About Us and Who We Are
Established in 2007
The Aloha Film School is conducted by Koa Aloha Media — team leaders are professionals in the worlds of entertainment and education with extensive practical, hands-on experience in both industries.
Learn a new career in media or refine your craft with the Aloha Film School!
Work at your own pace and finish in four days, or take full advantage of our online learning platform (complete quizzes and assignments) and earn a Certificate of Completion.
Created by Award Winning Pros
We are award winning filmmakers, have worked Academy Award winning actors and we have shot more than 1,000 events and weddings over the years, worked on television shows and produced feature films. Recent awards include being voted the #1 Photography and Videography Company in Los Angeles by Thumbtack for 2015, the 2016 Best of the Knot for Videography and Photography, and the 2015 Best of Huntington Beach in Video Production. And at Koa Aloha Media, our films have been in numerous festivals, had worldwide distribution, and won more than 50 awards.
Earn Certification
If you choose to complete the quizzes and assignments for each course, you can earn individual course certificates as well as program certification in a field of emphasis.
Film, Media, Photography, More!
Professional courses and programs in a variety of film and media arts for the casual hobbyist or the hopeful professional looking to refine and hone their skills.
Individually Paced
While the courses are designed to be completed in four days, you can work at your own pace, revisit specific lessons and units, and track your progress toward completion.
From Experienced Educators
In addition to having extensive experience in the entertainment and media industries, the Aloha Film School is designed and operated by long-time educators as well.
Online Resources
Each course supplies a variety of online resources accessible while enrolled in the class. While we may occasionally recommend additional reading or viewing, each course is self-contained.
Why the Aloha Film School and what is the 4-Day Philosophy?
While there are many fine film and broadcasting schools, nothing beats hands-on experience. The aim of the Aloha Film School is to give students a vast, practical knowledge in just 4 days. Do the courses have to take 4 days only? No, but at the core, enrollees can get the key elements in that time, and go into even greater depth should they choose to. While the core elements can be completed in 4-days, our courses offer a semester’s worth of curriculum if you use them to their fullest.
And some more info …
About The Founder
About
The director and founder, Brian Barsuglia, has been an educator and filmmaker for more than 20 years. “I learned more about the entertainment industry after 4 days on set, than in four years of college,” notes Barsuglia. “This is one of the driving forces behind the 4-Day Film School, to share a practical working knowledge to help get people up and running as quickly as possible.”
In Production
Barsuglia started out as a production assistant on America’s Funniest People, worked as a camera operator and editor at one of the country’s largest producers of infomercials in the 1990s; worked in film post-production with companies like MGM, UA, Buena Vista, Sony Classics; produced feature films and Television shows; has professionally worked as a newspaper/magazine editor publishing more than 400 articles on the national, regional and local levels. Additionally, he has shot photo and video for more than 1,000 events and weddings.
In Film
Additionally, he founded the very successful SoCal Film Festival in 2005 and launched FlipsideTV in 2006, AlohaStream in 2020, and founded the entertainment publication Influx Magazine in 1997. Barsuglia directed the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, featuring two Oscar winning actors, including the final role of Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney, alongside Margaret O’Brien. The movie went on to win 17 awards. He has since produced the multi-award winning films The Electric Man (Tom Sizemore, Eric Roberts) and Amber Road (William McNamara, Robert LaSardo, Tom Sizemore).
In Education
In the field of education, Barsuglia has taught regularly at the college and high school levels since 1996. He has been in many leadership roles, serving as a chair in multiple departments, overseeing the accreditation process as a WASC coordinator, developing curriculum for more than a dozen UC approved courses, and he is currently supervising and developing a newly formed Film and Media Arts Department at a Southern California high school.