Forget the six-figure tuition and ivy-covered campuses.
Santa Monica College has once again elbowed its way onto MovieMaker magazine’s list of the 30 Best Film Schools in the U.S. and Canada, joining heavyweight names like Syracuse, NYU and UCLA.
“This distinction validates the unique approach of our program,” says Salvador Carrasco, head of the school’s Film Production Program. “Our faculty is composed of professional filmmakers who are actively teaching, challenging, and helping our students achieve what they set out to do with rigorous on-set guidance and mentorship.”
The 2026 honor marks SMC’s fourth appearance on the annual list. This year, 32 schools made the “30 Best” cut because of ties.
And while many aspiring filmmakers are staring down staggering tuition bills, MovieMaker singled out SMC for providing students a chance to become the next Steven Spielberg for just $46 a unit.
Big-Screen Dreams, Community College Price
SMC’s film program offers two-year tracks in film studies and film production, covering everything from screen theory to the nuts-and-bolts work of making movies.
Students learn preproduction, production and postproduction from faculty members who still work in the business — then get the chance to make films of their own while earning transfer credits toward four-year schools.
The payoff has been real.
Since launching in 2010, the program’s Film 33 capstone class has produced more than 30 short films. Eight SMC student films have been selected for or earned honors at the American Pavilion’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase during the Cannes Film Festival.
One of them, Broken Layers, won Best Student Film in 2021.
SMC films have also picked up trophies at festivals in San Diego, Houston, Prague, Vienna, Munich and Mexico.
From SMC Set to Hollywood Premiere
The first short made through the program, “Solidarity,” has grown into a feature film directed by SMC alum Dustin Brown.
The movie — executive produced in part by Carrasco and Black Swan filmmaker Darren Aronofsky — premiered June 19 at Dances With Films: Los Angeles inside Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatres.
Several SMC students worked on the feature, giving the campus a direct line from classroom sets to a major Hollywood premiere.
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