Kosmic Film International presents

Independent Film Institute of Utah

Student Application/Enrollment Agreement

318 North Chicago Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 Phone: (801)363-7041-Fax: (801)296-1018

Independent Film Institute of Utah is a Non-Profit 501(c)(3) corporation registered in the State of Utah

*this information is used for statistical purposes and will not be used in determining whether a student is qualified to be admitted to the school.

Send completed application along with registration fee and supporting documents/information as listed below to:

Admissions, Independent Film Institute of Utah, 318 North Chicago Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116

Allow 1-3 weeks for processing of the application. We will notify you via letter once your application has been accepted. Please submit all required information as this will determine acceptance. Incomplete application s will be rejected

I hereby certify that the above information is correct to the best of my knowledge. Please accept this application for admission into Independent Film Institute of Utah for the next term.

Admission and Enrollment

IFI is committed to educating those interested in furthering their knowledge of the film industry and becoming successful in their field. As such, IFI does not discriminate against any individual or organization because of their sex, age, color, race, disability or religion. We feel that diversity in the school improves the quality of the school. Students are admitted on based on talent and commitment.

Basic Course Application Requirements

To apply, a prospective student must complete an official application and send it with a resume. Any related experience should be noted with their resume. As space is currently limited, students will be selected by the board of trustees based on their qualifications and their perceived potential. As this is objective, all applicants, if denied will have the ability to submit additional information to be reconsidered for the following semester as space is available.

Advanced Course Application Requirements

A new Advanced Course starts each term, so it is possible to enrol for entry in September, January or May each year. All candidates who wish to apply for entry must complete an official Application Form. With this application they must submit a script for a short film about three minutes in length, consisting of approximately twenty to thirty shots. Each shot must be illustrated by a sketch or photograph of not less than 6cm by 8cm in size. All work on such scripts must of course be the original work of the candidates. In addition, candidates must provide a written critique, of not less than three hundred words, of a film they have seen recently.

Any experience in photography, music, theater, video, sound recording, architecture, painting, sculpture, graphics etc. is also valuable and should be detailed. When attending an interview at the School, or submitting their application, all candidates should send or bring with them any examples of their film, video, photography, art or literary work. Please note that submitted video work should be on one of the following combinations of recording formats/systems: VHS (NTSC), High 8mm, or 8mm

Although there is no lower age limit for the advances course, candidates are not normally enrolled immediately on completion of their secondary education. Such candidates are invited to apply for any one of the basic courses offered. If considered suitable, they will be provisionally accepted for the advanced course at a later date. There is no upper age limit.

While there are no absolute educational qualifications required for entry, potential candidates may find the following observations helpful. Experience has shown that formal educational achievement is not always the best indicator of latent film making talent. Accordingly, the educational background of students at the School can be varied. Students also will be admitted on the basis of professional or extensive amateur film work or experience in a related field. In all cases it has been helpful if a selection of their work, as detailed earlier in this section, has been submitted. It can thus be seen that no single aspect of a candidate's work, qualifications or experience will necessarily be determining in the matter of their selection.

The need to follow and understand the intensive course of lectures, and the high pressure of group work, make it imperative that all students must have a first-class knowledge of the English language.

Certificates of Completion

Students in the advanced program who are successful in their practical exercises can obtain an 'Intermediate Certificate' at the end of the first year. Only those who have made satisfactory progress will be permitted to continue into the second year of the course. Assessments at the end of the first and third terms show whether a student is achieving the required standard. This, plus regular attendance and ability to co-operate with others, weigh heavily in deciding whether a student shall remain at the school. To obtain the Certificate of Completion, on completion of the course, each student will be required to submit their finished project.

Students who for any reason are unable to complete the full course or those who are judged not to have reached Completion standard after six terms, may apply for a Certificate of Attendance. In certain cases a student may be required to repeat a term as a condition of remaining at the school or obtaining his Certificate of Completion. At the end of the Course the Tutorial Staff will award Certificate s of Completion to students, based on a consideration of the work done and completion of film projects.

This is a mandatory requirement for the award of a Certificate of Completion and its assessment, while capable of enhancing a student's overall grade, will not otherwise detract from it.

