“Lights, Camera, Animals” - Compass Film Academy Roll with Themes

What could a pig farm have in common with Victorian England or a cutting edge barber shop? All three subjects are part of the stories in thesis films currently being produced by Compass Film Academy’s class of 2010. The projects this year are some of the most ambitious and complicated productions in the school’s history. [...]

CFA Board of Advisors Adds Four More Experts

Compass Film Academy continues to strengthen its position as the region’s premiere film school with the addition of Mark Clayman, Dick Rolfe, Joel Schoon Tanis, and Dr. Paul Worfel to its Board of Advisors.
Clayman, a Los Angeles-based producer,  initiated development and served as Executive Producer on Sony’s box office hit, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” The [...]

CFA Certification Featured in Grand Rapids Business Journal

It’s getting more difficult for Compass Film Academy to fly below the radar.

The 10-year-old private vocational school, which instructs students in movie script writing and film production and is located on Fifth Street near Seward in northwest Grand Rapids, was certified in late May for Title IV financial aid from the federal government. Title IV is offered to college students through Pell grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity grants, Perkins loans and other subsidized and unsubsidized direct loans.

High School Film Camp Produces “Future Ken Burns”

Blake Cortright is all smiles. And he should be. Because it’s almost unheard of for a 16-year-old to produce a documentary and have it air on PBS television. Blake took the skills he learned from Compass Film Academy’s Summer Film and Acting Camps, and used them to produce The First Encampment. [...]

Compass Films Win Big at Detroit Independent Film Festival

The 2009 class of Compass Film Academy made its presence known at the Detroit Independent Film Festival this weekend with the short films “The Commandant” and “1 New Message.”
Nominated for Best Michigan Short and winning for Best Actor (Robert William Ford), “The Commandant” tells the story of three Russian soldiers hiding in Poland during World [...]

Compass Film Academy Represents at Doorpost Film Competition

The Doorpost Film Project’s 2010 Short Film Contest is underway, and this year Compass students and alumni have shown up in full force. Current student Justin Abraham Hall and previous student Caleb Alexander Slain both have films through the first round of competition.
No strangers to Doorpost, Hall and Slain have teamed up on previous Doorpost [...]

Michigan Film Office Annual Report

The Michigan Film Office has posted their annual report for 2009. If you love the filmmaking coming to the state and are interested in the learning more about the effectiveness of Michigan’s Film Incentives, it’s a real page turner.
Check it out at the Michigan Film Office’s website:
http://www.michiganfilmoffice.org/cm/The-Film-Office/MFO2009-ANNUALREPORT.pdf

Elixir Alert

Thank you all for your support as Elixir continues to grow. We appreciate that you are sharing your thoughts on our new endeavor.
As we continue to shape the way Elixir is delivered to you, the audience, we want to keep you updated as tweaks are made. In an effort to maintain a more active and [...]

CFA Shines as Co-Host of Film Office Advisory Council Luncheon

The Michigan Film Office Advisory Council (MFOAC) and a slew of Michigan’s top filmmakers enjoyed a networking luncheon hosted by CFA and the West Michigan Film Office (WMFO) in late November. The meal followed the MFOAC’s quarterly meeting held at the Crowne Plaza in Grand Rapids.
While the luncheon primarily allowed filmmakers and small businesses opportunities [...]

Job Competencies a Hot Topic at Michigan Film Office Advisory Council Meeting

The Michigan Film Office Advisory Council (MFOAC) converged on Grand Rapids in late November for their quarterly meeting. Their main task: to review the work of the Michigan Film Office’s (MFO) Director of Workforce Development, Richard Jewell.
Jewell, hired in early September, was tasked with developing acceptable job, curriculum, and faculty requirements for the state’s trade [...]