Please refer to the What to pack for Graduate Students page.

Yes. With permission from faculty of record, creative producing and screenwriting students may take electives or audit classes in any discipline at the undergraduate level including directing, production design, cinematography and editing.

Film Music Composition students may enroll in or audit Music classes. Some examples include courses on music theory, ear training/musicianship, keyboard skills, counterpoint, jazz improvisation and various ensembles such as symphony orchestra, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, etc.

Over the past few years, students have met with guest artists like Ava Duvernay, Danny McBride, Deniese Davis, Christopher McQuarrie, Peter Hedges, Ted Hope, Rebecca Green and Seed&Spark.

UNCSA provides connections to the film industry in the following ways:

• Meeting industry professionals in the form of guest artists that visit campus or chat with students via Skype or Zoom
• Through our alumni network, which includes filmmakers in all fields working in Los Angeles and all over the world
• A week-long trip to Los Angeles just after graduation, which includes tours of studios, sit-ins and meet and greets with industry leaders of diverse specialties
• Placement in academic internships, which ideally leads to full-time employment. When entering the industry after graduation, you'll be ready to pursue your career and have a realistic expectation of exactly what the work is that you'll be expected to do, and where to find it.

Creative Producing applicants are not required to hold an undergraduate degree in filmmaking. Preferred primary applicants for the Creative Producing concentration should have a minimum of two (2) years of progressively responsible work experience demonstrating skills in collaboration and project execution.

Yes. Most students hold jobs and work anywhere from two to five days per week. Classes meet from late August through early May and are held primarily in late afternoon and evenings. In the summers, students prepare their creative projects for the upcoming term.

Creative producers have a primarily two-day/week schedule, with class starting at 2 p.m. Classes can run late into the evening.

Creative Producing students focus on both episodic and feature filmmaking projects.

M.F.A. producing and screenwriting students collaborate early and often, on everything from pitches to scripts to proofs-of-concept and web series. They leave with relationships that will fuel their careers. Our students graduate knowing directors, cinematographers, animators, composers, editors and others who will be part of their ongoing professional networks.

Since Fall of 2021, courses have been taught predominantly in person. While UNCSA is still requiring all individuals to wear masks indoors regardless of their vaccination status, we are committed to an in-person learning environment whenever community health standards deem prudent.

Each year, several M.F.A. students make web series or proofs of concept. While short film production is not part of the M.F.A. curriculum, there are numerous opportunities to participate in undergraduate productions. Some students utilize school resources to make a short film as a side-project.

Each screenwriting student will complete both an episodic and a feature project during the first year. In the second year, students choose whether to write a feature or a pilot for their thesis.

M.F.A. producing and screenwriting students collaborate early and often, on everything from pitches to scripts to proofs-of-concept and web series. They leave with relationships that will fuel their careers. Our students graduate knowing directors, cinematographers, animators, composers, editors and others who will be part of their ongoing professional networks.