Chapman University Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

Overview

The Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University is a private film school in Orange, California, approximately 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles. In 2025, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Dodge College no. 4 among the top U.S. film schools for the fifth consecutive year. The school enrolls approximately 1,600 students across its undergraduate and graduate programs.

Undergraduate tuition for 2025-2026 is $67,490 per year. The estimated total cost of attendance for 2025-2026 ranges from $81,050 (living with parents) to $93,996 (on-campus first-time freshman), including housing, food, books, transportation, and personal expenses. For 2026-2027, tuition rises to $69,990 per year, with total cost of attendance ranging from $83,938 to $97,176. Dodge-specific course fees add $75 to $1,000 per class, supporting the production environment and equipment access. More than 80% of Chapman students receive financial aid.

The acceptance rate for Film and Television Production is 8% for first-years and 10% for transfers. All other Dodge programs have acceptance rates of 30% to 40%. Dodge Talent Scholarships of $2,000 to $5,000 per year for four years are automatically considered for first-year applicants based on the Creative Supplement. Transfer students are not eligible for talent scholarships.

If you want a well-funded undergraduate program with 24/7 access to professional-grade facilities, small class sizes (12:1 student-faculty ratio), and proximity to LA for internships, Dodge College is a strong choice. If cost is a primary concern, the total cost of attendance exceeds $90,000 per year, and you should review the official tuition and fees page before applying.

Programs Offered

Dodge College offers undergraduate and graduate degrees across film, television, and media arts.

• BFA in Film and Television Production - the core undergraduate program covering directing, cinematography, editing, producing, and sound. Acceptance rate: 8% for first-years.
• BFA in Screenwriting - a dedicated writing track for feature film and television.
• BFA in Creative Producing - focused on development, financing, and physical production management.
• BFA in Screen Acting - a joint program between Dodge College and the Department of Theatre.
• BA in Film and Media Studies - a scholarly program focused on film history, theory, and criticism.
• BA in Television Writing and Production - focused on the television industry pipeline.
• MFA in Film Production - a graduate production program with specializations in directing, cinematography, editing, and sound design.
• MFA in Screenwriting - graduate-level screenplay and teleplay development.
• MFA in Film and Television Producing - covers the full lifecycle of a production from concept to distribution.
• MFA in Production Design - art direction and set design at the graduate level.

Application deadlines for 2026 entry:

• Fall 2026 Early Action and Early Decision: November 1, 2025
• Fall 2026 Regular Decision: January 15, 2026 (first-years), February 15, 2026 (transfers)
• Spring 2026: October 15, 2025

Facilities and Equipment

Dodge College's facilities are its primary competitive advantage. The campus spans three buildings: Marion Knott Studios, the Digital Media Arts Center (DMAC), and Chapman Studios West.

Marion Knott Studios is a $42 million, 76,000-square-foot facility designed by Bastien and Associates, the same architectural firm that designed studios for Paramount, DreamWorks, Universal, and Warner Bros. It includes:

• Two soundstages (2,500 and 5,000 square feet)
• Cinematography and directing stages
• A television and broadcast journalism stage with control room
• A Foley stage and Dolby surround mixing
• 36 individual editing suites and 4 mixing studios
• A 500-seat Folino Theater with film and digital projection and Dolby Atmos
• 428-terabyte network attached storage
• 2 computer labs with Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools, Adobe, DaVinci Resolve, Final Draft, and Autodesk

Chapman Studios West (38,000 square feet) includes:

• A 7,000-square-foot soundstage and future home of the Dhont Family Innovation Hub
• A 2,000-square-foot cinematography stage
• A 6,000-square-foot scene shop with computer-assisted machinery
• A 7,000-square-foot prop/set warehouse with 18,000+ individual props
• A 900-square-foot 4K stereoscopic Dolby 7.1 screening room (50 seats)
• Two 5.1 surround sound editing suites
• A 7.1 surround sound audio mixing and color-grading finishing suite

The Dhont Family Innovation Hub, funded by a $1.5 million gift from the Dhont Family Foundation in 2025, will house a 180-degree wraparound LED screen, a professional soundstage, and virtual production capabilities integrating AI tools.

All buildings and equipment are available to students 24/7. The equipment checkout includes professional cinema and broadcast cameras from Sony, ARRI, RED, Canon, and Panasonic, along with lighting, sound, lens packages, and location grip and electric equipment.

