Susan Ruskin: Last News

EXCLUSIVE: The American Film Institute today announced the recipients of The 2024-2025 Canva Fellowship at the AFI Conservatory.

Selena Kuznikov American Film Institute alum Melina Matsoukas will deliver the keynote address at the AFI Directing Workshop for Women Showcase for the Class of 2024. The showcase will be held on April 10 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.

EXCLUSIVE: The American Film Institute on Tuesday announced the launch of a multifaceted partnership with the graphic design platform Canva, which will look to bolster rising filmmakers and improve access to the tools and skills necessary to realize their visions. 

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Since joining the American Film Institute faculty as dean and executive vice president in July 2019, Susan Ruskin has kept a steady eye on what lay next in the field of film school education. Ruskin, Variety Entertainment Educator of the Year, discusses why TV and film are more alike than different, what advances in technology means for screenwriters and why film school is still a rock solid bet when it comes to forging a career in the cinematic arts.  With so many avenues to break into the biz, why choose AFI?  There are many different pathways to get into the industry, but I do believe that film school offers one thing that going straight into the industry does not–and that’s a safe place to fail, and a place to meet your collaborators for life. And that is a fast track to success that you cannot get without the sort of protection of being in a space where you get the opportunity to make things and fail at making things and figure out who you are as a storyteller. One of the greatest strengths about AFI is that you come into the discipline that you want for your MFA and you have a very bespoke curriculum. And at the same time, you’re making at least three movies in your first year. We’re doing upwards of 175 productions. You get that opportunity to collaborate. And I don’t know a better way of doing it. 

Wilson Chapman editorThe American Film Institute announced the recipients of its Writers’ Room Ready Awards on Thursday.The annual awards program honors the best pilot scripts written by the AFI Conservatory’s screenwriting fellows. This year’s awards honor the 2021 and 2022 classes, after the prizes were delayed last year due to COVID-19.“Congratulations to the 2021 and 2022 recipients of the Writers’ Room Ready Award,” AFI Conservatory dean and AFI executive vice president Susan Ruskin said in a statement.