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2025 Best Film & Video Production Schools in California

17 Colleges in California
2,143 Cinematography Degrees Awarded
Film & Video Production is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #117 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 17 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of film & video production. Combined, these schools handed out 2,143 degrees in film & video production to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Film & Video Production School

Best Film & Video Production Schools in California Your choice of film & video production school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Film & Video Production School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Film & Video Production Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Cinematography
Bachelor's Degrees in Cinematography
Master's Degrees in Cinematography

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Film & Video Production Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Film & Video Production in California

The schools below may not offer all types of cinematography degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top California Schools in Cinematography

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
211 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

University of Southern California is a good option for students interested in a degree in film & video production. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 211 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in film & video production from University of Southern California

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
292 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

Chapman University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in film & video production. Located in the medium-sized city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #172 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Chapman is a great university overall.

There were approximately 292 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in film & video production from Chapman University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In CA
108 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

University of California - Riverside is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in film & video production. UCR is a fairly large public university located in the city of Riverside. A Best Colleges rank of #219 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCR is a great university overall.

There were approximately 108 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in film & video production from University of California - Riverside

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
109 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

Loyola Marymount University is a good choice for students interested in a degree in film & video production. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #222 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Loyola Marymount is a great university overall.

There were roughly 109 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in film & video production from Loyola Marymount University

5
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
64 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

Academy of Art University is a moderately-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 47th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 64 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at Academy of Art University in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in film & video production from Academy of Art University

6
Biola crest
Biola University
La Mirada, CA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
75 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

Biola is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of La Mirada. This university ranks 86th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 75 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at Biola in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in film & video production from Biola University

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA
44 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

Sac State is a very large public university located in the large city of Sacramento. A Best Colleges rank of #267 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.

There were approximately 44 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in film & video production from California State University - Sacramento

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
12th Most Popular In CA

CalArts is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Valencia.

There were about 30 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at CalArts in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in film & video production from California Institute of the Arts

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA
38 Cinematography Degrees Awarded

Art Center College of Design is a small private not-for-profit college located in the midsize city of Pasadena.

There were roughly 38 film & video production students who graduated with this degree at Art Center College of Design in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in film & video production from Art Center College of Design

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type

Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #143 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Azusa Pacific is a great university overall.More information about a degree in film & video production from Azusa Pacific University

Best Film & Video Production Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Film & Video Production Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 48
Oregon 587 29
Nevada 354 3

View All Rankings >

Film & Video Production is one of 4 different types of Film, Video & Photographic Arts programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Cinematography

Related Major Annual Graduates
Film/Cinema/Media Studies 1,678
Photography 326
Other Film/Video & Photographic Arts 311
Documentary Production 21

View All Cinematography Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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