Creative Producing MFA Curriculum

The first year of the MFA Film Program at Columbia is devoted to the Core Curriculum – an integrated group of classes in which all MFA students learn the fundamental components of Directing, Screenwriting and Producing.

First Year Core Curriculum—Fall

Directing I
Directing Actors I
Fundamentals of Directing
Elements of Dramatic Narrative
Ethics & Inclusive Storytelling
Practical Production I
Screenwriting I

First Year Core Curriculum—Spring

Directing II
Directing Actors II
Practical Production II
Role of the Producer
Screenwriting II
Script to Screen
Analysis of Film Language (recommended)

First Year Core Curriculum—Summer

8-12 minute film production

History-Theory-Criticism (HTC) Requirement

All MFA students must take at least one course in Film Studies (generally referred to within the School as “HTC,” an abbreviation for History-Theory-Criticism) within the 60 credits required for the degree. Students  planning to apply for teaching assistant positions should take more than one HTC course.

A representative list of HTC courses includes but is not limited to the following. The asterisked courses are specifically recommended for MFA students but any of these courses fulfills the HTC requirement.

Analysis of Film Language**
Cinema History 1: beginnings to 1930
Cinema History 2: 1930 - 60
Cinema History 3: 1960 - 90
Cinema History 4: after 1990
Cinephilia: Theory and Practice of the Moving Image
Documentary Tradition
Film and Media Theory
The Moving Image in the Museum
Seeing Narrative
Sound and Image Theory
Topics in American Film (Horror, Comedy, Cult, Western, etc)
Topics in World Cinema (Latin America, China, Arab and African)**

In the Second Year of the MFA Program, Creative Producers and students in the Screenwriting and Directing concentrations take required courses and supplement these courses with a wide range of electives.