of my invoice to be paid to me and they take forever when they owe you.

Second, let's talk about the Bursars Office Staff. These women has the shittiest attitudes i've ever seen in any administrative profession. If you have a question and walk into their office, they give you the "Look of death" as if you're not suppose to bother them with questions that they are suppose to be qualified to answer. One of them barely knows how to print an invoice correctly and i'm still to this day waiting on it.

Third, I was once told by a staff person (I believe her name was Janice) that this is how the real world is going to be (Referring to their unorganized schedule and problems we were having with the staff). I defended this country for 6 years plus and was personally insulted by that ignorant remark. How fucking dare you! How about you put on a military uniform and go into the field for a while and come back with a different prospective on how the "Real World" works, because over half of that staff in there is under qualified to even utter those words.

Fourth, NYFA is trying to damn hard to be "different." They have made the class schedules literally unbelievable. We have one class for 2hrs and 45mins. Why? Not even Universities (Who's accreditation is higher than yours) does that. Not only that, you only get a 15 minute break in between those classes. Some days you are literally there from 9 in the morning until 9 at night. For what? You can only consume so much within one freaking day. That's not the worse part though. They will then have you scheduled to come right back to class the very next morning which basically leaves you not time to rest, barely enough time for homework, etc. I'm aware that the program is suppose to be "Intense" however, there's a fine line between "Intense" and Overkill. You are not allowing your students the proper rest needed to process all that is learned, rest of the body, or proper exercise and proper eating.

Last but not least, I will PERSONALLY be writing the Veterans Administration Office for a review of this school to get our support pulled from this Academy, NYFA, you are NOT worthy to teach my fellow veterans nor their dependents if you don't even have the basic administration organized and running smoothly first. You are below standards and trust me, this is coming from someone who's been in the Administrative field for 10 years plus! Why should the military continue pumping money into your hell hole when you can't even supply the basic customer service to your students? Why is it the tuition is so high in cost but you lack a sizable computer lab for ALL the students? Their is literally only 5 computers on one floor and you expect the 100+ students to wait around to use them and print on the one halfway working copier/printer you have the to make us use? This school in my opinion is extremely below par and NOT worth what they are charging ($13,000+ per semester, per student) You do the math. Next stop, the Better Business Bureau, and any other outlet I can contact to get you audited, reviewed, and or corrected.

Lawyer Needed

2011-11-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

Photo by nyghtowl.

New York Film Academy sexual harassment lawsuit. Please email us with credentials for details.

Tweet of the Week!

2011-08-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Have something to say about NYFA? Use #NYFAsucks or @NYFAsucks and see it featured here!

Nodilo on Notice

2011-08-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Anonymous said...

Just to let all of you know, John Nodillo was one of the biggest DOUCHE BAGS that most of us have ever met.

I have seriously never met a single person who worked with him who didn't share that sentiment. He was so FULL OF SHIT that it literally came out of his ears.

Pretty much everything the dude said was a lie. so I guess, good for him.

And then he conned this douche NFL player into working for him. The two of them shall be very happy pretending to one day make it "big" in the industry.

Nodillo I suppose, has the bullshit ability to make it in the industry... but anyone who knew him, knows that he has absolutely NO talent to make it.

(Photo by Sister72 on Flickr.)

NYFA "is like working at MacDonalds"

2011-08-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys. I haven't checked this board in many months. Check out this new review about NYFA L.A.:

Joe S.

Hot damn. 4 weeks of complete utter shit. I feel deep sincere apologies for those that have signed up for the adult programs and wasted years of their life at this "business". See what I did there? I didn't say school.

This place is like working at MacDonalds, except you have to pay them thousands and thousands of dollars to attend.

Are you an aspiring filmmaker that is planning to graduate and break into the industry? Good luck. Chances are, at auditions and idea pitches, when you say that you graduated from solely NYFA, they'll spit in your face and promptly drop kick you out the nearest exit.

It's like going into the military, and saying "Hey guys, I am very experienced and trained at this, chill!. I've played Call of Duty for 2 years before, so respect me!"

Thanks for the heads up, Michael! Glad to see you visiting again. (Banner photo by Hryck, from Flickr Creative Commons.)

2011-08-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Keep messaging @nyfasucks on Twitter and leaving comments here. We'll be back soon and better than ever!

Remember John Nodilo?

