Masters degrees in Movie Production equip postgraduates with the skills to design, produce and market films.
Taught MA courses are typical for the field, though research oriented MRes and MPhil programmes may also be available at some institutions. Entry requirements normally include an appropriate undergraduate degree such as Film Studies, Media or Design.
From start to finish producers are the driving force behind the film and television industry. They generate new projects and ideas, secure finance, manage production and strategically market the result. The producer’s role has been transformed by the advent of globalisation, digital technology and the multi-channel environment. Now more than ever, the entertainment industries need creative leadership.
Our Masters offers aspiring producers the opportunity to acquire the creative and entrepreneurial skills required to enter the rapidly changing universe of film and television. You will learn to create script ideas, work with writers and directors, manage a production thoroughly and market across platforms, we'll teach you how to navigate the financial and legal aspects of the industry, too.
The course is taught from our creative hub at Royal Holloway's central London campus, 11 Bedford Square. Our proximity to the media industry means that we can draw upon professionals for outstanding master classes, industry panels and careers events. Students are encouraged to attend The London Film Festival, MIPCOM, Berlin, and Cannes international festivals. You will also try out interning at a production company or work on the crew of a professional production.
You will learn from top talent and practice what you learn by making films, and TV programmes. The ‘Role of Producer’ and ‘Script Development’ courses are taught by Professor Jonathan Powell, one of the UK's most respected and experienced drama producers, having previously worked as Controller of BBC1 and Head of Drama for the BBC. The course leader is award winning producer and executive, Gillian Gordon who brings thirty years’ experience in Hollywood and the UK to teaching ‘Producing Workshop’.
Through master classes, industry internships and alumni partnerships, students are provided with opportunities to network with international talent and expertise, as well as building links with current Royal Holloway students and academic partners.
Core modules
The Role of the Producer
In this module you will develop an understanding of the role of the producer as the driving force in creating, managing and selling film and television products. You will look at how the independent sector works, and consider how to programme and pitch ideas. You will also examine approaches to working with creative talent.
Script Development
In this module you will develop an understanding of how to write an industry standard script report. You will learn how to analyse both film and TV scripts, and produce reports that constructively engage writers with the process of script development. You will consider the analysis of structure, character, dialogue, genre, and how to transfer feedback verbally.
Producing Workshop
In this module you will develop an understanding of how to create and pitch ideas to film, television and new media executives and financiers. You will learn the basics of script development, set procedure, scheduling, camera work, audio equipment and post production. You will consider how to develop and identify viable fiction projects and lead and manage the production of a short video, . You will work with creative talent, writers, directors, casting agents, and key craft team members, and examine how to finance and market your short film. You will put together a viable presentation package and pitch to a panel of industry professionals.
International Media Business
In this module you will develop an understanding of the global film and TV business. You will learn how to plan and conceptualise the creation and management of a sustainable media enterprise. You will examine the critical issues affecting the success or failure of film and television businesses, considering the role of financial planning in the life-cycle of visual media projects. You will also explore the wider context of finance in the development, marketing and distribution of film and television to investors, partners and government bodies, with a focus on the challenges faced by business startups.
Production Management
In this module you will develop an understanding of basic production accounting and the line management skills needed for film, TV and transmedia production. You will learn how to set-up a production company and budget, schedule, manage cash flow, and supervise a quality fiction production. You will consider how to manage 'below-the line' deals on a drama production and identify financial issues and their implications for day-to-day management. You will also examine how to manage a film crew and supervise the daily operations of a production team, and manage production costs, equipment and facility deals.
Marketing and Media Law
In this module you will develop an understanding of media marketing and promotion in film and television distribution and exhibition. You will look at social media and new trends in the global marketing of films and media projects, including cross-platform marketing. You will consider the fundamental principles of media law, including contract and intellectual property law, and examine issues of content and regulation.
Dissertation
You will produce a 10,000 word dissertation or media project on topic of your choice. You will carry out an investigation that has a clearly defined aim of study and arrive at a carefully argued set of conclusions derived from original research covering print, internet and first hand interview sources.
