MA Producing and Directing
- MA
Overview
This MA in Producing and Directing at the University of Bristol offers integrated, high-level training in both producing and directing, reflecting contemporary shifts in the industry where the two roles increasingly overlap. This practice-led, industry-focused Master's is designed for students who want to develop across both roles and prepare themselves for a career in the creative industries, and it is one of only a few programmes at a Russell Group university to take this combined approach.
Students develop original screen projects of their own devising, working in film, television, and digital-first/online formats. Two core units run throughout the year – Creative Digital Production and Working in the Screen Industries – and are taken alongside optional units in Editing, Cinematography, Sound, or Screenwriting. The curriculum also critically engages with the emerging technologies reshaping the industry, learning how to integrate these into creative and production workflows to better support and enable original screen projects.
Teaching draws on both academic staff and active industry professionals, through masterclasses, live client briefs, and structured mentoring. This is one of the most distinctive elements of the programme – students are paired with industry mentors from day one who will support and guide them throughout the programme and for a full year after graduation. Assessment on the MA is designed to reflect real industry practice: pitches, development dossiers, budgets and schedules, and completed screen projects, alongside critical and reflective writing.
The programme suits recent graduates and early-career practitioners moving into producing or directing, as well as professionals from adjacent creative fields – e.g. theatre, digital media, marketing – looking to build production skills. Its dual focus gives graduates a real advantage for roles in smaller production companies and digital-first environments, where producing and directing responsibilities are often held by the same person. Graduates are prepared for roles such as Production Assistant, Assistant Producer, Assistant Director, Content Producer, or Development Assistant, across film, television, digital platforms, and corporate/event production.
In the final stage of the MA, students choose either a Final Major Project – a substantial independent screen production – or an Industrial Placement with an industry partner, where they can fully showcase all that they have learned on the programme.
Programme structure
In Year 1 (full-time), the two 40-credit core units – Creative Digital Production and Working in the Screen Industries – run concurrently across the full year (TB4). Alongside these, students take one 20-credit optional unit in TB1 (a choice of Writing for the Screen or The Art of Editing) and one 20-credit optional unit in TB2 (a choice of The Art of Cinematography or The Art of Sound).
In the summer dissertation stage, students choose between two 60-credit pathways:
- a Final Major Project – a substantial, individually supervised piece of independent screen production with critical commentary
OR
- an Industrial Placement - a supervised placement of up to 150 hours with an organisation, resulting in a written analysis.
Part-time students spread the same units across two years: one 40-credit core unit and one 20-credit optional unit in Year 1, followed by the remaining core unit, second optional unit, and the Final Major Project or Industrial Placement in Year 2.
Visit our programme catalogue for full details of the structure and unit content of this programme.
Entry requirements
You will typically need a strong second-class honours degree (55% or higher) or an international equivalent in any subject.
We will consider your application if your interim grades are currently slightly lower than the programme's entry requirements and may make you an aspirational offer. This offer would be at the standard level, so you would need to achieve the standard entry requirements by the end of your degree.
We will also consider your application if your final overall achieved grade is slightly lower than the programme's entry requirement.
If your achieved grade is lower than our entry requirements, your application may be more likely to receive an offer if you have additional relevant postgraduate qualification/s. Please upload your postgraduate degree documents and include your CV (curriculum vitae / resume) when you apply.
See international equivalent qualifications on the International Office website.
Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.
If English is not your first language, you will need to reach the requirements outlined in our profile level C.
Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.
Fees and funding
- Home: full-time
- £14,600 per year
- Home: part-time (two years)
- £7,300 per year
- Overseas: full-time
- £30,800 per year
Fees are subject to an annual review. For programmes that last longer than one year, please budget for up to an 8% increase in fees each year.
More about tuition fees, living costs and financial support.
Alumni discount
University of Bristol students and graduates can benefit from a 25% reduction in tuition fees for postgraduate study. Check your eligibility for an alumni discount.
Funding and scholarships
Each student is provided with a MacBook Pro/Air for the duration of their study, removing the need to buy specialist software or hardware themselves, along with a £500 per year contribution towards production costs for their portfolio projects. Students undertake training in film financing – covering public funding, private investment, and crowdfunding – as part of the curriculum and are expected to raise any further production costs themselves.
Further information on funding for prospective UK and international postgraduate students.
Career prospects
Graduates are prepared for roles across film and television (Production Assistant, Assistant Producer, Assistant Director, Development Assistant, Production Coordinator, Edit Assistant), digital and platform media (Content Creator, Story Producer, Branded Content Producer, Assistant Producer (Digital)), corporate, educational and commercial production (Production Assistant, Creative Producer, Junior Account Manager), and live and event production (Event Coordinator, Assistant Director, Content Producer).
By training students across both producing and directing functions – increasingly the industry norm rather than the exception – the programme also supports entrepreneurial and freelance career pathways, equipping graduates to initiate and manage their own projects and to operate flexibly across formats and platforms, particularly within smaller production companies and digital-first environments where hybrid roles are now common.
Contact us
- Contact
- Enquiries Team
- Phone
- +44 (0) 117 394 1649
- choosebristol-pg@bristol.ac.uk
- Faculties
- Schools