"When there's a smile in your heart, there's no better time to start"

- J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Due to having all of our programs project-based, the difficulty can be scaled to meet the students’ needs and prior level of experience. We have had students with little to no experience and some with years of experience in the specific field. However, both benefited greatly from the program which has left them highly-sought out by recruiters in the VFX industry. Although we are open to all levels of experience, what is needed is some basic knowledge of either 3D or image manipulation. 

Despite that basic knowledge, our graduates will receive a diploma and carefully crafted demo reels which will ultimately get you placed.Our goal is always to push you to the next level.

it might seem a little difficult at first when deciding what to put in your portfolio, but we always suggest our students to put their most confident work forward. Each element you submit, you should always try to think of how the work you submitted connects to the program you are applying to. For example, what type of work can present your skill to see color, composition, projections, and your attention to detail. 

If you have some basic experience in any of the programs we offer, always add them to your portfolio! However, do not let the 8-10 submission hinder you from sending us more of your work. We encourage all of our applicants to write a sentence or two about each submission and tell us why you chose this piece and how you think it relates to the program. Feel free to contact us if you wish to see some examples of submissions.

A generalist program could be helpful for someone who is still deciding what to do and which field they prefer. However, the downside of a generalist school is that you don’t learn anything in depth. A proper anecdote of this situation is “jack of all trades, but a master of none”. At Lost Boys, we take the fundamental aspects of an actual studio environment to train you for the real world. A studio is essentially a pipeline where all areas must do their part to complete a project and each department is specialized in that specific field. This means that VFX studios do not want a generalist but require specialized individuals in a department. 

We understand that a lot of people fear that they must know everything to succeed in the industry. However, our graduates have proven time and time again that they are highly valued and sought out in the industry because they are so specialized in the department they trained in. Our staff have been veterans in the VFX industry and know exactly what you need to thrive in this environment. More importantly, we prepare you in every aspect of recruitment so that you get hired. Due to this dedication, Lost Boys continue to have 99% placement rate of all of our graduates in each program. Feel free to contact our alumni in the Experience page of our website to get a better understanding of why Lost Boys is the choice to make. 

Our staff are very connected with all the studios in Vancouver and Montreal. We work tirelessly in ensuring you are able to find the job you need. We pass on information of our students to recruiters all over the world. Although we cannot guarantee placement in the industry, Lost Boys have proven time and time again that our alumni are the most sought-out artists by studios across the globe. 

Check out our experience section and connect with our alumni on their experience with getting placed in the industry. 

The best way to determine which program is best for you is to evaluate your skills and interests. Each program is presented on our website. Carefully read through each program and feel free to contact the Program Instructors for more detailed understanding of the program you are interested in. More importantly, we are happy to help you analyze this decision through our contact form section. Perhaps you could send us some examples of your work and some short descriptions to explain what you have done with your projects. Even better, you could explain what parts of the process you enjoyed most?

We highly recommend having all your documentation submitted no later than 2-3 months before the start of the program. We would encourage you to apply even sooner if possible as many of our programs begin in September and/or March. A good rule of thumb is to be prepared 6-12 months in advance of applying to Lost Boys Vancouver as our class sizes are small and seats tend to fill up quickly. If you are an international student, it takes around 6-8 months to process your study permit. For Montreal, applicants should be prepared 8-12 months in advanced as we currently have two intake per year in March and September. Please contact us for information on this. 

Everything you need for the program is provided for you. The only exception is an external hard drive if you decide to take work home with you. In addition to that, we record all of our lectures so that you can return to it whenever you need. Our equipment usually stays with the studio after you leave as to replicate the studio experience. To learn more about the benefits of being part of Lost Boys and what is included in your tuition, please visit the Experience page of our website. 

Practicum depends on whether the student qualifies for the practicum or not. If you meet a certain requirement (76% grade), then the school is able to place you into a practicum. The reason for this is because we do not want our students to participate unless they are ready to be in the industry. If someone is really struggling, our main goal is to have you confident and well-prepared for what the industry demands. Essentially, having your demo reel industry ready and you as an artist feel confident for a practicum. In addition, if a student can’t perform well in a practicum, then the experience will not be beneficial. We fear that this may lower our student’s moral and highly recommend that they continue their training with us so we have you ready to go. 

Our Senior Educational Administrator will speak to those qualified for practicum and talk about the studios that the student chooses and which practicum will benefit them the most. 95% of our students end up getting hired at the studio after their practicum and we are adamant in getting our students into the industry. For more details, please contact us. 

Tuition costs can be found at bottom of our program sections! When it comes to financial plan, our advisors can send you a template that can be filled out. Essentially, a financial plan is designed to help you understand, plan out, and budget for your year here with us. Please contact us for more details. 

Don't see your question? Connect with our advisor!