Assessment is carried out by a variety of methods including essays, script reports, treatments, pitching exercises, studio exercises, production papers, practical film-making, business reports and presentations.
Our close links to the film and TV production industry make this a practical course – and one that gives you building blocks for your future.
While you're on the course, we'll encourage and guide you into work placements and internships. Past students have secured placements with industry leading organisations including:
Graduates from the Department of Media Arts have gone on to work in independent television and film production, for broadcasters like the BBC and ITV, for distributors, exhibitors, talent agencies and entertainment lawyers.
This ground-breaking course is for those who want to turn their ideas and aspirations into success. Whether you plan to manage the next generation of film and television programmes, shape a career as a researcher, associate producer or production manager, or even run your own independent production company, the course will give you the practical training and theoretical grounding to help you to achieve your ambitions in the dynamic world of media production.
You may have an undergraduate qualification in a related subject or may be able to show your suitability for this programme of study through associated work-experience or evidence of and outputs from other related activities.
You will learn how to develop your ideas as viable projects and sell them in a highly competitive marketplace. Thanks to expert tuition from professionals with experience from across industry, you will become accomplished in managing productions as a producer, production manager, location manager and first assistant director. You’ll be working from a base room which provides a production office environment for planning work and seminars.
Working collaboratively with other students in related subjects, you will plan and produce your own projects and learn how to work collaboratively within a creative environment. The final production project will serve as evidence of your abilities to develop, plan and manage a project from concept to screen, and there is also an option to develop an alternative research-focused project if you prefer. The course has been awarded the ‘Creative Skillset Tick’, the industry kitemark of quality, which is awarded to practice-based courses which best prepare students for a career in the industry.
Immerse yourself in hands-on filmmaking and real production budgets on this practical course. Creativity and collaboration will be at the heart of your learning, which will take place in the University's Northern Film School, giving you access to industry-standard equipment and facilities.
Informed by professional film production techniques and processes, this course will give you the opportunity to gain specialist knowledge in key areas, including producing, directing, cinematography and editing. Throughout this learning process, you will have the support of a teaching team with current and extensive industry experience.
The course is driven by filmmaking itself, but you will also focus on theory - we want you to think, research, discuss and watch films. Drawing on established ideas and techniques used in independent filmmaking, you will be encouraged to base your productions on inspiring stories and innovative concepts.
Research Excellence Framework 2014
Research Excellence Framework 2014: 38% of our research was judged to be world leading or internationally excellent in the Communication, Culture and Media Studies, Library and Information Management unit.
As film financing, production and distribution move away from old models our course prepares you for an industry that expects you to be self reliant and self-employed.
You will be taught by practising filmmakers with experience across documentary and fiction, from cinematography to editing, some of whom can boast BAFTA and Oscar nominations. As a consequence of relationships between staff and the industry, you will have the opportunity to learn from visiting filmmakers during guest lectures and workshops. The Northern Film School is also a member of The International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT), an organisation of only the best film schools worldwide.
The School was the first in the UK to receive JAMES accreditation, in recognition of the professional expertise of our staff, our industry-standard facilities and the opportunities we provide for our students to crew on professional shoots. JAMES represents creative and technical organisations across the media industries sector such as the Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS), the Music Producers Guild (MPG), UK Screen and UK Drama. On this JAMES approved course, you will be studying the latest in industry practice and gain access to professional contacts and work experience opportunities. JAMES described us as 'a benchmark against which all other film courses need to be measured'.
At the Electric Press in Leeds city centre where the School is based, you will have access to an impressive range of facilities. These include both 16mm and digital production equipment, two production studios, edit suites, screening facilities, a props store and film and script archive.
Your course will give you a competitive edge in a challenging industry. Guest lectures from visiting professionals will enhance your career networks alongside the creative abilities and technical skills you will develop under the guidance of an experienced teaching team. The opportunity to promote your graduation film on the international film festival circuit and the chance to attend film festivals should also serve to strengthen your professional networks.