2011-07-15T10:53:00.000-07:00


goodeveningnewyorkcity said...: If a school offered a an MFA program that provided no educational gain for a 12-month program, what would make me believe adding another year of this mayhem would be even better? Is it that the man in charge of the Master's Program in LA was the only man in the office with a Master's degree and due to rules governing the certifications of the school, had to be promoted. Taking a program at NYFA may lead to a career as a NYFA employee. All it takes is letting the right person know how much you need to pay your rent and they may have you working in what they call the equipment department or filing papers in the office in no time. After a few months working in the equipment department and making your coworkers look incompetent and showing the man in charge you know how to bullshit enough he may decide to promote you to being the man that PRETENDS to DECIDE whether or not you can attend the MFA program. Wow!! Sounds promising! For the bargain price of a rip off I too can not only be an unemployed ex NYFA student, but with enough bullshit can go from that to getting my hands dirty in the equipment department to being the Director of the acclaimed Masters of Fine Arts program at this exclusive institution. Sounds like just the school I want to go to. SIGN ME UP.; February 17, 2010 3:05 PM
Anonymous said...: Funny thing, that guy with the Masters degree deciding who could study the MFA didn't even have an AFA. True story. He lied. Therefore, he was not qualified to make those decisions or represent the school in that fashion. Hundreds of students were 'judged' by him.
Think anybody who allows the school to a license to operate would be interested in that information?; July 14, 2011 5:38 PM

New Yelp Review

2011-07-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Valentino T. rated NYFA LA 2 out of 5 stars on Yelp. Here's his review:

It is good for short-term workshop, but useless for long term programs especially if u looking for to get MFA credits, just a couple of Colleges in New York accept credit from N.Y.F.A u can have a better education if u go to community colleges all around the country.

NYFA NY: Wanna be a blogger?

2011-07-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

Send us an email.

An Open Letter to (Who Else?) Jean Sherlock

2011-06-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Jean Sherlock, you should really look into who you have working for your school... but also your dad should fire YOU!!! You act so annoyed when a student approaches your desk, I thought that is why you sit in the open or at least that is what you told us our first day of school.

Sarah at the front desk, is Facebook and online shopping the best way to spend your day?

NYFA maybe you can not charge the students so much if you did not pay people to just sit and give attitude to everyone who asks simple things...

When we ask for help, the answer from Sarah is a shrug as she huffs and puffs that she has to get off her ASS to do her job. Unless she is the only one at the desk I avoid her because she is SO negative and unhelpful!!!! She is so useless and should be fired and never work in customer service again....

Generally the front desk in the red building is helpful. same goes to most of the office staff.

the equipment room employees have shitty attitude..... I thought we were in school to learn not to get attitude when we ask questions.

The post employees have been really really helpful and am glad that at least one department has it together...

Most of the teachers are really good at teaching but I have heard the owners do not support them....

As a film student I like hearing how to get started from the guest speakers but it would be cooler if they had better moderators i mean who is that lady who keeps talking about herself each time, we get it! Just let the guests own the stage for one minute.... and that other guy, he is better but almost as bad!

I am thinking about changing schools even though I was told from a girl in admissions nothing will transfer, since it is not a REAL school....

I HOPE THIS HELPS ANY PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT GOING TO NYFA IN THE FUTURE, SAVE YOUR MONEY OR GO SOME WHERE ELSE!!!!!

Title IV and Back Pay

2011-06-08T10:53:00.001-07:00

The owners promised to refund the money they did not pay faculty when Title IV was earned. NYFA received Title IV, and paid the faculty one installment. Now they are saying once accreditation is earned? Meanwhile - they are earning interest on your money.

Send your information about illegal practice at NYFA to the NYC Attorney General. They are finally investigating fraudulent schools:

New York Attorney General Investigating Donald Trump’s School

Seth Abramovitch — Moss-covered property troll Donald Trump may have sacrificed a presidential bid in order to better serve the Celebrity Apprentice-watching people, but that doesn't mean he'll stop giving of himself. The man just gives and gives! Wait, did I say gives? I meant "takes"—as in $35,000 per course at his institute of higher earning, Trump U.

The New York Times reports the state attorney general's office is investigating whether this constitutes illegal business practices.

Foreigners Beware?

2011-05-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

NYFA's global predatory practices are well-documented (Mackler's trips to Russia, China outreach), but this commenter bought into NYFA's lie via their decor:

when i first come to NYFA i was amazed with all the posters in the wall who were signature by celebrity , maybe because i'm a foreign i get fooled all the time and they think it's easy too fooled foreigners because they are american who ruled movie industry.

