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Our MA in International Film Business aims to train the next generation of innovative executives for the international film industry.
We will teach you about film finance and sales, distribution and marketing, creative management and development, digital strategy and festival curation and programming.
You will learn about the impact technology is having on the industry and gain insider access to a range of events including the Berlin Film Festival and European Film Market.
The London Film School is a world leading postgraduate filmmaking school and you will have the opportunity to access their extensive expertise, attend master-classes and industry events organised by the school as well as the opportunity to benefit from working with an industry mentor as part of the dissertation.
As you might expect from a ground breaking programme of study, assessment will be more than just essays. Instead you will give presentations, pitch ideas, and take on negotiation exercises. During your first term at the University of Exeter you will design, promote, and deliver a pop-up cinema event in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.
If you’re serious about pursuing a career in the film business this MA will give you the chance to develop the key business skills and networks you will need, and benefit from mentoring by leading UK and European industry professionals.
The MA in International Film Business is co-directed by Angus Finney, of The London Film School and Professor Will Higbee at the University of Exeter.
Angus is the author of The International Film Business, Project Manager of the Film London Production Finance Market, and a former Director of Renaissance Films. A well-known authority on the industry, he has executive producer credits for films such as Candy (2006), Dear Frankie (2004), and Disco Pigs (2001).
Professor Higbee has particular expertise in French and African cinema as well as broader issues in national and international film. His research has been widely published and he is a regular participant in film festivals and events around the world.
Together they will guide you through an intensive year that goes beyond the course content and into the reality of working in the international film industry.
As an MA International Film Business student you will have access to the world-renowned expertise of the London Film School and the academic excellence and research resources of the University of Exeter.
Your first term will be taught by leading film and business academics at Exeter where you will undertake a global survey of international film production, distribution and exhibition strategies and trends, and study business strategy, accounting and finance, intellectual property and entertainment economics. You will have the opportunity to examine innovative business models and the rapidly changing digital landscape of independent film.
At the London Film School you will take part in talks, master classes and question and answer sessions with film makers, as a graduate of the MA you will have access to the knowledge and contacts few programmes can offer their alumni. You’ll study the entertainment value chain through seminars delivered by London Film School staff and industry professionals, and a further series of intensive full-day seminars exploring film business innovation.
While there is no requirement to make a film as part of the MA, you can take the initiative in the second and third term to work independently, outside of the programme, with other LFS students who are studying on the MA screenwriting or filmmaking.
In your second term you will take part in our field trip to the Berlin International Film Festival, including access to the European Film Market, which is a business to business event not open to the public.
The Berlinale takes place in February and is one of the world's oldest and most important international film festivals. About 400 films from all around the world are screened each year at the festival, most of which are international or European premieres.
As well as the excitement of premieres and the films in competition, the Berlinale is an important place for film industry executives to do business. The Berlinale hosts both the European Film Market and the International co-production market, where around 400 companies are represented. The festival also organises a variety of workshops, panel discussions and film programmes.
• The opportunity to study Film Studies at an advanced level.
• An emphasis on international and transnational cinemas.
• Both core and specialist modules are assessed by essay.
• Two specialist modules provide you with the opportunity to transfer and apply the theoretical knowledge and research skills acquired in the core module to a more concrete level of intellectual investigation, focusing on the creation of meaning and aesthetic value in the context of global dynamics of cultural production and distribution.
• The specialist modules vary annually and reflect current staff research interests. Emphasis throughout the year is placed on individual research.
* Film Studies was ranked first in Scotland for world leading and internationally excellent research in the UK Research Excellence Framework 2014.
* Senior expertise of high profile scholars, such as Professor Robert Burgoyne, Professor Richard Dyer, Mr Jean Michel Frodon and Professor Dina Iordanova, all internationally known and respected leaders in the field .
* Regular visits from high-profile film critics, film. The most recent have been celebrated Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán, who in April 2015 visited the Department and attended a screening of two of his films, followed by a Q&A session.
* The new programme in Global Cinema: Managing and Cultural Curation, is offered out of the Institute for Global Cinema and Creative Cultures (IGCCC: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/globalcinema ) which capitalise on achievements, global connections and on our reputational advantages as leaders in the study of global culture, film circulation and film festivals.
In learning and teaching, St Andrews sets the highest of standards and attracts students from all over the world with understandably high expectations. In its first five-yearly review in 2009, the Department’s teaching provision achieved the highest possible commendation. Teaching and research are closely co-related, and postgraduate teaching is informed by the staff’s research activity.
At St Andrews, we investigate cinema as a key form of cultural output and as the dominant type of creative expression. Focusing on the global dimension, our programmes cover key aspects of Film Studies through the lens of transnational cultural studies.