“Science fiction, fantasy, musicals, and period films offer the most obvious platform of eye-catching design, but it should be remembered that even if the subject is contemporary, or the style emulates documentary, we are still witnessing an illusion which has been designed.”
Peter Ettedgui — Production Designer
The MA Film Production course is for gifted and emerging filmmakers seeking to learn on the job, to go beyond the short film, to define themselves as artists within a working film production crew, and to gain that vital production experience demanded by the industry.
Work Placements | In line with the courses’s emphasis on industry experience, you will be encouraged to undertake, seek out short-term work opportunities in your field. These can occur when your pathway is normally not involved in a particular production stage, for example with production designers during post-production. This opportunity is available for all students, Home/EU and for International, details can be found on our Working during and after page. The experience you and other students gain through this work out in the industry enhances and -compounds the learning and collaboration on the course.
MA Film Production (Producing)
MA Film Production (Directing)
MA Film Production (Production Design)
MA Film Production (Cinematography)
MA Film Production (Editing)
MA Film Production (Sound Design)
MA Film Production (Documentary)
MA Film Production (Screenwriting)
Mirroring the working patterns of film production these named awards also reflect the degree of physical production engagement for these disciplines. With Producers, Directors and Documentary makers taking their films through all the stages from first idea, through to development, pre-production, production, post, and on right through to delivery to the audience. Whilst the disciplines of Production Design, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Design, and Screenwriting, over that same time period, will be engaged in the physical production, post of two or more films.
For the Portfolio Short Films made on the course, the budgets are seed funded. For other units, all the basic costs of materials and equipment are covered.
This course is part of Bournemouth Film School, along with BA (Hons) Film Production, MA Animation Production, BA (Hons) Animation Production, as well as BA (Hons) Visual Effects Design and Production. Together we make up the largest film school outside of London and one of few UK CILECT members.
All students are taught on specific discipline-focused and dedicated pathways. Allowing students to enhance their skills and knowledge and their ability to focus on their chosen pathway, together with its specific relation to the key aspects of the work of film production. Between course production blocks, all students are encouraged to seek out short work opportunities in the industry.
The experience gained enhances group learning and collaboration on the course. In their fourth term students undertake an industry pitching process, designed to overlap with the new student intake further increasing opportunities for group learning.
Structured in a way that builds systematically and in a logical sequence that mirrors the film industry, the course consists of four overlapping units, each building in complexity and demand. For the producing, directing and documentary pathways this will involve six or more shoots, and twelve or more shoots for the other pathways, as their numbers on the course are organised to facilitate this production engagement. This again mirrors industry experience for these pathways.
Cinematic Storytelling
This unit consists of two production blocks. The first block involves a number of exercise shoots in which student also involve themselves in script continuity and first AD roles.
The second block is a location/studio shoot of a script devised and developed by students during the unit. For this block and other productions; the BA (Hons) Film Production course students and graduates will be a valuable crewing option. All MA pathways collaborate together on these shoots.
Virtual Effects Project
This explores the realisation of expansive, action, cast heavy, costly sequence, beyond the scope of the short film. Scenes normally only possible on a large budget production which even then would be achieved by a mix of live action and computer generated imagery, such as in the opening scene of Les Miserables.
Through collaboration with the BA Visual Effects and MA Animation courses, the MA Film Production students produce a virtual action sequence using the industry standard software to cover a demanding and expansive scene of this scope.
This will then be edited, reviewed and analysed by the cohort together with experienced practicing directors, editors, producers, VFX designers and stunt arrangers. Use of green screen is an integral part of the unit. AUB has a branch of Framestore, Europe’s leading VFX company, on campus.
Portfolio Short Film
A short film shot over a week, or number of days to be determined by budget and negotiation. Using studio and/or location and image capture with Arri Film or Alexa Digital cameras. This film will be based on a script, or devised material that has been developed on the course. The expectation is that these films will have the potential to be entered into festivals.
Research and Project Development
This unit is about the genesis and development of long form/feature projects, beyond the scope of the short film. Graduates will take this out into the industry as part of their career progression. Over the first three terms this story/theme driven work for the pathways, includes research into process, feasibility and practice studies.
