Tomorrows Filmmakers Review (2023) – My Honest Opinion

This is a review of Tomorrows Filmmakers, a Christian Film Academy.

• Is Tomorrow’s Filmmakers worth it?
• Is now a good time to buy Tomorrows Filmmakers?
• Will it help you make a living with filmmaking?

Spoiler alert: Tomorrows Filmmakers is worth buying. If you have the budget for it, their companion course, 90 Day Filmmaker, makes the package even better.

To view pricing on an exclusive bundle of 90 Day Filmmaker with Tomorrows Filmmakers, click here.

I’m constantly trying to find new ways to elevate my filmmaking and when I ran across Tomorrows Filmmakers I saw a number of things that piqued my interest.

As someone who has a 4-year degree in filmmaking, has taken Full Time Filmmaker, Unscripted Studio, and many other online courses, does Tomorrows Filmmakers do enough to separate itself and even add to what the others have brought to the online filmmaking world?

A Note About the Phrase “Online Christian Film Academy”

“Furthering God’s Kingdom Through Film”

“We must invest in the training of the next generation of filmmakers to introduce people to the truths of God’s Word. Film and video is a powerful tool, and I support doing it for God’s glory.”

Direct quote from the opening lesson of the course.

You may be wondering what exactly this phrase means and how it pertains to the course and teachings. The phrase is more of a guiding principle that helps align the style and what is included or not included based on Christian values. The main instructor for the core course, Justus McCranie, does reference Christianity at some points throughout the videos but it is not a focus. The best way I can think to explain this is that the messaging for this course would connect even deeper to those with Christian roots yet is not so Christian that it would drive someone away who isn’t.

I thought this was worth noting as I was curious myself as to what exactly an Online Christian Film Academy was or meant.

Let’s take a deeper look at Tomorrow’s Filmmakers and see if it’s a good fit for you.

What is Tomorrow’s Filmmakers?

Tomorrow’s Filmmakers is an Online Christian Film Academy created by founder Justus McCranie. With a “Christian Worldview” (their words), they aim to help filmmakers learn the skills they need to in order to achieve their dreams. Notably, the price point for Tomorrow’s Filmmakers is lower than its competitors.

Here are the benefits you can expect by joining the Online Christian Film Academy:

Courses Offered by Tomorrow’s Filmmakers

As of 2021, Tomorrow’s Filmmakers offers a TON of courses (they call them cinema courses) when you join their online program. The full list includes:

• Core systematic training to learn about Cameras, Lenses, Lighting, Audio, Gear, Editing, & Business
• Improvised Storytelling
• Cinematography
• Weddings
• Real Estate
• Music Video
• Travel
• Timelapse
• Directing
• Short Films
• VFX
• Acting
• Grading
• Storyboarding
• Composing
• Writing
• Stop-Motion
• Makeup
• Stunts
• Mobile Filmmaking

Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Course Content Style

Justus, the founder and instructor for the core content of Tomorrow’s Filmmakers, is a strong presenter of information. The videos are well-organized, the content of each video is well thought out, and the videos are very in-depth.

If you learning about zoom lenses, for example, the video is 16:52. When I first looked at this, I was surprised and couldn’t really believe there would be even 16:52 of content for this. But, to my surprise, there is a lot of good information, especially for beginners, that I knew about but didn’t even think about since I learned about it long ago.

One example of this is why the image gets darker on some lenses when you zoom in. This is because, on cheaper zoom lenses, the aperture number cannot go as low and gets adjusted based on how far the zoom is in or out. For beginners, the videos go very in-depth and do a great job covering things that you need to know.

The Next Step Challenge

Tomorrow’s Filmmakers does something very smart that I like which is including a “Next Step Challenge” for each of their videos. These are short activities listed for each of the videos that give you the opportunity to practice what you have learned from the video. For example, the Next Step Challenge for Zoom Lenses is:

Next Step Challenge
Take out your Zoom lens and practice shooting several different scenes with it under different types of lighting. Keep working with it until you become good enough to teach a class on Zoom lenses. And if you don’t have a Zoom lens, see if you can borrow one or rent one for a week or so until you’ve got the whole Zoom lens thing down pat.

