Brooklyn College Now Has a Graduate Film School

Photo via H.L.I.T./Flickr

Believe it or not, the borough of Brooklyn, land of a million aspiring filmmakers, has never been home to a public graduate film school — until now.

Brooklyn College’s new Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, unveiled on Tuesday, will share a lot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with Steiner Studios, a 20-acre film and TV studio that claims to be the largest of its kind outside of Hollywood.

The grad school, for its part, claims to be the first public film school in New York — and the only film school in the nation to be housed on a working lot.

Photos from Thursday’s ribbon-cutting in the Navy Yard for Brooklyn College’s newest campus show Mayor Bill De Blasio about to explode with joy at the sheer iconic-ness of such a moment.

Some excerpts from the mayor’s emotional monologue:

• “The magic of New York City has been that it’s a place for everyone. It’s a place where everyone could find opportunity. This has been a thing that really has distinguished us from so many places in this country, so many places in this world. This place for generations was a place that anyone could grow up in and truly follow their dreams. Anyone could come to here from anywhere in the world and have extraordinary opportunities available. And we know it’s a moment in history where some of that is challenged because of changing economic realities. But the way you answer those changes is to innovate — it’s to come up with new and better approaches that include everyone and re-spark that opportunity. And that’s what’s happening here at Feirstein. It is exciting that this will change the face and reality of our film and TV industry here in this city.”
  

• “I have to say, I love all five boroughs. Truly, they’re all wonderful. But would I be going too far to say there’s something special about Brooklyn?”

• Now, we are one of the great capitals of film and television in this country and on this earth. And we got that way by continuing to innovate. We got that way by never sitting still. And the extraordinary fact is there is more film and TV activity now in this city than ever before. We once were strong for a period of time. Somehow, some of the folks who make the films and television shows wanted to go elsewhere, and then we were rediscovered with a vengeance. And now, rightfully, people want to be here, because the talent is here; more and more, the great studio capacity is here; the stories are here; the scenes are here; it’s more and more of the place that makes sense for the industry. So now, over $7 billion dollars being spent annually in the film and TV industry. $7 billion dollars — you can clap for that.”

• “Feirstein’s going to mean there’s more and more talent — more and more talent to keep building this extraordinary industry here. Now, this is — this amazes me. This is the nation’s only film school on a working lot, situated right where the action is.”

• “I always say education determines economic destiny at this point in our history more than any other point in human history. So, what CUNY is doing today is determining the future of New Yorkers more than even it did in its glorious past.”

And so on and so forth, until even the most cynical aspiring filmmaker in the crowd couldn’t help but feel a little historic.

For more on the new grad school, check out its website or stop by its sick new digs in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.