Overview
The MA Film & TV is a flexible, student driven course designed to fit in with learners’ professional and personal commitments. Delivered online by guiding practice, the curriculum is adaptable to student needs and accommodates current media industry developments.
Why choose this course?
Students negotiate their own learning from the first module onwards, defining aims and approaches that are relevant and feasible within their individual context. They review and adapt these plans along with their emerging expertise to develop projects that can be applied to their local context. Student negotiated modules accommodate rapid technology-driven, creative and increasingly globalised business changes with ease.
Emerging filmmakers who enter the course with a clear sense of direction can make their project funding applications and development plans more coherent and their career plans more feasible. More established participants can enhance their digital and management skills to future proof their interactions with emerging technologies and institutions. All participants can grow their management and leadership skills by reflecting on the implementation of their plans within their specific environment.
The course is led by award-winning film and TV producer Carl Schoenfeld. Carl has over two decades’ producing experience in the film & TV industries, laying the groundwork for fresh approaches across filmmaking procedures and talent development initiatives. His ventures with the BBC, Channel4/Film4 and BFI, among others, have embraced emerging technology, explored new workflows and kick-started the international careers of the talent involved.
What will I learn?
Students apply to the course specifying their unique combination of ambitions and accomplishments. Their statement serves as a foundation for the My Learning Trajectory Assignment, detailing attainable course goals (aligned with employers’ agendas, where applicable, or industry research), outlining the strategies the student adopts to achieve them. The module My Film & TV Knowledge Base enables students to deepen their understanding of, and widen their range of practical, conceptual and theoretical investigations at postgraduate level. Following these introductory modules, students embark on their very own learning journey structured through four negotiated modules towards their personal stated - and regularly reviewed – attainment goals.
How will this course be taught?
Students will receive individual mentoring by both a postgraduate mentor and an experienced professional, who is usually working in the film or TV industries in a leading capacity. Students can also participate in regular web conferences together with peers led by a module leader, as well as optional face-to-face events coinciding with key industry networking opportunities such as international conferences and film festivals.
The course is designed for global delivery in a world where cameras and edit computers including smartphones are widely available - but expertise in using these devices in an effective way is hard to come by. Accordingly, we expect students with a professional background and ambitions to have access to their own equipment relevant to their chosen specialism, and would be able to complete practical course work submissions (which students negotiate themselves) using a recent smartphone. The course adopts a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ ethos, and students are being guided to plan practical work that they can complete relying on accessible equipment only.
How will I be assessed?
The journey starts with formative assessment of student blogs detailing the films, programmes and people that influence their plans and build towards both oral and written presentations of their plans, working towards the production of creative work and relevant business structures. As assessment on this course is highly integrative, these assignments look forward to later, student negotiated modules, and engage learners in evaluating and supporting the feasibility of their plans (whilst the evaluative parts of later assignments ask students to reflect on these earlier plans and the journey in between). Moreover, establishing a constant cycle of observing, theorising, planning and film TV programme making encourages students to experience the connections and synergy between all these stages and to develop habits that enable lifelong learning.
Screenwriters may use some of the earlier and smaller negotiated modules to lay out their story in an industry style ‘treatment’ or ‘step outline’, analyse ‘successful’ screenplays in their genre or made by intended collaborators, research future industry collaborators in depth before writing a full-length feature screenplay for their Major Project.
Directors can relate their aims, past work and approaches to industry practice, pursue a work placement if they are early in their career, or investigate and experiment with different ways to develop a visual strategy for a project, rewrite screenplays, look at performance and directing styles, or research successful case studies and potential collaborators.
Producers may evaluate a variety of past, ground breaking or potential future projects, research potential markets, audiences and finance sources including standard industry investors and crowd funding to build a detailed business case e.g. for their Major Project. Students focusing on technical grades may choose work placements (which they in the first instance identify, approach and negotiate as part of earlier negotiated course work), support practical work with in depth research including history and context, or experiment with new workflows.
Entry requirements
Those with relevant experience are encouraged to apply for admission with advanced standing through Accreditation of Prior Learning or Prior Experiential Learning, where appropriate. Students entering with advanced standing will be advised of the procedure for claiming accreditation of prior experience or learning, and of the regulations governing the amount of credit that can be claimed (see below). Advice will also be given on the extent of the match between their experience/learning and the relevant course outcomes.
Applicants have to meet their own equipment needs on this course. This includes a recent computer (laptop, desktop or versatile tablet, less than 5 years old, including software relevant to their specialism) and a broadband connection, as well as access to filmmaking equipment (e.g. camera, sound recording, postproduction facilities and other relevant resources) that may be required to produce practical course work to the technical standard that they specify in the early modules.
Each application will be required to include a ‘statement of intent’ (500 words for applicants meeting all admission criteria, 1500 words for applicants using APL/APEL), and applicants may be required to provide other supporting material, e.g. full marks/results records, or examples of their practical, professional or academic work. Eligible applicants will be interviewed by videoconferencing (e.g. Skype).
Overseas students may apply directly to the University. Students for whom English is not their first language should meet the appropriate English language standards. This course requires IELTS 6.5 or above. If you don’t have the required level of English then view our range of Pre-Sessional English courses.
How to apply
To find out more about how to apply, click on the Apply For This Course button above. Many of our courses offer a part-time study option. Note that the part-time mode of study is not applicable to international students, unless you hold a relevant visa – please check with the international office.
Please note: we have a range of taught postgraduate awards to suit your needs, from Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma to a full Master's Degree (MA, MBA, MSc, LLM). In most cases you can decide to exit at Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma level, without carrying onto the full Master's qualification.
Further information
If you click on the Order a Prospectus button above, we will send you a printed Postgraduate Prospectus; alternatively you can download a pdf prospectus.
To find out more information about Postgraduate Study at Coventry University, including finance and funding and the benefits of further study, see our Postgraduate Study pages.
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