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Creative Business Methods: Finance, Planning & the Law (BCI) - TFT00026I

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  • Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Peter Merrington
  • Credit value: 30 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
    • See module specification for other years: 2021-22

Module summary

This module is a central and defining component of this degree programme. It will equip students with the key - and transferable - business skills that underpin entrepreneurialism and business procedures in the creative industries: finance and financial planning, the impact of intellectual property, copyright and contract law, the management of production and delivery schedules. By combining practical and theoretical learning, students will develop an understanding of what distinguishes the creative industries from other forms of business in terms of their approach to money and workflow. And students will apply that understanding to the creative industries' different sectors, screen, stage, digital media and music.

It is important to note that this module will feature teaching from TFTI, the School of Management and the School of Law. Each department will offer discrete lecture contributions which will then cohere around a common seminar structure.

Professional requirements

TBC

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Spring Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23

Module aims

This module aims to:

Acquaint you with the practical skills surrounding finance and financial planning in the creative industries.

Acquaint you with a working knowledge of the impact of key aspects of the law - intellectual property. copyright, contract - on creative working practices

Equip you with the skills to identify creative objectives, and to break those down into a planned working schedule.

Stimulate a critical engagement with. and an understanding of, what distinguishes the creative industries from other industries in terms of their business methods.

Explore how different creative sectors manage their workflows, and associated procedures, in distinctive ways.

Module learning outcomes

At the end of this key module students will be able to:

Identify the objectives of a creative project - for screen, stage, digital media and beyond - and assign the appropriate financial and planning resources to its realisation.

Apply a working knowledge of finance and financial planning to the headline financial demands of a variety of creative content scenarios.

Apply a working knowledge of the law to the contract and copyright issues - amongst others - that apply to the creative industries and their outputs, across different sectors of activity.

Deploy a working knowledge of finance, the law and workflow schedules in the design of business plans, or proposals.

Critically analyse and distinguish the particular characteristics of creative as compared with other industrial models.

Module content

This module will begin by running two discrete strands - one financial, the other legal - each of them supported by lecture, seminar and assigned reading. The structure then allows for the introduction of practical problem-based learning (PBL) sessions half way through Spring term to accommodate and develop the module's concern with reconciling finance and the law to project planning and then to sector specific workflow scenarios

Students will work in PBL syndicates in specially-assigned PBL spaces.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Business Plan: finance and workflow		 N/A 70
Essay/coursework
Essay: Legal issues		 N/A 15
Oral presentation/seminar/exam
Presentation: Financial workflow		 N/A 15

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Formative work is embedded in the seminar and PBL structure and both 15% summative assignments are also designed to align with the final business plan summative.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Business Plan: finance and workflow		 N/A 70
Essay/coursework
Essay: Legal issues		 N/A 15
Oral presentation/seminar/exam
Presentation: Financial workflow		 N/A 15

Module feedback

Feedback on all assignments will be returned within four weeks as per university regulations. In addition students will receive direct feedback through practical sessions, and in individual supervision

Indicative reading

Mark Litwak Contracts for the Film and Television Industry (Los Angeles: Silman James Press, 2012)

Ralph S. Singleton, Film Scheduling (Los Angeles: Eagle, 1991)

Harold Vogel, Entertainment Industry Economics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011)

Philip Alberstat, The Insider's Guide to Film Finance (Oxford: Focal Press, 2004)

Leonel Bentley, Intellectual Property Law (Oxford: OUP, 2018)

Association for Project Management, Planning Scheduling Monitoring and Control (Kindle: 2015)


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.