About Us
The Great Home Movie School was founded by Director/Cinematograher Jeffrey Seckendorf. Jeff created One On One Film Training, a consulting and mentoring program for emerging film directors. Jeff now brings his expertise in filmmaking and training to a broader market.
Listen to an interview with Jeff Seckendorf as he talks about the creation of One on One Film Training, who the program is geared for, and some of the logistics of the training. This interview runs about 15 minutes.
Download a sample of One On One Film Training's newsletter here.
One on One Film Training is...
...practical, custom, education in how to direct and/or shoot a feature film or video project. The individual film and video training programs are for Directors, Writers, Producers, Actors, Cinematographers, and/or anyone making a career change into the film industry.
The fastest way to get across the gap to understand and experience the process of making a film, either feature length or short, documentary, commercial, or music video, is to do the training first. There’s no percentage in jumping on set and making a series of untenable mistakes with either your own or someone else’s money.
Film workshops and video workshops are great for training, but are specific to the workshops’ schedule and can become unfocused by the needs and whims of the other students.
I have developed an individualized training program for anyone planning on directing, producing, or photographing a film or video project. One On One is a customized program of direct contact hours plus reading, experimenting, shooting, screening, field trips, etc. Each is uniquely designed for each individual client; following a series of interviews I tailor the syllabus to the specific needs and goals of each person. The program can be completed in as little as three weeks or as long as six months. It can take place here in Los Angeles or any other convenient city. A sample syllabus can be found on this site.
There is a purity of purpose in One On One Film Training, starting right where you are, right now. One On One training makes no assumptions about your experience or talent. In the pie chart of our brains, there is a little, tiny slice called “What you know.” There is a second little, tiny slice called “What you don’t know.” The other 90-or-so percent of the chart is called “What you don’t know you don’t know.” This is where One On One training works, introducing you to the unknown, guiding you through the complex, and exposing you to the ins and outs of filmmaking in the simplest, most straight-forward way possible.
Over the decades that I have taught filmmaking, I’ve always thought the most important information for any student is material that is not written. You can learn to load a film camera from a book or a technician in about five minutes. The magic of the camera, however, is where you point it, and the best way to learn that is to sit down with someone who has done it a thousand times.
One On One Film Training is about the unwritten ideal, the purest expression of creativity, wrapped around the art and technical craft of telling a visual story with a camera, actors, and lights. Our single focus and purity of purpose will make your next project more exciting, more visual, and more compelling than you ever thought possible.
Please contact us for rates, schedules, and client qualifications.