About TvF
A public high school that runs like a production company.
TvF is a free New York City public high school on the Long Island City waterfront. Every student learns film and television production on real sets with real crews, and every student follows a college preparatory program. New York’s film industry helped start the school in 2008, and industry professionals still work with our students today.
- Free and public
- Founded in 2008
- Grades 9 to 14
- About 520 students
- From all five boroughs
Open houses run from October to December. See dates and times.
Scene 1
The results.
- 98%
of the Class of 2025 graduated in four years
Citywide: 81%
- 78%
graduated and enrolled in college or a postsecondary program within six months
Citywide: 63%
- 66%
of seniors earned college credit before graduating
82 of 124 seniors, 2024-25
- 126
students held summer internships in 2024-25
Up from 9 in 2021-22
Every TvF class since 2017 has graduated at a rate of 96% or higher, and NYC Public Schools rates TvF Excellent for both Instruction and Performance and Relationships with Families.
Sources: NYC Public Schools 2024-25 School Quality Snapshot; internships from TvF’s 2024-25 CTE program self-study.
Scene 2
Every year, a bigger role.
Production is on every student’s schedule every year, and each year asks more of them, the way a career would.
- 9th and 10th grade
Learn the craft.
Production 1 to 4 covers how the industry works and the jobs inside it. Each student directs five or more projects a year and crews on classmates’ shoots.
- 11th grade
Join a department.
Students join one of seven cohorts: Directing and Producing, Camera, Sound, Grip and Electric, Production Design, Post-Production, or Hair, Makeup and Wardrobe. On 16 to 18 extended days a year, crews drawn from all seven cohorts shoot the Suspense Project in the fall and the Comedy Project in the spring, recreating scenes from real films and working on set until 5 PM.
- 12th grade
Choose the next level.
Through Senior Opportunities, students choose from options including Honors Production, AP classes and the BMCC Early College Scholars program. Every senior takes Career and Financial Management, and students who pass a three-part industry assessment earn a CTE endorsement on their diploma.
- Grades 13 and 14
Stay two more years, free.
TvF is a P-TECH 9 to 14 school. Students can continue for a 13th and 14th year and work toward an associate degree at no cost.
- After TvF
Take the next role.
TvF graduates have been accepted to 72 colleges, from CUNY and SUNY campuses to NYU, Emerson, Vassar and UCLA. Alumni have also joined film and television unions.
Inside the production programCourse of study and college acceptances
Scene 3
The credits.
The film and television industry helped design TvF, and it still shows up for our students.
- Founding and lead partner
- New York Production Alliance (NYPA)Studio owners, producers, directors and unions. NYPA brought the idea for TvF to New Visions for Public Schools in 2007, and it is still our main partner.
- Founding partner
- New Visions for Public SchoolsWorked with NYPA to design and open TvF in 2008.
- Mentoring partner
- New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT)Mentoring for students, and free NYWIFT memberships for two to three graduates every year.
- College partner
- Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)Early College Scholars, now in its third year at TvF, and a path to college credit in BMCC’s Video Arts and Technology program.
- Internship hosts
- WNET
- Panavision
- Silvercup Studios
- Gotham Sound
- KAS Stage Lighting
- Eastern Effect
- Cinemaworld Studios
- Timberlake Studios
- Eclectic Props
- Contesta Rock Hair
- Navasync
- Bronx Docs
- Alien Dawn Productions
- In-house production company
- Next Step PicturesIncorporated by TvF in 2009. Students and alumni are hired to crew productions for nonprofits, schools and community organizations.
- Selected for
- NYC Public School Film FestivalTvF student films were chosen for the citywide festival in 2022 and 2024.
- Annual showcase
- The TvF Film FestivalOur own annual festival of student films, running for more than five years.
Scene 4
They come back.
TvF graduates have joined film and television unions, and many have come back to work at TvF as teachers, production teaching assistants, community coordinators and long-term substitute teachers.
- Close to 100
alumni came back for our first Alumni Night, in spring 2025
- 14 of 14
graduating classes were there, from 2012 to 2025
Scene 5
Our story.
- 2007
The idea.
The New York Production Alliance, an industry advocacy group, brings New Visions for Public Schools an idea: a high school in western Queens that connects students to jobs in production. Founding Principal Mark Dunetz, founding Assistant Principal Edgar Rodriguez and founding Director of Production Alan Metzger design it with industry professionals.
- 2008
TvF opens.
The first freshman class starts in September.
- 2009
Next Step Pictures.
TvF incorporates its own production company to hire students and alumni for real client work.
- 2012
First graduates.
The first TvF class graduates.
- 2013
A waterfront home.
TvF moves into the top two floors of the new Hunters Point Campus in Long Island City.
- 2022
On the city’s screen.
Three TvF student films are selected for the NYC Public School Film Festival, and another follows in 2024.
- 2025
Alumni Night.
Close to 100 alumni, from every graduating class since 2012, come back for the first TvF Alumni Night.
- Today
Where we are now.
- More than five years as a P-TECH 9 to 14 school
- More than five years of the TvF Film Festival
- A third year as a BMCC Early College Scholars school
- 98% of the Class of 2025 graduated in four years
Scene 6
Small school, serious facilities.
Known by name
- About 520 students from 103 ZIP codes in all five boroughs.
- Advisories of 12 to 13 students that meet four times a week, with an advisor who stays in touch with home.
- Parent and student conferences four times a year, led by each student’s advisor.
- Average classes of 26 to 28, with teachers carrying about 85 students or fewer.
- Free after-school tutoring. See the tutoring schedule.
Built for production
- 3
soundstages
- 1
set construction shop
- 1
sound mixing and design studio
- 2
editing suites, plus an editing lab
Plus a prop room, a wardrobe, a production office and a computer for every student, on the top two floors of the Hunters Point Campus, looking across the East River at Manhattan.
See it for yourself.
Open houses run from October to December. See dates and times.