Dear Seattle Film Institute community, 

We write to update you on an important decision that SFI has made in our ongoing effort to restore a vibrant and full experience starting with the 2021 fall term. 

Starting with Fall Term—2021, Seattle Film Institute will require the COVID-19 vaccination for all students, faculty, and staff who are present on campus.  We will provide religious and medical exemptions and offer low residency options for filmmaking students who will not be able to attend on-ground. 

We regard this decision as essential to ensuring the health of SFI students, faculty staff, and our community.  Seattle Film Institute is proud and appreciative of the efforts that our community has made since in the onset of the pandemic.  Adherence to our rules and protocols has enabled us to maintain a COVID-19 test positivity rate of just 0.02% since June 2020.   

Last fall, we asked our community to work with us to keep our productions safe and to ensure the safety of our student film sets by taking part in COVID-19 Health and Safety training and serving in essential roles as Covid Compliance Officers (CCO). You did it and our entire community has helped maintain its academic standards and dedication to film production training throughout the current academic year. The vaccine will push us that much closer to the normal campus life we are so eager to restore. 

We remain, however, in an uncertain state.  Rates of infection and hospitalization across the world remain high. We all hope for, and are striving to ensure, a far brighter picture once the fall term starts in September. 

More broadly, our fall plans continue to take shape, with the goal of welcoming all students who are able to join us in person back to campus. You will receive a series of updates about these plans in the coming weeks and months. 

David Shulman 

President. Seattle Film Institute 

 Monique Anair 

Associate Director, Seattle Film Institute 

 Laura Victor 

COVID-19 Task Force Lead

 Chris Blanchett

Communications Director