Film Studies at St Andrews is committed to questioning the traditional view of what is ‘normal’ cinema. We attempt to uncover the agendas (be they national, ‘western’, cultural, commercial, industrial, and so on) that define how we think about cinema, both in terms of the kinds of films we watch for pleasure, and those we study at university. There is much to be learned by studying what is produced at the margins of dominant societies, in addition to the canonical films of Hollywood and the European art house. We are interested in exploring the ways in which racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual subcultures conceptualise their identities. Similarly, we are keen to look at films produced at the periphery of established nations, co-productions between smaller players struggling to survive in the global marketplace and popular genre films often deemed unworthy of high-brow critical attention. Similarly, we
look at films that focus on transnational communities or appeal to international markets that deal with lesser-known histories and are made in foreign languages but are nonetheless worthy of critical examination and intellectual engagement.
Studying film at St Andrews will help you master a range of advanced research skills and acquire knowledge related to the construction and analysis of the moving image, the past and present day realities of various national and regional film traditions, the dynamics of the global film industry, and the theoretical approaches related to film.
The Department is housed in its own buildings, in North Street. They are within easy walking distance of the University Library, local cinema and town centre. The Department is well resourced with a dedicated teaching room. Recently the Department has started to use the wonderful facilities at the nearby Byre Theatre for most of our seminars, and for other film-related activities. MLitt classes are usually held at the Byre. A Film Studies Postgraduate Study Centre houses a DVD collection, postgraduate workspaces, viewing stations and off-air recording facilities.
At St Andrews you will be exposed to a rich and diverse film programme. Regular course-related film showings take place in a custom-built theatre. In addition, a range of screenings takes place across the University during term time, featuring films related to anthropology, international relations, and history.
St Andrews has excellent library provision, with book, journal and other information resources in Film Studies at a level consistent with an international centre of excellence. The Main Library hosts one of the best collections of international cinema on DVD and video (over 9,000 titles). The Library also holds over 1,000,000 print monographs, over 32,000 electronic books, and substantial journal title holdings in print and over 33,900 full-text electronic titles. Well over 2,000 monographs are classified under Film Studies and related subjects. There are holdings of approximately 100 film, television and media-related journals, of which about 65 are available electronically; there is also networked access to various databases, including Box of Broadcasts, Film Indexes Online and Film & Television Literature Index Full-Text.
In our media saturated culture, the opportunities for Film Studies graduates are remarkably diverse. Directly related are careers in academia, creative industries, development, distribution, film festival/cinema programming, and arts administration.
A Film Studies degree opens doors to many other spheres, including media management, film and TV research, journalism, publishing, advertising, cultural entrepreneurship, nongovernmental organisations, marketing, public relations and education. Recent destinations include: Junior Assistant Producer, European Tour Productions (IMG Media); Adjunct Instructor, SUNY (State University of New York) at Oswego; Consultant for Propel London Media.
This innovative new course offers the opportunity to gain both the vital skills and critical awareness necessary to pursue a career in the diverse areas of contemporary film curation and exhibition, whether within the industry or within the field of research. This could include curation within a museum or arts centre; festival management; exhibition, both theatrical and online; or cinema programming.
A range of placements with industry partners including The Tetley, a leading centre for contemporary art housed in the former Tetley brewery, and Leeds International Film Festival, will allow you to see this in action, providing you with the practical skills you need to successfully curate and exhibit films.
Classroom-based modules will explain the theory behind programming, archiving and film exhibition using case studies including cinemas, art galleries and festivals amongst others.
You will be joining the Northern Film School, one of the best-known film and television schools in the UK, whose staff and students have been making innovative and award-winning films for more than 25 years. In this collaborative environment, you will work alongside filmmaking students, sharing ideas and inspiration with fellow creative professionals.
Industry visitors and successful alumni will visit to share their experiences and you will have the opportunity to build your networks through film festival visits and events at the University. Previous students have visited CineYouth Film Festival in Chicago and regularly show their work at Sheffield DocFest. Our academic staff have premiered their films at FrightFest. Leeds is also home to the Leeds International Film Festival, so you will have ample opportunity to see how a professional event is run by experiencing it yourself.
The School's research expertise will feed into your learning, helping you to understand the context of different audiences. For example, the Film School's CINAGE project which began in 2013, explores the EU's recommendations for healthy, active ageing by engaging older people in contemporary cinema.
You will be taught by expert staff including Visiting Lecturer Jason Wood who helped to develop the course. Jason is the Artistic Director of Film at HOME, Manchester. He is also a Research Professor of Film at Manchester School of Art and the co-director (with Simon Barker) of the experimental Ballard adaptation Always (crashing). Previous publications for Faber include: The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema, Nick Broomfield: Documenting Icons and The Curzon Faber Book of New British Cinema (with Ian Haydn Smith). He is currently completing a memoir with Green Gartside/Scritti Politti and writing a history of recent Iranian Cinema (both for Faber).
