Online video school launches in New York

An online film school, the New York Video School, this week launched in beta, with the expectation of expanding beyond the US.

Users can register for $9.95 a month or $99.95 per year for access to online training materials and lessons, forums and member groups. 

Its chief instructor, Michael Rosenblum, the videojournalism pioneer and founder of Rosenblum TV told Journalism.co.uk that he planned it to grow 'far beyond New York'.

"The internet, by definition, is global and so, open to anyone. That being said, different countries do have somewhat different needs and approaches to video," he added.

The school's target audience is everyone not just journalists, he said: "We live in a world that is increasingly going to be dominated by video. You will use video to sell your car, to file a resume, to get a date. 

"We think video literacy is going to be essential for survival in the 21st century. Our audience thus, is everyone."

Rosenblum says its offering goes beyond the service of the existing Rosenblum TV training: "Our courses, while great, are expensive. You can't beat the bootcamp experience, but not everyone can afford either the cost or the time required to attend one. 

"We are great believers in the immersion experience, like learning a new language. The online experience, as you can see, is all video, no text. We are trying to replicate the bootcamp experience, but at a far lower cost."

He claims that online instruction is a practical, if not perfect solution: "It is the use of video that makes the video instruction possible. 

"Read a book about how to make video and you'll be completely lost, but watch how someone does it, see the final product, then do it yourself.

"And, the ability to upload and share your work with others, receive comments and critique, then go back and do more makes it all work quite well," he added.

Rosenblum is well-known for his video evangelism: speaking to Journalism.co.uk before the Digital News Affairs (DNA) 2009 conference in March, he said that the media's need to cost-cut in the present climate will turn the concept of videojournalism from 'an abstraction to a necessity for survival'.

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