Program Overview

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Film and TV Production - MA

Overview

Advance your skills and build your career in film and television production.

Summary

The overall aim of the MA Film and TV Production programme is to enable students to develop the advanced screen production, leadership and research skills required to facilitate the next generation of film makers, producers and researchers.

About

The MA in Film and Television is a flexible postgraduate programme which aims to produce informed, skilled and insightful film and television media creatives across a wide range of media production working in practice-based fields such as directing, producing, and screenwriting for film and TV.

Attendance

Full-time: three semesters (one calendar year in total) for MA or two semesters for PGDip and PGCert. Entry is in September.

Start dates

• September 2025

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Content

The content for each course is summarised on the relevant course page, along with an overview of the modules that make up the course.

Attendance and Independent Study

As part of your course induction, you will be provided with details of the organisation and management of the course, including attendance and assessment requirements - usually in the form of a timetable.

Assessment

Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods.

Academic profile

The teaching staff on the MA Film and Television are recognised nationally and internationally as practitioners and researchers in the fields of directing, broadcast, virtual production, documentary practice.

Modules

Year one

• Short Film Practice: This is a practical module in storytelling and production. Students will plan, direct, and shoot their own creative film work.
• Contemporary Screen Culture, Theory and Practice: This module develops the informed, contextualised and reflexive approach to production which underpins the MA course.

Year two

• The Business of Film and Television: This module aims to prepare you for the challenges of the film and TV business today, build your industry contacts, extend your entrepreneurial skills and develop greater commercial acumen.
• Final Project Practice: The dissertation / major project module is an opportunity to develop either an extended written research project of circa 4000 words or an advanced creative practice output (dramatic short film 7-10 minutes) of significant scale and ambition that will be critically reflected in the context of media theory and analysis.
• Visual Storytelling: Storytelling is crucial human cognitive skill. It surrounds us in all media and every level of culture.
• Advanced Screenwriting: This module is optional. The module teaches you to develop writing skills across a range of dramatic television formats and screenwriting practices and provides a challenging and supportive arena in which work can be critiqued and workshopped.
• Virtual Production: This module is optional. This module situates virtual production as a highly valuable narrative technique using both dialogic lectures and practical workshops.
• Social Documentary Practice: This module is optional. The module offers a critical understanding of the art of documentary filmmaking and will equip you with the technical skills and critical thinking abilities to create compelling, engaging and informative documentary films.
• Immersive Storytelling: This module is optional. This module will explore advances in immersive cinematic and audio storytelling to help you experiment with form, composition, direction and audience focus.

Standard entry conditions

• Applicants must hold a second-class honours degree or equivalent or demonstrate their ability to undertake the course through the accreditation of prior experiential learning APEL).
• A portfolio of practice work is required under APEL entry.

English Language Requirements

• The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.

Careers & opportunities

• The screen-based sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Northern Ireland economy.
• Illustrative graduate roles include:
  • Directors, producers, showrunners
  • Screenwriters for Film, television and streaming media
  • Cinematographers and camera operators
  • Production designers
  • Vision mixers.
  • Production Management
  • Virtual Production Supervisors

Fees and funding

• The price of your overall programme will be determined by the number of credit points that you initiate in the relevant academic year.
• Fees Credit Points| NI/ROI/GB Cost| International Cost*
  • 5 | £201.10| £494.70
  • 10 | £402.20| £989.40
  • 15 | £603.30| £1,484.10
  • 20 | £804.40| £1,978.80
  • 30 | £1,206.60| £2,968.20
  • 60 | £2,413.20| £5,936.40
  • 120 | £4,826.40| £11,872.80
  • 180 | £7,239.60| £17,809.20
  • 240| £9,652.80| £23,745.60

Additional mandatory costs

• Students may need to own/purchase items necessary to produce their practice based creative outputs.
• It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.