A Welcome and an Explanation

First of all, thank you for taking your time to read this journal of sorts. I'll try my best to make what you read here worthwhile. If it doesn't meet your needs, I leave it up to you to stop immediately and find some other distraction on our world wide web. Remember, only you can prevent forest fires...

First a technical note: This website is a work in progress. You will notice that the links, while they work, have no content as yet. You can find the site's index by clicking MatthewSilas.com at the top of the page.

I am beginning the masters program in film direction at UCLA this fall. As I have been researching and applying to graduate programs in film over the past couple of years, I've had a heck of a time finding good, first-person, raw perspectives about the various programs out there. Not surprisingly, many of the programs do a pretty good job of promoting themselves: "we are an incredible film school", "we have had more Oscar winners in the last 5 years than [enter school name here] and [enter school name here] combined", "We have the latest greatest technology", "We have more working professional filmmakers among our faculty than..." and on and on and on. But nowhere did I find answers to the questions that really mattered: what, specifically, do you learn, what, if any, is the guiding pricipal of the program, who/how are the professors, what are the possibilities after studies, is it really worth the cost, what sort of atmosphere exists/is fostered among the students and faculty, what are the program's strengths, how will I PAY for this?

Most of these questions are still unanswered for me, but I decided to jump off the plank anyway, and cast my lot with my hopes rather than my fears. So, I decided to create this journal to both record my experiences and provide a voice in this wilderness, so to speak, albeit subjective and biased, for those out there considering graduate studies in film at UCLA.

I will post as often as I can and attempt to cover as many different aspects of my experience as it relates to the program as possible. Feel free to send in questions to mail@matthewsilas.com

I'll close with a little quote from a great little band that should be really big:

"They say California is a recipe for a black hole
but I say I've got my best shoes on,
and I'm ready to go."
-Rilo Kiley