Time past by and i finally find out when i was go to comic con,i just found out the film posters thats been signature by celebrity in all NYFA class actually not dedicated to them and we can buy it from agency or we can buy it in the comic convention ,and can buy it online , just wanna say to NYFA happy marketing!

Photo by JuditK

Help an Aussie Out!

2011-05-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I am an Aussie student studying in my 1st year at university doing Film.
NYFA is setting up a campus in the city I live in, and they have wowed and surprised us all with their promises and dreams. As an extremely ambitious film student, I was taken with them and am considering doing a short course in NYC or LA from dec-feb and then commencing a year long filmmaking course with NYFA on campus in Austrailia. However, I stumbled upon this blog and was shocked. NYFA sounds like a massive joke. I'm quite upset about this, as i've gone through much already to be able to even consider studying with them a possiblity.

So please give me a little guidence, or at least your thoughts on NYFA in terms of my situation

Much appreciated,
Jennifer

You're welcome.

2011-05-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

We feel it necessary to tell you...
THANK YOU.
Thank god that you started this blog. I feel better knowing that IT'S NOT ONLY ME. And I fucking love you for it.
We are so stoned and love you very very very very very very very very very much. Keep kicking ass and taking names.

Forever your fans,
[K & R]

With so much love.

Abu Dhabi Don't!

2011-04-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks for dropping us a line! We would love to hear more from NYFA's Abu Dhabi campus!

NYFA Abu Dhabi was started as a 'project' of the Abu Dhabi Center for Culture and Heritage about 3 years ago , it has been operating for the past 3 years as an un-licenced business withing the United Arab Emirates(as far as I am aware).The tuition that is paid by the students and ADACH (for student scholarships )goes directly to the New York branch bank account and what I would assume is Jerry Sherlock's pocket.

On top of this they DO NOT have an accredited course here in Abu Dhabi and neither is the school or any of the instructors accredited with the ministry of education in the UAE.I would like to draw your attention also to the fact that by UAE law every employee is required to have an employment contract and labor card (which they do not), overtime is not paid as is required by the labor laws of the country either.NYFA Abu Dhabi has hits its glass ceiling in terms of recruiting fresh employees in Abu Dhabi and has taken to hiring former students to replace staff members who have either resigned or been fired.
The thing that is more worrying is the word that has been heard from people in the Abu Dhabi Films Commission is that the curriculum that NYFA put forward for accreditation in the UAE is a direct rip off of the NYU curriculum (NYU in Abu Dhabi is accredited and opened recently).I would like to bring this to your attention out of real concern for the development of the film industry in the UAE and the education of the regions future film makers.I believe that you would be doing the industry a great service by taking a close look at the actual going ons behind the facade that is New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi.

Photo credit: Alex4981

Question Answered: "go to a REAL film school"

2011-04-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks for commenting!

The main reason is simple- If you want spend so much money on a film education, go to a REAL film school with the top reputation.. USC, NYU, AFI etc. Not some profit making business who don't even have the basic necessity of a REAL film school etc. a shooting studio, professional post suites and well known professors.

Another Staff Review

2011-04-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the comment!

Seriously. I was tricked on going there. The staff some were nice, Others were Plain assholes. I could name a bunch of staff that should really think their life through. Especially the Girl Christy She has an attitude problem, she needs to get her head out of her fat white ass. And The ladies in the bursar off need an attitude adjustment. The equipment guys are assholes, and the post guys need to take their anger down a few notches. And they should Fire John Terry for being an idiot.

Anyone care to field this one?

2011-03-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

My name's Julio. I've been thinking about taking the one year directing course at the NYFA.

While I was looking for reviews I immediately came upon your site.

I would like to know what you consider are the main reason not to apply to NYFA. I also would like to know what other options you would consider as more serious and professional, especially regarding one-year courses. I'm more familiar with MFAs programs but not with one-year courses.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Julio - Madrid (Spain)

You're Welcome!

2011-03-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

Omg! Wow! Thank you sooo much for saving my valuable time & money. I was considering the LA 1 year program for Acting. But after reading your blog, I'll look elsewhere. I am grateful!

No problem, Rikki! We're here to help!

Review of Two-Year Acting (cont'd)

2011-03-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

We're sorry for the delay!