Letters of recommendation with specific and helpful assessments of their work will also be issued to successful students when requested

Credit for Previous Experience

The school does not offer credit for previous experience, however, previous experience is extremely valuable and will allow students to move more quickly from beginning classes to more advanced classes once the material is mastered to allow for quicker production schedules.

Standards of Progress

Timetables. It is often necessary to start work earlier or finish later, especially during film production. Students may also be required to attend production shoots at any time of the day or night. Students will be notified of this requirement as necessary. Scripting and other preparatory work is done in the students' spare time. Production design, set-building, shooting and editing will involve considerable working in evenings and at weekends. Workshops, lectures and symposiums may also take place in evenings or at weekends.

The timetables are made available to students for the current and the next week. The two year course offers immense opportunities for learning. To obtain full value, every event should be attended and there is little time to catch up on missed items. Any 'free' time is needed for preparation for the film exercises.

Attendance. Students are required to attend classes consistently. As other students' performance is based on everyone involved in the film project, un-excused absences will not be tolerated.

Grading System. Students grade will be based on completion of film projects. The courses are graded pass/fail. Students will fail if they fail to complete their project. In the event that the project is delayed, additional time will be granted to complete the project.

Student Conduct - Dismissal

As student projects are treated as professional projects, students are required to maintain professional conduct.

The following are grounds for probation:

1 un-excused absence. Since other students are counting on the performance of the each student, absenteeism in not accepted without prior notification.

The following are grounds for dismissal

Theft of equipment Students will sign out equipment for their production and will be liable for it.

3 un-excused absence Since other students are counting on the performance of the each student, absenteeism in not accepted without prior notification.

Making of X-rated Films IFI will not permit this.

Placement Assistance

IFI does not place students in employment positions, nor does IFI expect students to find positions in the mainstream film industry. IFI does however, expect students to become independent film makers and requires that students produce independent films prior to graduation from the advanced course.

IFI will, however, write letters of recommendation for students requesting them and will provide students with contacts in the industry. Through the course curriculum, students will come into contact with additional industry professionals which may be utilized for their benefit.

Copyright Information

Copyright in all films made at IFI remains the property of the Student.  The school may, however, request  married prints of films on which students have worked at a charge which includes negative cutting, sound transfer, etc., or they may obtain video copies. The School will only use the prints or videos purchased may be used only for private showing and not for any commercial use, whether in original form, re-edited or in part. The school will assist in copyrighting the films and will thus require 10% ownership in the films produced.

Refund Policy

A three business day cooling-off period following the signing and submitting of the application commencing with the day the contract with the applicant is signed until midnight of the third business day following such date, exclusive of Sundays and holidays, during which time the contract may be rescinded and all monies paid will be refunded.

After the three business day cooling off period, the withdrawn or dismissed student shall be refunded, within thirty days of his/her discontinuing, a percentage of all tuition paid over and above the non-refundable registration fee of $350 for the basic course and $495 for the Advanced Motion Picture Production and Development course: 100 percent of the balance of tuition through the completion of 20 percent of the term; 50 percent after the completion of 30 percent of the term and nothing thereafter.

Enrolling students should note that they must make arrangements with their banks, if they are private students, or with the appropriate authority if they are grant aided, well ahead of the first day of term, since it is required that students pay their fees each term at registration. Failure to pay, or returning late to school and missing essential lectures, may mean that the student will be required to defer until the following term. As a matter of courtesy students are expected to inform the Administrator and their Course Tutor if they are to be absent from the school. Medical certificates are required for any absence of over three days. Lectures and Practicals cannot be retaken but students may sit in on missed classes the following semester without further charge. If the student cannot retake the course , or the course is no longer offered, any refund due will be paid according to the refund policy in this section.

The School's equipment used for film making in the course are insured, but students will be held responsible for observing the terms of the insurance. The cost of losses or breakages of equipment not so covered will be covered in the Equipment Liability Statement signed by students prior to issuance of equipment. Such losses will normally be charged against the students' deposit as listed in the Equipment Liability Statement.

Financial Assistance

IFI does not offer any financial assistance. It is recommended that the student secure funds for tuition from private funding or through a financial institution of their choice.

Student Application/Enrollment Agreement

318 North Chicago Street

Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 Phone:

(801)363-7041 Fax: (801)296-1018

Send mail to gary@kosmicfilm.com  with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2001 Kosmic Film International
Last modified: January 26, 2006