Due to rising enrollment and limited resources, Television, Film and New Media (TFM) students at SDSU are increasingly self-funding their thesis films – sometimes reaching thousands of dollars.
According to SDSU’s website, “TFM’s facilities include industry-grade production and post-production centers” and the program “produces over 100 films per semester, making it one of the most productive in the country.” In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter also named SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television and Film (TTF), which houses the TFM department, in its top 10 production design programs.
However, TFM students have been feeling the impact of the department’s lack of funding, especially in their TFM 560: Advanced Film class. As the final graduation requirement, students in the class produce their biggest project yet: their thesis film.
Ariela Schneiderman is a graduating senior currently directing SDSU’s first-ever musical thesis film: “Home Entertainment.” Her film was one of the few projects selected among her classmates to move forward with production. So far, her crew has spent around $4,000, not including film festival applications, which Schneiderman says typically cost $60 to $90 each.
“You’re really expected to pay for it yourself,” Schneiderman said. “…We ended up getting around $3,000 through crowdfunding, which helped a lot.”
Schneiderman explained that her group used GoFundMe, Venmo and social media as their primary sources of income, but that they still “each pitched in several hundred dollars on top of that” out of their own pockets.
She also added that students are not “forced to pay a specific amount,” but that they end up doing so because they are motivated to produce their best work, yet lack access to necessary resources.
“With the thesis films, it’s like, ‘This is going into your portfolio. This will look really good on future resumes,’” Schneiderman said. “…So it’s something you prepare and you save up for – knowing you will have to pay for your thesis film.”
For others, this lack of resources is a barrier. Sammi Thomas, the general manager of SDSU’s KCR College Radio, is a third-year TFM student. She is set to take the TFM 560 course next fall, and although she is grateful for what she has learned through the program, she sometimes feels discouraged by the prospect of self-funding.
“I think a big part of that discouragement comes from how difficult it is to get things done in the major,” Thomas said. “It definitely discourages me from wanting to be more experimental with my filmmaking, or more creative, or try things on a bigger scale, because I know I’m funding it myself.”
TFM Professor Jessica McGaugh, who teaches the thesis class, explained that there are funding opportunities to support TFM students.
These include the Wally! Award and the Justin Halpern award, two competitions in which students pitch to alumni and compete for multi-thousand-dollar prizes. There is also a grant opportunity through Studio C, TFM’s sound stage, which allows a few select groups to build their film sets for free.
Although McGaugh emphasized the department’s efforts in trying to ensure equity among students, some, like Schneiderman, have noticed the advantages that students in favorable financial situations benefit from.
“People who are more well-off definitely have more of an advantage,” Schneiderman said. “I work, I have a job, and so I’m able to pay for it. My parents are helping support me in my film endeavors as well. Other people aren’t as lucky and don’t have as much.”
In an email, Associate Vice President and Chief Communications Officer La Monica Everett-Haynes explained that the School of TTF is funded like most other schools at SDSU, with the majority of its budget going to salary expenses.
She did not specify how much of the budget was spent on non-salary expenses, but said that the California State Lottery is the primary source of funding for “equipment and related expenses.”
“Across all colleges and disciplines, most student theses are not funded by state funding,” Everett-Haynes said. “…It would be incorrect to connect this to any funding changes within the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.”
McGaugh explained that the school provides the basic resources needed to produce a film, but that anything beyond that is left up to the students. However, she said the competition for those resources is more intense than ever due to growing enrollment numbers.
“We’re turning away almost half of the students who want to come into our program, both in the undergraduate program and in the graduate program,” McGaugh said. “And the reason is because we need space, faculty, equipment. If we had all that stuff, we could absolutely let everybody in, but we just don’t have the ability to do that.”
While Schneiderman feels it is unfair that TFM students spend more money on their projects than other majors, her passion keeps her going when it comes to turning her dreams into a reality.
“I love being on set and just seeing everything that I wrote, everything that I planned to shoot, come to life,” Schneiderman said. “This is what I love to do, and if it means me putting aside money to do it, I would still do it, but it does really put a damper on it.”
