Film & Television Production

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.



The MA Film and TV Production addresses strategic developments in the screen industry and prepares graduates for positions in the national and international screen industries. To meet the needs of prospective and existing employees, it is delivered in full-time and part-time modes.



This programme aims to build upon your existing skills and knowledge of media production, audiences, and culture. The course is designed to help hone your research, technical and craft skills, building an industry-relevant portfolio of work and developing culturally engaged and thoughtful production work that engages in the ‘politics of making’. This is an inclusive, forward-thinking programme, creatively applying theory and practice, open to broad conceptions of storytelling and interdisciplinary approaches to film and TV production.



This MA is ideal for students who see themselves as change-makers, thinking critically and reflectively, and conscious of the social, cultural and political implications of the media artefacts they produce. You will be self-directed and motivated, but also keen to be part of a research and creative community, helping to build not only a media industry, but a media culture. You will be an active participant in a practice-led, postgraduate programme that is regionally distinctive and internationally significant. As you progress through the course, you will develop sustained independent and critical enquiry in concert with practice that experiments with form, conventions, languages, techniques and practices in the field. You will be assessed through activities and outputs linked to recognised industry standards. You will undertake learning activities across Northern Ireland, including seminars, industry events, historical, theoretical and innovative research, technical workshops and professional skills development.



MA in Film and TV Production students will work and learn in a context that rewards their knowledge and understanding of screen production processes as intervening in the public domain and aspects of democratic participation and citizenship. In addition, students will be able to reflect upon the ways in which participatory access to the central sites of screen production and public culture is distributed along axes of social division, such as disability, class, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, location, nationality, and sexuality.



Successful graduates will have demonstrated technical skills in the various forms of screen production; the ability to think and act creatively and innovatively in the sector; critical media literacy; and a sociological imagination with regards to screen industries and culture and their potential work within it. Students will engage with skills that are in global demand, such as production management, virtual production, virtual reality, postproduction, and fiction production.



Work placement / study abroad

There is no formal work placement available as part of this course.

F/T Programme

Year one

Short Film Practice

The Business of Film and Television

Contemporary Screen Culture, Theory and Practice

Final Project Practice

Visual Storytelling



Optional:

Advanced Screenwriting

Virtual Production

Social Documentary Practice

Immersive Storytelling



P/T Programme

Year one

Short Film Practice

The Business of Film and Television

Contemporary Screen Culture, Theory and Practice



Year two

Final Project Practice

Visual Storytelling



Optional:

Advanced Screenwriting

Virtual Production

Social Documentary Practice

Immersive Storytelling

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).



(i) a second-class honours degree or better in any Film Production, Cinematic Arts, Media Production, Photography and Video, Animation, Visual Arts or cognate subject from a University of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, from the Council of National Academic Awards, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council or from an institution of another country which is recognised as being of an equivalent standard; or



(ii) an equivalent standard (normally 50%) in a Graduate Diploma, Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma or an approved alternative qualification;



English Language Requirements

English language requirements for international applicants

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.



Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.



• For English language requirements go to: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/global/apply/english-language-requirements



• For Your country go to: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/global/apply/country



Exemptions and transferability

Studies pursued and examinations passed in respect of other qualifications awarded by the University or by another university or other educational institution, or evidence from the accreditation of prior experiential learning, may be accepted as exempting candidates from part of the programme provided that



(a) they shall register as students of the University for modules amounting to at least the final third of the credit value of the award at the highest level.

(b) no exemption shall be permitted from the Final Project

Your Application

You can apply directly to Ulster at any time of year. We advise that you submit your application no later than two weeks prior to your course start date. This is to ensure there is sufficient time for your application to be reviewed and, should you be made an offer, time for you to complete all the necessary pre-enrolment tasks.



Some programmes will have specific deadlines as additional selection (e.g. interview, portfolio submission etc) is required, so please check the course page to ensure you have sufficient time to complete your application.

Full-time: three semesters (one calendar year in total) for MA.

Start Date: September 2026.

Careers and Opportunities

The screen-based sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Northern Ireland economy. This new programme has been developed with industry partners to ensure that the provision addresses current and future skills gaps in the sector and helps to create entrepreneurial and creative graduates who can not only address current skills deficits but also develop new businesses to grow the local sector. 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