The Second City is expanding with the launch of a comedy-focused film school. According to The Chicago Tribune, Second City Chicago is set to open “the world’s first film school dedicated to comedy,†which it’s named after one of its most famous filmmaker alums: The Harold Ramis Film School. The school will open in September, accept new students every three months, and has a bunch of comedians on its advisory board or otherwise involved including Martin Short, Steve Carell, Eugene Levy, Keegan-Michael Key, and Adam McKay. Students will participate in the yearlong program (for $15K) and receive a certificate instead of a degree as well as a portfolio of work and connections within the film industry. Here’s more info from the Tribune:
It’s intended to be a boutique operation with only about 15 students at each entry point, ratcheting up to a total enrollment of about 60. To some degree it will compete with such existing schools as the American Film Institute in Hollywood, the California Institute of the Arts and, closer to home, Columbia College Chicago, which has one of the largest film schools in the country in terms of student enrollment. None of those schools specialize in comedy, although student filmmakers at all of them certainly can and do work on movies intended to be funny.
The Harold Ramis Film School faculty will be comprised of Second City teachers, and the program’s curriculum will include “everything from the history and theory of comedy to film production classes†with tons of resources for students including “a sound stage, classroom space, screening room, editing suites and the other necessities of the teaching of moviemaking.â€