Bridge to the Industry
A two-day production block for this unit enables the shooting of a teaser or pilot scene. Furnished with these active projects, with industry networking, with a Portfolio Short Film and the experience gained on the course, graduates of the MA Film Production course will have a real bridge to the industry and to career development and progression.
On the MA Film Production, the learning experience is built around practical production modules, underpinned by theory that explores key developments in the history of cinema.Our aim is to nurture filmmakers who can critically reflect on the form and content of both their own work, and the work of others in the field
The course is predominantly practical, with almost 70% of learning geared towards enabling you to produce documentary and experimental films. For those whose interest is academic, there is also the possibility to replace the double project practice module with a dissertation. The course closely tracks contemporary developments in digital cinematography and sound design, actively encouraging students to create transformative cinematic responses which cross the boundaries between documentary, experimental and fictive forms. This includes:
• lyrical
• Montage
• self-reflexive
• guerrilla
• poetic
• drama-documentary
approaches which challenge the existing output of broadcast, festival and on-line exhibition. Students produce several video sequences, plus two short films and one longer film.
The course examines the 'founding' traditions of documentary and experimental fiction associated with the Lumiere Brothers and Melies and explores overlaps and points of contact between them. The learning experience is built around practical production modules, underpinned by theory exploring key developments in the history of cinema. Our aim is to nurture filmmakers who can also critically reflect on the form and content of both their own work and the work of others in the field.
• Documentary Practice
• Film Theory
• Experimental Film and Video Practice
• Film and Media Cultures
• Project or Dissertation.
The course blends theory and practice and is designed to help you build creative and critical bridges between the two, so each area of study informs and supports your other learning.
Almost 70% of the course is made up of practical workshops. These typically combine an examination of relevant film clips and approaches with discussions relating to their pros and cons. You will receive regular feedback with discussion on work in progress, test viewings with peers and staff, exhibition visits, and production of a final major piece of work. Throughout these modules, you will receive regular technical input and support.
Theory modules combine a range of approaches, including lectures, visits to the London Film Festival, student-led seminars, presentations and class discussions.
The course combines elements of formative assessment with summative approaches, so you can draw insights from peers and tutors.
Our alumni have gone on to showcase work and win awards in film festivals in the UK and internationally and secure broadcasts of their work in a range of territories.
In recent years many alumni from the course found work with production companies, broadcasters or as independent filmmakers, either in the UK, in their own country or elsewhere. We encourage our alumni to be involved with students and staff on the course and have developed a detailed database of student and alumni production expertise, to facilitate networking and the formation of crews for professional and student productions.
We also offer students the opportunity to pursue more in-depth research interests by undertaking a PhD with us.
Click the following link for information on how to apply to this course.
Information about scholarships and bursaries can be found here.
On this programme, students develop a practical and critical approach to the relationship between film production workflows, digital film technology, and creative practice. The programme seeks to develop students' creative abilities to a high professional standard, preparing them for employment in increasingly dynamic film and media sectors, and to facilitate film projects that foreground the importance of practice-based research, expertise and experimentation.
The MA route allows students to refine a critical approach to creativity in areas such as writing, directing, and producing; the MSc focuses on creative technological agendas in areas such as cinematography, editing, and VFX. To find out more about the MA/MSc in Film Production visit our blog at http://blogs.gre.ac.uk/filmproduction.
From October to April, you will attend three core courses (Cinematography 1, Production Practice, Film Research Workshop) and choose four courses from the following options: Cinematography 2, Film Screenwriting, VFX, Directing Screen Performance, Sound Design and Editing. From May to September you will undertake a final project.
You will use digital camera equipment current in the industry, including RED, Canon C300 and Arri Alexa systems. Teaching takes place in brand new film production facilities in the Stockwell Street building, which includes studios, post-production suites, and a sound studio.
Year 1
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 30 credits from this list of options.
Year 1
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Year 2
Students are required to study the following compulsory courses.
Students are required to choose 30 credits from this list of options.
Students are assessed on their film project work and creative portfolios.