What Students Should Know

Dodge College's undergraduate program is its strongest offering. The BFA in Film Production is structured around a cycle of progressively larger production exercises. Students direct, shoot, and edit projects throughout their four years. The location in Orange County places students close enough to LA for internships and networking but far enough that the campus functions as a self-contained production community.

Dodge-specific course fees range from $75 to $1,000 per class. Advanced production classes carry additional fees related to the production of student projects. Students can apply for awards and grants to help fund student productions once enrolled.

The university has mandated that Dodge admit an additional 50 undergraduate students going forward, but resources (soundstages, classrooms, full-time faculty) have not increased proportionally. As of Fall 2025, non-Dodge majors can enroll in a maximum of 5 Dodge classes over their undergraduate career, each approved by the Associate Dean. This restriction maintains seat availability for declared Dodge majors.

More than 80% of Chapman students receive financial aid. The average net price after aid is approximately $61,513. Dodge Talent Scholarships ($2,000 to $5,000 per year for 4 years) are awarded automatically based on the Creative Supplement for first-year applicants only.

Standout Faculty

Dodge College's faculty mixes Oscar-winning screenwriters and veteran directors with working producers and cinematographers. Many hold named chairs or emeritus status.

• Stephen Galloway - Dean, holding the Twyla Reed Martin Dean's Chair in Film and Media Arts. Emmy Award-winning writer/producer who created The Hollywood Reporter's Oscar Roundtables and the Netflix series The Hollywood Masters. Author of Leading Lady and the New York Times bestseller Truly Madly.
• David Ward - Professor. Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay for The Sting (1974), Oscar nominee for Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Writer-director of Major League, The Milagro Beanfield War, and Cannery Row. Teaches screenwriting.
• John Badham - Professor Emeritus. Director of Saturday Night Fever, WarGames, Short Circuit, Stakeout, and Bird on a Wire, plus episodes of Supernatural and other TV series. Teaches intermediate and advanced directing.
• Barry Blaustein - Associate Professor. Writer of Coming to America, Coming 2 America, The Nutty Professor I and II, and Boomerang. Former head writer and supervising producer on Saturday Night Live. Director of the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. Teaches screenwriting.
• Gil Bettman - Professor. Directed episodes of The Twilight Zone and Knight Rider, and the Sammy Hagar documentary The Long Road to Cabo. Author of the textbook First Time Director. Teaches camera directing, action directing, and visual storytelling.
• Paul Gulino - Professor. Screenwriter and author of Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach and The Science of Screenwriting. Teaches screenwriting.
• Jeff Swimmer - Professor, Artistic Faculty. Award-winning documentary producer-director whose credits include A Golden State of Mind: The Storytelling Genius of Huell Howser (PBS). Teaches documentary production and history.
• Dan Leonard - Professor, Associate Dean, and Chief Technology Officer. Worked on 13 features and edited special feature material for Lions Gate/Artisan Entertainment. Teaches technology, editing, and film production.

Notable Alumni

Dodge College's most famous alumni are Matt and Ross Duffer (Class of 2007), creators of Netflix's Stranger Things, which wrapped its final season in December 2025. The Duffer Brothers returned to Chapman to deliver the 2026 commencement address on May 22, 2026, and received honorary doctorates. Their production company, Upside Down Pictures, has a slate including a live-action Stranger Things spin-off, an animated series (Stranger Things: Tales from '85), and the Netflix original The Boroughs.

Other notable alumni include Justin Simien (Dear White People), and numerous working cinematographers, editors, and producers in television and independent film. Dodge's alumni network is younger and smaller than USC's or NYU's but is growing as early graduates advance in their careers.

Student Film Examples

Dodge College produces approximately 200 student films per year across its BFA and MFA programs. Senior thesis films are the capstone of the production tracks, screened at the Chapman Film Festival each spring. The school's animation thesis films regularly win Student Academy Awards and screen at SIGGRAPH and other animation festivals.

See Also

For understanding how film school facilities affect the quality of student productions, see Film School Facilities Guide. To calculate storage needs for your student film workflow, use the Storage Calculator. For evaluating the return on investment of a private film school education, use the Ad Spend Break-Even Calculator.