Develop as a producer/director of factual programmes and extend your creative skills and technical knowledge. With talks by industry professionals, and access to a broad range of equipment, you’ll create a portfolio of work that will help you stand out from the crowd. No matter what experience you have of filmmaking, our course will develop your knowledge of factual UK TV and digital media content production, and your creative skills, to an advanced level. Along the way, you’ll make seven films of different lengths and write a dissertation on a media subject that excites and interests you. Focusing on two key roles, the director and the producer (which in current factual programming are merged into one), you’ll explore the dynamics of this ever-changing industry, and what it takes to succeed. You’ll learn to become a visual storyteller, a communicator, a collaborator, a motivator and a problem solver. You’ll also develop skills in scheduling, production managing, budgeting and marketing programmes. Although the emphasis is on factual programming, there is scope and flexibility to develop more creative films. With specialist technical workshops on camera operation, sound, lighting and editing, you’ll develop professional skills in screen-based production. This will be supported by tutorials, diary work, and independent research, giving you a strong critical and contextual grounding for your practical work. You’ll be encouraged to collaborate with other students on this course and others, becoming a flexible media professional who can produce and deliver high-quality video content for many different clients.

Our course will prepare you for a career in TV or in the broader media, and help you to decide which areas of the industry attract you the most. Although the emphasis is on directing and producing, you might choose to move into cinematography, production management or even television programme sales once you graduate. You might also develop a particular interest in observational documentary, natural history films or science programming, and decide to follow a career in these fields. Here at Cambridge School of Art, you’ll gain specialist skills that will be useful for traditional, experimental and creative documentary making, or films for education, training, public relations, current affairs, marketing and campaigning. Our course will prepare you to forge a portfolio or freelance career, and give you the ability to make high-quality content for broadcast, web, film festivals or cinema.