This programme is aimed at students preparing to make the transition from education to employment in the film industry. The film sector needs graduates with specialist expertise, but also creative thinkers who are deadline-driven and project-minded; capable of managing digital workflows in an enterprising manner, and taking initiative. This is the kind of approach we encourage and help our students to develop.
The MA Filmmaking (Producing) will provide you with a thorough training in all aspects of producing – from the conception of an initial idea through to development, financing, production and release.
This Masters, a pathway of the MA Filmmaking, provides excellent training for a successful career as a producer. As part of the programme you'll have the opportunity to specialise in either development, where you will work with writers and directors to develop new ideas, or line producing, where you will focus more on how to run a production and a crew, and how to also take a production manager or assistant director role.
The programme is housed in a new purpose-built media facility equipped with state-of-the art teaching spaces including film and photography studios equipped with Arri lighting and Greenscreen, Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Film Editing, Animation, Digital Special Effects, Pro Tools Audio Postproduction and Foley suites.
Our studio spaces, and extensive production facilities and informal rehearsal and meeting spaces create an environment where you can discuss and collaborate with scriptwriters, actors, directors, other producers and your shoot team. We also have established relations with casting directors, agents, production designers and other professionals who will both advise you and provide their skills to enhance your productions.
You work on at least one film per term in your specialist role, culminating in a major production towards the end of the degree. In addition to your specialist area, you attend classes in related disciplines such as Film Directing and Editing and collaborate with students across specialisations on film projects. This framework is designed to stimulate collaborative practice by providing you with a breadth of filmmaking knowledge combined with a high level of expertise in your chosen filmmaking discipline.
You will have specialist teaching on the larger role of the producer:
Your studies will be guided by experienced tutors and guests from major industry players including Channel Four, British Film Institute, FilmFour, BBC Films, Film London, Shooting People, Future Shorts and a host of production and distribution companies.
For two terms you will spend a full day a week in specialised contact with your specific programme convenor, plus a further day in Screen Lab working with colleagues across the programme in a Talent Campus-style project-led learning structure with:
You will also have a variety of research projects to undertake, as well as other module options.
The third term will be taken up with your final substantive project, and in writing up a process paper on your work and research over the year.
Screen Lab
You will also advance your collaborative skills by working in teams with fiction and documentary producers and directors, cinematography and sound students, on a variety of projects and at least three scheduled films across the year.
You will leave the programme with a diverse portfolio of moving-image work that may span a variety of formats – music video, web series drama, documentary, campaign/commercial, experimental art pieces and short fiction films.
Screen School options
As well as your Editing specialism, you will undertake three short courses to enhance your other skills and critical approaches.
If you are passionate about fashioning an exciting career for yourself as a filmmaker in an environment that promotes innovative filmmaking, this course is for you.
On completing the programme, you will have the confidence, skills and hands-on experience to work in the film, television and online industries in the production field, navigating your way through production management and assistant directing roles.
In addition, you will find yourself in a media world that relies heavily on self-starting projects, you will be able to drive innovative new ideas into both established and new formats, strategise funding and marketing, and bring new and exciting opportunities to your creative team.
Possibly the most important skill we will provide you with is the rigorous discipline of working collaboratively under pressure as part of a creative team.
In addition to your practical filmmaking skills, we enable you to develop a variety of transferable intellectual, organisational and communication skills to equip you for a broad range of employment opportunities across the arts and media landscape (film, television, online, the creative arts, advertising and related hybrid forms).
Our graduates
Our producing alumni have gone on to win awards at major international film festivals (including a nomination for Best Short Film Oscar) and are active in the film, media and cultural industries around the world as fiction and documentary producers and production managers.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
Got a passion for filmmaking? Want to improve your professional showreel and boost your employability? Southampton Solent’s MA Film Production programme is ideally suited to students who want to learn advanced filmmaking techniques, working in professional studios and collaborating with expert tutors on a range of projects.
This exciting course focuses on independent filmmaking and current practices in the film industry. Students will experiment with creative ideas from the outset, taking advantage of our industry-standard facilities, training and equipment.
