Fall 2022

Prerequisite: Requires sophomore and above standing

Movie marketing is a fast paced, highly interactive course designed to give students a basic overview and understanding of all aspects of a domestic movie marketing campaign, focusing  on business decisions with the goal of developing a competitive advantage for a film’s theatrical life and beyond. The course will examine a range of movies, from low-budget independent to  tent pole film franchises, and explore concepts, processes and different strategic approaches used by today’s distributors.

Movie Marketing - Sample syllabus (PDF)

Prerequisite: Requires sophomore and above standing

In the world of digital and networked media, the technology industries that provide the infrastructure for the entertainment and media industries have become important. In particular, platform- mediated networks have become very important. This course will cover platforms from a strategy and marketing perspective. The objectives will be to understand how platforms function, the unique challenges they face, and how platform oriented companies can leverage their strengths and achieve success in the marketplace. These objectives will be achieved through a combination of readings, class discussions, case analysis and a group project.

Digital Business Strategy - Sample syllabus (PDF)

Prerequisite: 1) Completion of FMTV-UT 32: Intro Drama and Visual Writing or FMTV-UT 56: Scriptwriting II or FMTV-UT 33:  Fundamentals of Dramatic and Visual Writing or FMTV-UT 20: Storytelling Strategies And 2) sophomore and above standing.

The aim of this class is to explore, analyze and understand the elements and approaches to screenplay writing.  In order to accomplish this goal we will examine how a screenwriter utilizes structure, character, plot, theme, and symbolism to create a screen story well told.

Script Analysis - Sample Syllabus (PDF)

Note. Tisch Film and TV majors this course counts towards Tisch History & Criticism requirement.

A survey of the art and craft of the American animation industry, as an internationally popular art form developed in west coast studios by individual artists, producers and craftspeople using innovative artistic and cinematic techniques. Discussions include: the worldwide influence of “The Hollywood Cartoon”; the growth of the art form of animation; its place in popular culture; techniques, content and styles; use of ethnic and sexual stereotypes; evolving technologies past and present; the influence of Japanese anime on modern Hollywood cartoons and vice versa, among other topics.

History of Animation: The Hollywood Cartoon - Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: Must be Tisch Film and TV majors or Stern/Tisch Dual Degree BS/BFA Film and TV students 

This class is an examination of the creative, organizational, and managerial roles of the producer in narrative motion pictures and television. Topics include how a production company is formed, functions, creates and obtains properties, financing and distribution. The course gives specific attention to the issues that will be faced by students as future producers and/or production and studio executives.

This class is primarily a creative producing class—and it will focus on the Los Angeles entertainment industry. And it will examine both feature film development and production and the television industry.

This class will provide students a roadmap of how the Los Angeles film and television industry works. It will also help students decide what kinds of projects to develop and acquire, how to assemble the necessary elements, such as director, writer, cast, etc., and to construct a realistic overall producing plan. Today’s producer must be an entrepreneur, navigating and setting his/her own course in a dynamically changing world, as well as someone who can find and create content.

Producing for Film and Television - Sample Syllabus (PDF)

Experiential Learning Seminar - Sample Syllabus (PDF)

This course investigates how fame, power, and representation have manifested throughout Hollywood in the past, where the industry currently stands on issues of representation and equity, and what steps must be implemented in the future. In particular, prior examples of Hollywood failures in representation will be examined, such as whitewashing, stereotyping, and the villainization of race. The power held by film studios, as well as the unique dynamics of fame amongst Hollywood stars, will also be considered in this context. Additionally, present efforts to improve representation, such as inclusion riders and diversity departments, will be examined. Finally, the shortcomings of these efforts will be addressed, with guest Q&As and real-world experiences being used by the students to propose solutions. Students will interview industry professionals about their experiences with representation, determine potential resolutions to related issues, and pitch an initiative or organization that could help establish long-term equity in the industry. By the end of the course, students should have a firm understanding of how fame, power, and representation appear in show business, as well as a menu of options for improving their future organizations.

The Intersection of Fame, Power and Representation - Sample Syllabus

How does music – as product, artifact relationship, emotion, and human experience -- reflect and create a place, a time, and a people? In a digitally connected world, how does proximity, community, and culture intersect with innovation and connecting in music?

This course will be an investigation into today’s music scene(s) and communities in LA -- and how they evolved historically through the early 1900s to today. We’ll be working with secondary AND primary sources, engaging with documents, perspectives, and modern conversations. We’ll also explore possible futures of music in LA and its role in an intertwined and changing local and global music ecosystem.

Historically, Los Angeles is rich and deep. From the Chicano legacy built into Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba to the influential sound of NWA to Kendrick Lamar, and the rich histories of 60s and 70s pop music and later to California punk and beyond, the musical genres and styles will be treated as cultural signifiers and ways to access histories of migration, labor, civil rights and the marketplace.

Currently, Los Angeles is growing from this complexity and is uniquely poised to grow from strength and challenges. We’ll explore why, who, and how these systems interrelate with LA’s challenges and bricolages.

No prerequisites. This course fulfills the Interactive Media Business Elective; Interactive Media Arts Elective. This course requires enrollment in the Workshop and Recitation sections.

This course explores the disruptions and creative possibilities that realtime emerging media provides through the lens of learning how to design, create, produce and perform in realtime. Students will be learning how to design and produce for realtime interactive audiences, understand the modern streaming media pipeline, the fundamentals of virtual production, digital content creation and the basics of game engines and other software - all in the service of delivering a more engaging and intimate connection between audience and performer. Students will design and perform 2 distinct realtime performances as well as work together with peers to conceptualize, design and produce a short realtime ‘pilot’ using the tools and techniques you’ve learned in the first two projects. 

Real Time Media: Concepts and Production - Sample Syllabus

Note. This course serves as a CORE Expressive Culture equivalent for Steinhardt students.

This course will survey American broadcasting from the wireless through digital television. We will examine how historically specific economic and political forces, regulation, technological innovation, advertisers, creative producers, and audiences have interacted to shape the development of commercial broadcasting and how these cultural products, narratives and processes have become part of our social history.

Television: History and Form - Sample syllabus (PDF)

Note. Tisch students this course can count towards Tisch general education requirements.

Communication and media scholars have long concerned themselves with the relationship between various media/technologies and ‘the audience.’  Different intentions and perspectives inform the discourse and research on how media and communication technologies and their audiences/users interact. This course will examine the history, theories, and methodologies of audience research, always questioning the construction of audiences and media users -- constructions that are shaped by commercial, academic, political and cultural interests. Students will examine different approaches to audience research that inform the concerns, questions, methods, findings, and implications of audience/user research.

Media Audiences - Sample syllabus (PDF)

Overview of the business of songwriting and music publishing in the 21st century music marketplace. Topics include the legal foundations of copyright, performing and mechanical rights, A&R, contracts between songwriters and publishers, synchronization licensing, royalties, streaming and sub-publishing.

Music Publishing - Sample syllabus (PDF)

Course prerequisite: REMU-UT 1215. Students who have taken REMU-UT 9241,should not enroll in this course.

The course defines the role of the motion picture music supervisor, who draws upon the combined resources of the film and music communities to marry music and moving images. This course is intended to lead students to a better understanding and appreciation of the use of music in the filming process. Lectures, assignments, presentations and present the principles and procedures of music supervision and their role in the filmmaking process.

Music Superision - Sample Syllabus