6) Fees: 12500/- a semester. You pay this - for NO PROPS, NO PRINTER, NO LIGHTS IN THE ONLY ROOM YOU USE TO SHOOT YOUR FILM SCENES, BED BUGS ON THE ONLY TWO SOFAS AND TWO PIECES OF FURNITURE THAT THE SCHOOL DOES OWN AS PROPS, NO BUDGET FOR YOUR FINAL PLAY OR FILM, STUDENTS PAY FOR COSTUMES AND ANY OTHER THINGS THEY REQUIRE FOR THE SCENE/PLAY/FILM. DON'T EVER EXPECT A COPY OF ANYTHING YOU SHOOT BECAUSE IT ALWAYS GET'S LOST. THEY CLAIM TO PUT THE SCENES ON THE WEBSITE AND EVEN WHEN THEY DO YOU END UP WITH EITHER HALF YOUR PERFORMANCE OR NONE AT ALL.

7) No Admission Requirement: We believe every one who wants to be an actor should be given a chance in this program. However, within the first four months of the first year it is clear which people want to work and which don't. If not for the first year, at least for the second year there should be a selection process. Anyone and everyone gets admitted which means in the worst scenario - your stuck with a class that is lazy and not motivated which is what happens most of the time.

8) Administration: The administration is the RUDEST part of this school. They are mean to the students and lack basic etiquette while dealing with students. We pay a lot of money to be here, the least they can do is talk to you properly. It's not a lot to ask. It's basic moral and professional principles.

9) Consultations: students are given four consultation cards at the beginning of every semester if they wanna work with teachers individually on a scene or a monologue. Teachers get paid extra for this hour. Most teachers never give you the time for that because they get paid a reasonably low amount. If you don't pay the teachers with the consultation card (when they provide a student an extra hour of their time) they won't be motivated enough to teach. Most have begun avoiding the situation claiming they have no time.

Thank you NYFA for completely wasting our time, money, effort and for destroying our will to learn.
We have lost enthusiasm and our passion for acting. Only because this school wants money and does not want to provide a holistic learning environment to it's students. The priority is marketing, building NYFA cafe's, having NYFA logo imprinted T-shirts, jackets, bags, sweaters, hats and making more brochures with every passing year and you would think the focus of any educational institute would be the STUDENTS. But what they don't realize is that the biggest form of publicity is WORD OF MOUTH which only students can do. Unfortunately, that they can't buy.

With great hatred,
Disappointed students.

Review of Two-Year Acting (cont'd)

2011-03-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here's part two. Check back Monday for the final chunk. (Last names censored once again. Otherwise unedited.)

2) John D, a supposed character study teacher, who didn't know how to explain to the students the technique. Instead of just giving us the asisgnment to find monologues ourselves, and do a character background and perform it in the next class,(which by the way most of the students thought was a better way to work in class so we could stay busy and motivated),we wasted two months reading spoon river monologues with the objective of finding one to perform in class, we can read the spoon river book at home. We are not paying to sit in class to read a book for almost 3 hours twice every week for almost 3 months. NYFA should employ teachers who can teach not hire so called 'teachers' who don't give us an education and waste our time.

3) Kathy C: She has no class structure. She would come for consecutive weeks, switch off the lights and tell you to think about the worst memory you have and basically ask you to cry. After which, she would dismiss class. No reversal process took place to mend this kind of psychological damage. Imagine just going every week to cry in the dark. She kept calling us 'advanced acting BFA students' and gave us only ONE scene to do the whole semester which she said she would film for our portfolio. Firstly NYFA has no BFA program in any location you take admission, they have an AFA degree which is a junior degree not a bachelors degree. When a teacher tells you she will record your scene that usually means that a Technical Assistant will shoot with the NYFA equipment. But she literally meant that she would shoot it herself: so she picked up the camera and walked around with it while the students performed their scenes and your left with shaky images and no sound. Is this her particular way of teaching? OR was the school incapable of providing her with a technical assistant? Who knows. Even the school doesn't.

4) Scheduling: The school holds you hostage from 9am -7:45pm. Some days you have a 3 hour break in this schedule so you waste more time and get more bored. For an actor it is important to keep mental and physical fitness. With this schedule we don't even have energy to exercise or go watch a play after school. Every class has a 20 minute break which ends up going to 30 minutes. So why don't they reduce the class time because scientifically the human brain can concentrate for only 45 minutes in an hour. A two and a half hour class with a 30 minute break is such a waste of time. The schedule is designed to break you down. Actors need energy not emotional and physical drainage.