Keith Dando, who heads the School's taught postgraduate programmes, has an extensive range of experience in film marketing, distribution and exhibition. Keith has curated a nimber of film screenings, including Northern Film School showcases at the Leeds International Film Festival and The Royal Armouries, and was co-founder, director and programmer of the Liverpool Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
Dr Steven Gerrard has spent many years developing collaborative projects with partners as diverse as Swansea Football Club, the Musuem of Welsh Life, and the National Trust.
There will also be guest lecturers and masterclasses by current industry film curators and programmers who will ensure that you are kept up to date with the latest developments in the sector as they are happening.
With your specialist knowledge, you could enter a range of diverse careers with film and moving image at their heart. Areas such as film festival programming, archiving and restoration, museum curation, film exhibition and distribution (theatrical and online), community arts and cinema management will all be open to you.
This intensively taught programme is designed for artist filmmakers who want to develop their practice and their professional networks to a level that enables them to work within the art and film worlds.
This course is a twelve-month, intensively taught practice-based MA aimed at graduates and/or artists working within the field of moving image who wish to achieve a professional level in their practice with the support of an Art Department that has an exceptionally high concentration of accomplished artist filmmakers.
The programme is centred around the individual experience and knowledge that each student brings to the programme toward developing them as highly reflective and committed practitioners, as artist filmmakers who want to innovate in the expanding field of moving image within the context of artists’ film production, exhibition, reception and distribution.
The programme aims to enhance students’ professional potential by subjecting the process of thinking about, making, and exhibiting moving image works to critical scrutiny, reflection and discussion. Applicants apply with a proposal for a moving image project to ensure that they are suitably equipped to benefit from a focused, practice-based, student-centred curriculum.
Students are encouraged and supported to develop their own areas of interest and research through their primary project and dissertation, the development of which is supported through one-to-one tutorials with core staff and guest lecturers, as well as through seminars, lectures, screenings, study visits and a professional development programme that includes mentoring, master classes and workshops with leading professionals and affiliated organisations from within the international field of artists’ film and moving image.
How The Programme Is Structured
There is one route for successful completion of the MA Artists’ Film & Moving Image programme: one full time calendar year.
Students accepted onto the programme will already have outlined their key interests in their project proposal. It is from this starting point that you will be supported in developing your project through various teaching modes, including tutorials, seminar presentations, research skills training, workshops, mentoring and master classes with relevant professionals, which continue across the three terms of the programme.
Teaching is largely constituted of student-centred learning, guided independent research and studio practice, taking place across the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms leading to a final degree exhibition in July. The remainder of the summer is meant for completion of the dissertation, which is submitted at the end of August.
The programme has three core summative modules that run simultaneously. All parts of the programme are mandatory. There are no optional modules on the programme.
Modules:
What You Will Be Expected to Achieve
You will be expected to complete a significant moving image project over the duration of the programme, which will be exhibited in a Final Degree Exhibition, alongside a Research Portfolio and a Dissertation. By working on and realising these three achievements you will develop a unique combination of practical, cognitive and analytical skills that will enable you to critically and constructively analyse your own practice in relation to a wider historical and contemporary context, and act upon this understanding through your practice and writing.
You will be expected to integrate the various taught elements across the modules on the programme toward working independently to develop your project, and to engage with the opportunities afforded by the programme to develop your professional practice as artist filmmakers.
You will develop a body of historical and theoretical knowledge that enables you to think and write critically about contemporary artists' film, exhibition strategies, distribution networks and its social and cultural contexts.
Students will be assessed by project presentations leading to three examination elements: Research Portfolio, Final Degree Exhibition, and Dissertation. All three elements must be passed to successfully complete the programme.
The degree of MA Artists’ Film & Moving Image is awarded to students who have successfully passed all three elements of assessment.
Download the programme specification. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.
Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
The MA Artists’ Film & Moving Image is designed to provide you with an understanding and experience of artists’ moving image practice that has a breadth of outcomes and a variety of transferable skills in the knowledge that the professional field demands creative and practical flexibility.
Students completing the programme should be able to establish themselves as practitioners of significance in the field of contemporary art, film and moving image and related professions, including: independent artist filmmakers, academics, teachers, curators, writers, critics, as well as institutional and independent innovators.
Throughout the duration of the programme you will be introduced to and work alongside leading professionals from within the field of Artists’ Film, through workshops, seminars and one-to-one meetings. This will contribute to your establishing your own professional network, as well as providing significant experience and understanding of the processes of production, display and distribution of artists’ film and moving image.
The Department of Art has a long and continuing record of alumni establishing professional careers and achieving considerable success in the field, including nominations to and winners of the Derek Jarman Award, the Turner Prize and the Oscars, alongside and in addition to alumni who show their work internationally at museums, public and commercial galleries, as well as on national television, international film festivals and biennales.
