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Current Issues in Film & Television (Year 2) - TFT00038I

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  • Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Julia Havas
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This module addresses key issues and debates that currently dominate the film and TV industries by acquainting students with the political, cultural, technical, and economic conditions that surround the production and delivery of contemporary screen content. It examines for example the ethics of media production practices and the power structures that control the industries, the debates that surround the development of new delivery platforms, and the discourses surrounding the changes in production cultures, subject matters, and forms of media ownership. Key to this module is its sense of topicality. Lectures and workshops will react to events – discourses in the broadcast and film environment that make headlines – and examine their implications. You will be expected to be equally flexible and the module seeks to encourage a sensitivity to and development of an understanding of the emerging trends and changing circumstances which affect the industry and influence employment opportunities.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

Over the course of this module, you can expect to:

  • Actively engage with current developments, debates and controversies in the screen industries.
  • Develop insights into the contemporary industrial and institutional organisation of the UK and global film and television industries
  • Analyse key and emergent trends in production and screen cultures, e.g. convergence, the rise of streaming, and the geopolitics of media production
  • Consider ethical issues in production-related decision-making, regardless of the specific position you plan to occupy in the screen industries
  • Develop knowledge and informed understanding of ongoing trends and developments in the industry, to enhance your ability to gain employment in a competitive marketplace

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, you will be expected to:

  • Understand the broad outlines of the current organisation and function of the film and television industries in the UK and abroad
  • Develop a critical understanding of ethical issues in production practices, through the critical analysis of case studies from the film and TV industry
  • Research and analyse the cultural, political, industrial, and technological contexts surrounding film and television production and how these impact on questions of creativity, form, and aesthetics
  • Have an informed knowledge of the debates surrounding power relations, diversity and equality in the screen industries
  • Be able to place global and national screen production and industrial structures through concepts of globalisation, localisation, and decolonial theory
  • Be able to research and analyse these issues both in essay format and verbally

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Formative work is embedded into the seminar structure of the module where students receive feedback on task presentations and guidance on the assessment.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay		 N/A 100

Module feedback

Feedback will be available within standard university turnaround times.

Indicative reading

The short list below is indicative only.

Barker, C. (2017). The age of Netflix : critical essays on streaming media, digital delivery and instant access. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina

Boli, J. (ed.) (2003). The globalization reader / edited by Frank J. Lechner and John Boli. 2nd ed. Blackwell Pub, Malden, MA

Boyle, K. (2019). MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Fuchs, C. (ed.) (n.d.) Social media, politics and the state : protests, revolutions, riots, crime and policing in the age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube / edited by Daniel Trottier and Christian Fuchs. Routledge.

Hjort, M. and Petrie, Duncan J. (eds.). (2007). The cinema of small nations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture : where old and new media collide. New York : New York University Press.

Lobato, R. (2020) Netflix Nations. New York : New York University Press.

Simone Murray (2005). Brand loyalties: rethinking content within global corporate media. Media, Culture & Society. 27 (3), 415–435


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.