As a huge Casey Neistat fan I was really pumped when he announced he was launching an online film school. Casey promoted the school on his infamous YouTube Channel, and the promise to deliver something extraordinary was the only motivation I needed to sign-up!

The Good

If you’re a huge Casey fan, you’ll appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at his approach to filmmaking. The step-by-step breakdown of his process and watching him in action are incredibly motivating and inspiring.

If you are new to filmmaking and looking for a solid start: learning the basics of storytelling, knowing what gear to use, and getting an introduction to editing – this is a great stepping stone into videography.

If you like structured learning, this course is broken down into daily “classes” that teach one concept at a time. Daily modules, followed by prescribed and easy-to-follow homework instructions are also a huge bonus.

The Not-so-good

I hate to repeat myself but: If you’re a huge Casey fan, you’ll appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at his approach to filmmaking… and that’s about it. I really wanted this to be so much more and was kind of let down when the class just felt a little hoaky.

The class is designed to teach one concept a day. If you’re a somewhat intermediate filmmaker, one concept a day feels painfully slow and this is equally frustrating when it comes to getting a refund.

You can drop out of the program and receive a 100% refund, but only up until the second or third day of the class. And since the structure is one concept a day, you’re only scratching the surface of the overall content. So, yes, you can bail after days 2-3, but there’s the promise of so much more, that the fear of missing out (FOMO) will prevent you from leaving. The course is designed to keep you on the edge of your seat, with (as I discovered) somewhat empty promises.

Another major disappointment is that most of the concepts are things recycled from Casey’s daily vlog. So you avid fans of Casey will recognize these concepts right away.

In fact, here’s a video from 7 years ago (from the time of this writing) that pretty much sums up the course.

Final Verdict

While it’s really cool to feel like a student of Casey, I can’t say my investment felt “good”. What’s even worse is that I didn’t walk away from the experience really learning anything that I haven’t seen on Casey’s vlog before.

Here’s a spoiler – STORY is the most important part of filmmaking. Everything else is secondary to the story you are trying to tell. Most of the concepts shared in this online school are things you can learn (for free) through simple Google and YouTube searches.

If you really want an in-depth look into how Casey approaches videos and want to watch him work, this is might be the course for you. However, I stress MIGHT given the price of the school and considering that Casey doesn’t reveal anything he hasn’t revealed in his nearly 300+ daily vlogs.

It’s going to be a hard pass for me to really recommend this to anyone.