Develop Your Passion for Storytelling

As film, television, and video consumption grows worldwide, there is a constant increase in demand for quality content. The American University School of Communication (SOC) Master's program in Producing Film, Television, and Video prepares you for a career as a producer or production manager of a wide variety of film and video programs: independent feature films, documentary films, television programs, educational videos, and special interest videos.

The courses in this program are primarily focused on the
business side of the film and video industry, including financing, distribution, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship. The curriculum also includes a scriptwriting course. This program is ideal for
working adults who are interested in a career in film or video. We welcome professionals of all backgrounds.

All of the classes in this program
meet on Saturday, allowing you to work full-time throughout the course of your studies. You take one course at a time—two courses per semester—and finish in 20 months. You move through the program with a cohort of student colleagues who will become
lifelong sources for connection and collaboration.

If you're looking for a professional program designed especially for
people with a passion for making stories come to life on the screen, the MA in Producing Film, Television, and Video is the program for you.

DEMONSTRATE YOUR COMMITMENT AND INTEREST

Our MA in Producing Film, Television, and Video is designed for
working adults who want to pursue careers in producing for film, video, television, and multimedia. You'll follow a
planned curriculum, taking two courses each semester on
Saturdays for a total of 10 courses. Our students complete the 30-credit-hour program within 20 months.

While previous exposure to film study, film and video production, or script writing is not required, you'll need to
demonstrate a serious commitment to a career in this field. Your essay on your desire to and reasons for pursuing graduate study in the program will be essential, along with the other
required application materials.

One of the strongest and most positive aspects of our program is our system of student cohorts. A new cohort begins each September. Students study, learn, and progress together…and they graduate together, becoming lifelong network of colleagues and supporters.

Faculty Research Fuels Creativity

At the School of Communication, you'll learn from filmmakers and producers whose academic and professional engagements play key roles in shaping messages and stories for the screen. With their years of experience in the field and their deep connections and extensive professional contacts, they'll help you take your career to the next level.

Our faculty have won Oscars, Emmys, and myriad other awards. Their creative efforts range from dramatic films and documentaries to photojournalism and social advertising campaigns to interactive and immersive media for museums and national historic sites…and more. Their work has been shown through national and international cable and network news outlets, on public broadcasting stations, and in film markets and film festivals around the world.

Best Selected Juror Film (Small International Film Festival, Berkeley Art Center, California)

Nickelodeon Screenwriting Award

Financing Your Education

The MA in Producing Film, Television, and Video is a 30 credit program. To estimate the cost of tuition, please see the current cost per credit hour for graduate students.

The School of Communication offers graduate students both merit-based and need-based
financial aid.
Merit awards are administered by the SOC Graduate Admissions Office, while need-based awards are administered by the
American University Office of Financial Aid. A number of prestigious
fellowships and
scholarships are also available for students in the Producing Film, Television, and Video program. Additional financial support is available for veterans.

Eligible first-year students enrolled in the Producing Film, TV and Video program will be considered for a $5,000 merit award. The award, offered as tuition remission, will be divided between fall and spring semesters.

All merit awards are based on academic merit and professional experience, specifically undergraduate grades and leadership activities as well as career-related accomplishments. Merit awards are valid for one year-they vary in amount, are typically divided evenly between the fall and spring semesters, and are not typically renewable.

You may also be eligible to receive sponsorship from your employer to cover, in whole or in part, the costs of attending this program. Sponsorship benefits both parties-you lay the foundations for furthering your career, and your organization builds its capabilities through your enhanced relevant skills and strategic knowledge.

Fellowships

The School of Communication offers
prestigious
merit-based fellowships in partnership with leading Washington, DC-based organizations. These fellowships provide varying amounts of tuition remission and stipend. Separate applications are required. The following fellowship is available to Producing Film, Television, and Video master's candidates:

With 84 million acres of land in 397 units, the National Park Service preserves and protects our nation's rich natural and cultural heritage for current and future generations. As one of the world's premier public land management agencies, the National Park Service maintains a headquarters office in Washington, DC and regional offices around the country. A partnership between the School of Communication and our Center for Environmental Filmmaking, this fellowship gives students the opportunity to develop video stories about our national parks and to explore media delivery systems for their deployment.

Research fellowships at
academic centers within the School of Communication and throughout the university may also be available.

Filming Bears, Opossums and a Pygmy Hippo for HSUS

Film and Media Arts Scholarships

The Mavis and Sidney John Palmer Scholarship is awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student in the School of Communication with an interest in environmental, natural history, or wildlife filmmaking. Scholarship recipients are selected by a faculty committee based on an essay detailing the student's aspirations and interest in the field. Named for the parents of Professor Chris Palmer, the scholarship was established in 2013 by Professor Palmer and his wife Gail Shearer.

Center for Environmental Filmmaking Scholars are chosen annually in order to further the Center's mission to produce the next generation of environmental and wildlife filmmakers. Scholars are selected during the second year of their graduate program, when they have accumulated at least 18 credit hours and are about to embark on their thesis projects.

The Center for Environmental Filmmaking Challenge Prize is an annual competition open to School of Communication second-year graduate students who have overcome (or are overcoming) challenges and adversity in their lives such as poverty, marginalization, racism, or personal tragedy, and who plan to use
environmental and wildlife media to influence personal behavior or public policy and make the world a better place.

The Neel Foundation Scholarship is awarded annually to outstanding graduate students studying film and media arts whose focus is documentary filmmaking to assist them in completing their films to the appropriate level for them to use in their portfolio of work or enter them in film festivals. This scholarship has been established in honor of Professor John Stephen Douglass.

Common ground. Greater purpose.

Shayla Racquel, SOC/MFA '16

Film and Electronic Media

I want the Baby Boomers and Millennials to recognize we need each other.

From short films to web series, Shayla builds her stories around everyday life events. She explores what makes us different, but more important, what brings us together. Sometimes that's life milestones, while other times it's a common cause or fight. Inspired by a conversation with her grandmother, her current project is a dialogue between two generations of African Americans and their unique approaches to activism.
MFA in Film and Electronic Media

Frequently Asked Questions

Our master's in Producing Film, Television, and Video is designed for working professionals whose schedules make Saturday classes anexcellent alternative to full-time study. You'll receive intensive instruction from faculty who are leaders in the filmmaking and producing fields; you'll master skills in financing, distribution, marketing, management, and entrepreneurship; and you'll form a cohort with fellow students who bring their own diverse professional backgrounds into the classroom.

A producer is the creative and business leader of a production. While most producers are classic examples of entrepreneurs who may or may not have backgrounds in the crafts of film or video production or other experience in the industry, their currency for success is an idea and the ability to develop it for the right market. The person who gets the award for "Best Picture of the Year" is the producer.

Our program provides the knowledge, skills, and experience to help you develop, finance, manage, market, and distribute content intended for the movie theater, the television screen, online, the boardroom, or the classroom.

We have an active and effective alumni mentoring program that will help you build your professional connections and networks. Because they appreciate what they learned here, our alumni keep returning to share their success. You'll find them working at media organizations across the country, and at local media organizations including PBS, Discovery Communications, The Travel Channel, National Geographic Television, Comcast/Universal, and Maryland Public Television. Many other alumni have formed their own production companies and are creating independent content and commissioned programs.

We also have two full-time career advisors to help you plan the next stage of your career.