Program Overview

Business Management for the Creative Industries (Animation), BA (Hons)

Overview

This course combines your passion for animation and visual storytelling with the commercial insight, entrepreneurial mindset, and strategic skills you need to thrive as a leader and innovator in the creative industries.

Why study business in the Tees Valley?

Explore the world of business in our unique, dynamic region. With landmark developments, ongoing regeneration, and opportunities for students and graduates, the Tees Valley is your gateway to a thriving career.

Top reasons to study this course

• Global recognition: benefit from Teesside’s international reputation in animation education, ranked 19th globally (Animation Career Review 2024) and ScreenSkills Select accreditation.
• Industry connections: engage with global brands and creative leaders at events like Animex – one of the world's biggest festivals of animation and computer games – and through client briefs, mentoring, and live collaborations.
• Entrepreneurial opportunities: access support from Launchpad, our on-campus start-up incubator, where over 500 student-led businesses have launched.
• Career-ready skills: explore emerging technologies, digital business models, and the impact of AI on animation production and distribution.

Course details

Course structure

Year 1 core modules

• Animation Principles
  • Learn the principles of 2D and 3D animation, using hand-drawn techniques and industry-standard software.
  • Explore the history of animation and motion design, from its earliest beginnings to today’s diverse styles and applications.
• Business Enterprise
  • Study the circular economy and the business opportunities it presents.
  • Develop your own business idea and create a venture with social impact that's part of the circular economy.
• How to be a Responsible Leader
  • Reflect on your own skills and attributes, and explore the importance that organisations and society place on individual values and behaviours.
• The Future of Work
  • Examine how emerging technologies are impacting business and identify opportunities for the future.

Year 2 core modules

• Moviola
  • Work in a team to produce an animation or visual effects sequence based on an industry-style brief.
• Operating Globally
  • Develop your cultural awareness through a business lens, focusing on common humanity and equal worth.
• Professional Research and Development
  • Experiment in a specialist area of your choice in animation, games, and visual effects.
• Social Media Management
  • Create content and manage social media accounts, experimenting with different types of content and analysing the results in real-time.

Final-year core modules

• Final Project
  • Utilise the skills acquired throughout the course to work on an individual project, investigating a practical business issue, a relevant issue of academic interest, or a live problem-solving project related to the subject.
• Narrative Design and Integration
  • Explore the theory and integration of games narrative concepts.
• Reimagining the Future of Business and Society
  • Unpack the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and explore the utopian and dystopian possibilities of the goals being met or unmet.

How you learn

You learn through lectures, seminars, practical workshops, work-based activities, and group work. Teaching staff adopt a range of web-based technologies to deliver module content, assess, provide feedback, and communicate with you.

How you are assessed

You are assessed through a variety of methods including assignments, group work, presentations, and live practical projects.

Entry requirements

We welcome applicants with a background or interest in business or the creative industries. A typical offer is 80-104 points from at least two A levels, T level, or equivalent.

Employability

You build skills to become a creative business leader equipped to shape the future of animation and screen-based media. Combining a passion for the creative digital sector with strategic business skills, you become prepared to work in studios, produce creative projects, and lead production teams in global media companies.

Information for international applicants

International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting the university's website.

Tuition fees

• Full-time: £9,535 a year (UK applicants), £17,000 a year (international applicants)
• Part-time: Not available part-time

Choose Teesside

• iPad: Are you eligible for an iPad, keyboard, and up to £300 credit for learning resources?
• Accommodation: Live in affordable accommodation right on-campus - from only £100 a week
• Campus: Study in our town-centre campus with £280m of recent investment.
• Adobe: Study at Europe's first Adobe Creative Campus and develop your creative and digital skills.