Master Your Craft

Filmmakers Academy was founded by Lydia and Shane Hurlbut ASC and began as Hurlbut Visuals in 2009 to educate and inspire filmmakers of all skill levels. The company began as a way for Shane to share his many years of experience as a filmmaker, his pioneering spirit with new cutting-edge technologies, and his theoretical and practical knowledge on both commercial and feature films.
The couple began Filmmakers Academy to share what took Shane 20 years of trial and error to learn on his own. Filmmakers Academy’s lessons contain field tested knowledge and innovation from feature films that catapult the career of a filmmaker by focusing them on what they need to know to succeed. The courses save professionals both time and money by directly delivering the experience of industry professionals.

Through the ongoing creation of original content, Shane and his highly-experienced team test new products and experiment with innovative techniques which they share with Filmmakers Academy members. Their goal is to ignite the passion and dreams of artists and filmmakers.

In 2021, the expansion of Filmmakers Academy was guided by Lydia Hurlbut as CEO of the Academy. With all of the advancements comes the growth of the business with new professionals of diverse backgrounds and experiences, who are invited as trusted colleagues that have helped Shane as a cinematographer.

Lydia and Shane’s talents naturally combine to provide an immersive learning experience to help filmmakers fast-track their careers, producing opportunities for themselves that were previously unimaginable.