Business for Screen (BCI) - TFT00031C

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Module summary

This module will introduce you 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 game development and distribution. 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 industries develop and deliver their projects to audiences.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 2 2023-24

Module aims

This module aims to:

• Acquaint you with the core business models that drive the financing and production of screen content: cinema, TV, interactive media.
• Acquaint you with 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

Module learning outcomes

At the end of this module, you 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 interactive media.
• 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.

Module content

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.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	70
Oral presentation/seminar/exam	30

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

There are no formative assessments on this module.

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	70
Essay/coursework	30

Module feedback

You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times. Formative feedback will be delivered at each seminar.

Indicative reading

David Hesmondhalgh,The Cultural Industries (London: Sage, 2019)

Jeff Ulin, The Business of Media Distribution : Monetizing Film, TV, and Video Content in an Online World (New York: Routledge, 2019)

Aphra Kerr, Global Games: Production, Circulation and Policy in the Networked Era (London: Routledge, 2017)

Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang, Streaming, Sharing Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2016)

David Lee, Independent Television Production in the UK (London: Palgrave, 2018)