Along the way students will be challenged to develop their own personal style of filmmaking, exploring new ideas and collaborating with other postgraduate students. Up-to-the-minute teaching and instruction help students to build on these skills and work towards their chosen career.
Students studying in the School of Media Arts and Technology benefit from a schedule of high calibre guest speakers and visiting fellows. Recent talks have been given by Anne V. Coates (Oscar winning editor), Paul Franklin (Oscar winner for visual effects on Inception), Brian Tufano (cinematographer on Trainspotting, Quadrophenia and Billy Elliot) and Sir Alan Parker (director of Fame, Evita, Bugsy Malone, The Commitments and Mississippi Burning).
Our graduates pursue a wide range of careers. Suitable roles for graduates include: production, journalism, marketing, teaching.
Solent’s MA Film Production is well-suited to those with a bachelor’s degree in a related subject, or those with extensive industry experience in advertising, marketing or design.
The course content is ideal for those wishing to learn advanced filmmaking techniques to enhance their existing role, or move into filmmaking.
Year one
Core units
Southampton Solent’s media academy offers a comprehensive media loans scheme, giving students free access to a range of modern filmmaking equipment including high-definition (HD) video cameras and DSLR full-frame cameras. Students are also able to access a wide range of top-quality lenses and lighting kits. Investment into 4K technology has already begun, giving students access to the latest professional standards. The media academy is also home to three green-screen studios, a large visual recording studio with capacity for 200 seated audience members and a range of industry standard post-production facilities.
Many past students are running their own production businesses, working as in-house practitioners or securing budgets for creative projects through crowd-funding. This course will help students prepare for careers in video production, post-production, directing, producing and cinematography.
We have well-established industry links with ITV, the BBC, Talent TV, Glastonbury and Creamfields, giving our students access to industry professionals and up-to-the-minute experience. Past students have worked on projects for B&Q, Fat Face, Ikea, Glastonbury, Cowes Week and Camp Bestival.
We also welcome regular guest lecturers from industry. Previous speakers have included directors Michael Apted and Alan Parker, producers Claire Lewis (7 Up) and Nik Powell (The Crying Game), cinematographer Brian Tufano (Trainspotting), editors Alex Mackie (CSI and Downton Abbey) and David Gamble (Shakespeare in Love) and television and radio presenter Zoë Ball.
We host key events for Southampton Film Week, which gives students the chance to meet and network with other industry professionals.
You’ll have the opportunity to gain work experience through our two production houses: Solent Productions and Solent Creatives, which work with a wide variety of clients and media organisations.
You could be involved in writing, researching and producing work, as well as in practical film production in the studio and on location.
Film Production is a major component of Vancouver’s economy, as well as in cities across the globe. UBC has an over 45-year history of training some of Canada’s (and the world’s) brightest filmmakers and technicians. The MFA in Film Production focuses on the areas of directing, screenwriting and producing live action narrative or documentary film for students who already have a comprehensive background in filmmaking and wish to pursue a specific creative or intellectual vision in an academic environment. Our graduate and student work has screened at film festivals across the globe, and graduates have had key roles in films as diverse as District 9, 65 Red_Roses, She's a Boy I Knew and The Editor.
The film industry employs 36,000 people in Vancouver and pumps over $1 billion dollars into the local economy. UBC maintains partnerships and agreements with post-production facilities, rental houses, and professional and union organizations to facilitate student work, education, networking, and post-grad opportunities. Our faculty includes Rachel Talalay, a working director who has film and television credits in the US, the UK and Canada. Furthermore, students have the option to learn from and collaborate with UBC’s top-tier Creative Writing department and Theatre and Film Studies programs.
UBC offers the only Master's Degree in Film Production in Western Canada, and is one of the few MFA Film Production programs in the world to require an undergraduate degree in film production to be considered. Our courses are advanced and small; only 1-2 students are accepted every year out of the 30-40 that apply.
UBC MFA Film Production graduates can be found working in the film industry as producers, screenwriters, and directors. Some also choose to pass on what they have learned by working as instructors and professors at educational institutions. Many serve on the boards of film organizations or serve on juries at film awards.