5) Credits: Be warned in NYFA NYC: the second year has NO VALUE in terms of credits. The first year is worth 35 credits but the second year has not been given to PONSY for evaluation which is the credit board so if you plan to attend college in new york or anywhere else post NYFA you will be left with only 35 credits. The second year is of no value to you. By the way they didn't inform any of the students regarding this issue before the second year started.

Review of Two-Year Acting

2011-03-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Here's an amazingly-detailed email from "disappointed students". Part one follows. Please note: we decided to remove the last name of the instructor mentioned below. Everyone who needs to know her name should know it. The post is otherwise as it was received.

Reasons to stay away from NYFA:

1) Second year has a class called stage to screen: Keep away from Bela. The laziest human being you have met in your life. She comes to class, opens her laptop and sits there sometimes doing her emails or just surfing through the web. She sits there, eats over her laptop and gives the class 40 minute breaks.

She boasts about her amazing acting career in France and claims to be tired all the time. She is so old, that she should retire. She forgot about our first class the beginning of our first semester because she didn't check her schedule. Thank god, she put her alarm clock on at 10 am and she made it to class by 11:00AM, otherwise she would have not showed up for the first class. She was supposed to give us a syllabus the first class which when we did receive (2 months into the program) was a page long. We were going to use the script for this class to perform on stage for the first semester and then filmed by another instructor in the next semester which is the way the class has been designed. Our class started in october and she gave us the script in December - a supposed 'modern rendition' of A Midsummer Night's Dream which included lines like "I'll take you right here you bitch", "You two go chill out, go smoke a joint".

It also included singing and dancing which some students clearly opposed because we enrolled in the Acting program not in the Musical theatre program. It was a play that was middle school level and this was our second year. One week before the production the entire class came to an agreement to kick this teacher of the project. A great waste of time.

Thank you Bela for showing us how not to do anything and just get bored in class. As students and people who care about learning and the teachers who teach us, its almost impossible to believe how NYFA does not care about the way their students are developing their skills or even if they are learning anything in class.

Check back on Thursday for part two!

Attention Employees of Messrs. Sherlock

2011-02-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

This Craigslist ad is for you!

re: Unionizing

2011-02-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

From our comments section:

Thank you for keeping this board: it has provided many nights of amusement and reflection.

Just as a quick fact check to this posting: employees of a private school do have the right to form a union under the National Labor Relations Act. Of course there are restrictions and processes to follow when forming a union. For more info, check: http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/overview/national_labor_relations_act.aspx

However, tenure is not governed by the state for private schools. http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/teachers-rights

Specifically:
"State laws do not govern the tenure process at private schools. However, a contract between a private school district and a teacher may provide tenure rights, though enforcement of these rights is related to the contract rights rather than rights granted through the state tenure statute."

I don't believe NYFA has such a contract; not that I'm aware of anyway.

What say you, readers?

2011-01-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

I've been reading your blog - as have many/every NYFA employee - for a while now. It's a great sounding board, a wonderful way for those of us entrenched, embittered, and embattled to let off some steam. But I feel that this could be much more powerful than just a "complaint blog." It's time to take action and organize some kind of legal action. [...]

See how fertile the ground is for organizing walk-outs, strikes, union involvement for salaried instructors. The school can't have it both ways - if you're a teacher at an accredited school, you have the right to a union. You have the right to TENURE. But NYFA teachers are denied these things. I once spoke with the California Labor Bureau about suing the school for unpaid overtime. I never mentioned the name NYFA, but when they asked how many employees work at "the company," and I said well over a hundred - it's international, after all - I could feel the lawyer on the other end of the phone lean forward and wipe away his drool. Law firms kill for cases like this.

There's a multitude of ways of forcing NYFA - through legal and public action - to admit the farce that they are. I suspect the entire employee pool is comparable to a puddle of gasoline. All it needs is a match. And the Sherlocks know this. They live and thrive on complacency. And posting snarky comments and bitter reviews about the school - rebellious though it may be - is not action.

You have a following. Don't just sit on the sidelines and complain. If you're really serious - and I believe you are - do something about it. For the students. For the staff.

It's time to begin The Insurrection.

Thanks for writing, Trigger. Poll coming soon.