This module will introduce students to the key business models, and industrial conditions, which surround the production of creative content for the screen: the funding, distribution and marketing of movies; the commissioning and scheduling of TV programmes, the investment systems that fund games design and development. It will focus on how projects raise money - commercial and public - and how they make money, or deliver on their investment. This will be a cutting-edge module which considers the latest developments - streaming and online distribution, for example - alongside the established models whereby the screen creative industries develop and deliver their projects to audiences.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2021-22 |
This module aims to:
Acquaint you with the core business models that drive the financing and production of screen content: cinema, TV, video games.
Acquaint you with the the impact audiences and markets have on investment in screen content
Explore the key business workflows that take creative projects through from conception to production and beyond.
Explore the differences between public and private investment, and content creation, models
Explore where traditional models persist and where new developments - streaming, online for example - are changing some of the terms of screen business
At the end of this module, students will be:
Familiar with the key business models, and industrial workflows, that drive development, production and distribution in the screen creative industries: cinema, TV and games.
Familiar with some of the ways in which different forms of finance - public and commercial - as well as markets and audiences affect screen content production.
Able to critically analyse how screen projects have been designed from a business and financial perspective with a view to designing business strategies for your own projects.
Able to respond to new business conditions - for example, streaming and online distribution - in critically evaluating and adapting business strategies.
This module will focus, in part, on key case-studies. You will be expected to work on researching case studies, in teams, for some of your module seminars.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Case Study Analysis |
N/A | 70 |
Oral presentation/seminar/exam Researched case studies |
N/A | 30 |
None
Formative work is embedded in each seminar. Additionally there will be one short formative written exercise (c. 1000 words)- aligned with the seminars - halfway through the module
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Case Study Analysis |
N/A | 70 |
Essay/coursework Script: Researched case studies |
N/A | 30 |
Feedback will be delivered no later than four working weeks after submission, as per university regulations. Formative feedback will be delivered at each seminar
David Hesmondhalgh,The Cultural Industries (London: Sage, 2013)
Howard Blumenthal, This Business of Television (New York: Billboard Books, 2006)
Philip Alberstadt, The Insider's Guide to Film Finance (Oxford: Focal Press, 2004)
Andy Bryant, The TV Brand Business (London: Kogan Page, 2016)
Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang, Streaming, Sharing Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016)
David Lee, Independent Television Production in the UK (London: Palgrave, 2018)
Jason E Squire (ed.), The Movie Business Book (Maidenhead: OU Press, 2006)