This is a great addition as it gives you ideas on how to practice what you’ve just learned for every video.

The Cinema Courses are Very Impressive

The main separator of Tomorrow’s Filmmakers from other similar courses is its list of Cinema Courses, or mini-courses. These range from Cinematography all the way to even a Make-Up class.

To see a full list of the courses, you can click here.

It’s very impressive to see such a wide range of topics included in the purchase of Tomorrow’s Filmmakers. Not only that, but these courses are very in-depth. The Cinematography Cinema Course, for example, covers a ton of topics that are incredibly useful, especially for those interested in Cinematography. From Set Etiquette to Selecting Your Crew and Choosing Directors, you are learning some very cool concepts here that I haven’t really seen covered in many other courses. The quality of the teaching is also very high.

Tomorrow’s Filmmakers VS Full Time filmmaker

If you had to choose one online film school to join, which one should you choose – Tomorrow’s Filmmakers or Full Time Filmmaker?

For me, the answer was both. I know many people in the Full Time Filmmaker course also own Tomorrow’s Filmmakers and vice-versa. Personally, I enjoy the additional topics covered by Tomorrow’s Filmmakers but connect really well with the teaching style and scope of what the Full Time Filmmaker team covers. Additionally, Full Time Filmmaker covers many business aspects of filmmaking that are not covered in Tomorrow’s Filmmakers.

Do I think one is better quality than the other? I think they are both very strong offerings for what they are trying to accomplish. My best recommendation would be to see which one you enjoy the teaching of more and also take a look at your budget. I really don’t think you can go wrong with either of these options.

90 Day Filmmaker by Justus McCranie

It’s worth mentioning that there is a course by the same people who brought you Tomorrow’s Filmmakers called the 90 Day Filmmaker. In short, Tomorrow’s Filmmakers teaches you all the skills for filmmaking and 90 Day Filmmaker teaches you the business side. Full Time Filmmaker has grouped both the skill and business into its 1 course.

So, to be completely fair, a better comparison would be Full Time Filmmaker versus the combined Tomorrow’s Filmmaker and 90 Day Filmmaker. If this is the case, the price becomes very similar. Though, I’m comfortable enough, after watching a number of both of their school’s videos, that you can find success from either of the courses if you follow what they teach – it can really just boil down to personal preference of teacher and which videos you enjoy more. You can read my full review of 90 Day Filmmaker here.

If you are still on the fence on which one to buy, this is what I would recommend:

1. Look through each of the film school’s pages and look through the scope of the content they cover. If one covers content you want to learn that the other one doesn’t, then go for that course.
2. If they both cover the same type of content you want to learn, watch videos from both of the schools from their YouTube channel or from their online training, like Full Time Filmmaker’s webinar or the video on Tomorrow’s Filmmakers page. See which one connects with you better and make a decision.
3. If you are still unsure of which to buy, you may be able to find a better fit on my article here that shows you the best online filmmaking courses. Though, since they both offer money-back guarantees, I would alternatively recommend just signing up for one and getting a refund if it’s not a good fit.

The Verdict for Tomorrow’s Filmmakers

For filmmakers of all levels, Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Online Christian Film Academy has something for everyone. The core training is in-depth and well-suited for beginners and the Cinema Courses are strong mini-courses around topics that many other similar courses don’t cover. They teach with a Christian Worldview so Christians will likely connect better with the content, though I feel non-Christians can definitely still learn from them with no problems.

Also, the pricing of Tomorrow’s Filmmakers makes a filmmaking education very accessible to nearly everyone. Honestly, for the price, Tomorrow’s Filmmakers is an absolutely insane value.

Tomorrows Filmmakers has also been listed as the best budget filmmaking course and best budget real estate videography class of 2022 on my blog.

With their money-back guarantee, there is no reason not to give it a try and see if it’s a good fit for you.

Happy learning and I hope this review was helpful for you!