Film Production is a major component of Vancouver’s economy, as well as in cities across the globe. UBC has an over 40-year history of training some of Canada's (and the world's) brightest filmmakers and technicians. The MFA in Film Production focuses on the areas of directing, screenwriting and producing live action narrative or documentary film for students who already have a comprehensive background in filmmaking and wish to pursue a specific creative or intellectual vision in an academic environment. The Joint MFA in Film Production and Creative Writing offers the same film production education but with an additional focus on screenwriting. Students in the Joint degree take additional coursework in screenwriting through the Creative Writing program and are required to write the script for their thesis film. Our graduate and student work has screened at film festivals across the globe, and graduates have had key roles in films as diverse as District 9, 65 Red_Roses, and The Editor.
The film industry employs 36,000 people in Vancouver and pumps over $1 billion dollars into the local economy. UBC maintains partnerships and agreements with post-production facilities, rental houses, and professional and union organizations to facilitate student work, education, networking, and post-grad opportunities. Our faculty includes Rachel Talalay, a working director who has film and television credits in the US, the UK and Canada. Furthermore, students have the option to learn from and collaborate with UBC’s top-tier Creative Writing department and Theatre and Film Studies programs.
UBC offers the only Master’s Degree in Film Production and Creative Writing in Western Canada, and is one of the few MFA Film Production programs in the world to require an undergraduate degree in film production to be considered. Our courses are advanced and small; only 1-2 students are accepted every year out of the 30-40 that apply.
UBC MFA Film Production and Creative Writing graduates can be found working in the film industry as producers, screenwriters, and directors. Some also choose to pass on what they have learned by working as instructors and professors at educational institutions. Many serve on the boards of film organizations or serve on juries at film awards.
*Subject to validation
The MA in Film Making offers students the opportunity to create sophisticated, professionally produced, expertly crafted films. The students’ practical and theoretical understanding of film making will be advanced by internationally renowned lecturers and award winning film makers, and is geared towards fostering committed film makers - those who come with film stories in mind and who have a strong desire to realise films with a distinct voice.
Students will have access to industry standard equipment, including high end cameras, a professional on-campus film studio, edit suites with requisite post-production software and sessions with a variety of film makers and professionals who span industry and beyond. Within the context of a highly structured production environment, students will be encouraged to experiment creatively, and explore the art of filmmaking through the craft of script writing (during which they will be able to realise a full-length feature script), expand their technical expertise and futureproof by consolidating a specialism. They may explore methods of working with actors, directing styles and the rehearsal process, as well as evolve their engagement with contributors and documentary subjects. Critical and theoretical perspectives will contextualise and underpin their experience of viewing and of making, and students are encouraged to think of their film production portfolio in terms of both career advancement and personal exploration.
As part of the course students will undertake a final major project in which they will be able to realise a quality, festival-ready short in any genre/form, which they can use to demonstrate their professional range of skills. They will also leave the course with a feature length script, which will enable them to develop a relationship with agents, and give them a full length feature project with which to launch themselves into the film making market.
A hands-on, practical course delivered through lectures, workshops, critiques, masterclasses and one-to-one tutorials make up the core of the teaching practice. All classes are delivered on two days of the week, thus allowing for work, travel and other commitments. Assessment is both practical and written.
Learn how to create sophisticated, professionally produced, expertly written, personal films
Join our team of film makers and explore the world of film making on a course which offers the perfect balance of creativity, craft and theory.
Experience a range of field trip opportunities
Join our International/European field trips to major film festivals to see works by established and emerging film makers with our BA Film Production cohort.
Benefit from our Creative Skillset accreditation which demonstrates the industry-relevant, high quality degrees
Work in the excellent multi-platform facilities of our expanding media centre to realise a series of personally developed film works which will make you festival-ready and underpin your future career development.
Benefit from our Creative Skillset accreditation, links to film festivals and industry, as well as visits from specialists/practitioners who will provide insider knowledge on this rapidly evolving field.
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