Program Overview
The MA Film and Creative Enterprise at the University of Reading blends film production with business, law, and entrepreneurship studies. Students develop filmmaking skills, explore industry trends, and gain knowledge in areas such as film programming and data protection, preparing them for careers in the creative industries. The program features collaborations with Henley Business School and the School of Law, as well as connections to Reading's thriving film hub.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The MA Film and Creative Enterprise program at the University of Reading combines a passion for the arts with studies in law, management, and entrepreneurship. The program is a collaboration between the School of Arts and Communication Design, Henley Business School, and the School of Law. Graduates will be prepared for careers as filmmakers, creative producers, film programmers, or in the creative industries more generally.
Outline:
Compulsory Modules:
- Exploring Screen Practices: Develop production and filmmaking competencies through short practical projects supported by workshops and masterclasses. Gain an understanding of the relationship between creative processes and critical analysis, while enhancing professional skills in screen media.
- Film: Creative Peaks and Industries: Explore common tropes and cross-pollinations across the creative peaks of film productions and movements from around the world. Focus on new cinemas and waves, and booms of production, analyzing blockbusters along with indigenous landmarks to demonstrate how they compare and interrelate through portrayals of shared desires and concerns.
- Film Programming and Film Festivals: Study different modes of programming and organizing arthouse, alternative, and experimental venues, as well as film festivals. Explore how the pool of world festivals influences funding and distribution of different productions. Taught through dynamic seminars, workshops, and group projects led by academics and industry representatives.
- Film Project or Dissertation: Conduct independent research, with the advice and support of teaching staff, and demonstrate knowledge and skills in film studies through an extended project. Examine how the screen body generates meaning, as well as ethical issues of access to representation, visibility, marginalization, and consent. Through examples of product commercialization in creative industries, develop skills of cost-benefit analysis of a project and financial appraisal of new ventures.
- Adaption across Stage and Screen: Explore the processes of artistic adaptation in film, television, and theatre, and engage with the critical, cultural, and political considerations surrounding this practice. Gain an understanding of a broad range of adaptation practices, including page to stage/screen, fanfiction, intercultural retellings, and documentary theatre.
- Management in Creative and Cultural Organizations: Explore organizations that are engaged in creative or cultural activities, and understand the challenges they face and how these influence the way they operate. Examine how organizations from various sectors seek to promote (and control) creativity to enhance their innovation and efficiency.
- Data Protection and Emerging Issues in Copyright Law: Explore data protection and copyright, including the legal protection afforded to privacy and personal data and the processing of personal information in the UK and EU regulatory framework. Learn how to critically assess the day-to-day operation of data protection and copyright issues – including those related to creative work and authorship – and participate in cutting-edge discussions around scholarship and case law.
Assessment:
Assessment methods may include essays, presentations, group projects, and a final dissertation or film project.
Teaching:
The program is taught by prestigious scholars and experienced industry professionals. Students will benefit from working alongside students in Business and Law, opening up opportunities for building connections and enriching their understanding of the creative industries.
Careers:
Graduates of the MA Film and Creative Enterprise program will be in a strong position to pursue start-up opportunities on their own, take managerial roles in the creative sector, or embark on further scholarly research into the arts and creative industries.
Other:
The program is based in the department of Film, Theatre, and Television, situated at the heart of the University's Whiteknights campus. Reading is one of the fastest-developing film hubs in the UK, with the construction of a major film studio just a few miles from campus. The university is also only 25 minutes from London Paddington by train, allowing students to join regular theatre, cinema, and film festival trips.
- New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £10,800
- New international students: £22,350