Maine Media Workshops

Our History & Philosophy The Workshops was founded in 1973 as a summer conservatory for the world's photographers and filmmakers. Over the past 30 summers, The Workshops has grown into a year-round college and learning center for the world's filmmakers, photographers, actors, writers, digital artists and creative professionals. We now offer 250 one-week workshops and master classes. Rockport College came into existence in 1996 and now offers a Master of Fine Arts degree and a one-year Professional Certificate program. Each year 2,500 working and emerging professionals, serious amateurs and students come to Rockport from around the world to advance their professional careers and enhance their personal lives. Over the years, The Workshops has developed a unique learning philosophy: "The Transformational Experience." These intense, total-immersion, one-week workshops are designed to move you beyond your current level, to help you expand your vision, improve your technical skills, uncover your talents and change the way you see, feel, think and work. What to Expect A one-week workshop will help you learn new ways of doing things, will integrate your intuitive skills with your intellect as you become more aware of your "inner artist." While the pace will be demanding, you will find yourself excited about the work, challenged and eager to rise before dawn to rehearse a scene, photograph the early morning light, or rewrite your script before the morning class. Mornings are spent in lectures, discussions, demonstrations and tough, honest critiques of your work. The work you bring with you will be reviewed, but it will be the way in which you work, your creative process, your energy and your ability to take a risk that will receive the deepest critique. We can help you improve your work if we can help you discover a new, more natural way of working. It is the "process" that concerns us here, not necessarily the product. Afternoons are devoted to work - rehearsals, blocking, shooting scenes, editing, writing and photography. After dinner, there are film screenings, slide lectures and discussions, production, editing and lab work in preparation for critiques that follow the next morning. It might be midnight before you return to your room. This non-stop pace is what you came for - to eat, drink, live and talk imagemaking. Here you will find people who are creative, driven, and who share your love for and commitment to the process of making images and telling stories. Here is an opportunity to work with your masters, the people whose careers and work inspire you and people who will influence your career and help you master your own creative energy. Here too you will learn how to work with the latest technology. At week's end, there is a lobster dinner party, followed by a screening of the week's work. Your course ends Friday evening or Saturday at noon as you prepare to return to the real world or linger in Maine, exploring the coast with new friends. Magic happens during a one-week workshop. When you return home, you will find your work has improved; you may be making better choices, your judgment is more acute, you are working with greater command of the craft, you are able to focus your energy better, and you are more productive. This is not something you acquired in Maine; rather it is something you possessed all along - it just took a week in Rockport to help you discover how to access this potential within. To get the most out of a week here, you have to put yourself on the line - you have to take a risk and make mistakes. If you roll up your sleeves, pitch in and do the work that is required, the experience can be one of great personal reward and professional growth. This week could very well be the most important thing you do for your career, your craft and yourself this year. I hope you will have the opportunity to join us this summer. All of us at The Workshops look forward to helping you achieve your creative potential and realize your career goals. Charles Altschul Executive Director