About the Production / Directing MFA

Training professional film and video artists to be risk-taking storytellers

The UCLA Master of Fine Arts degree in Production with an emphasis in Directing is a four year program designed to develop artists in film and video. For over half a century we have trained students in all the arts and crafts of media production while also expanding their understanding of the critical, theoretical and historical components of these art forms. Our goal is to infuse the highest standards of craftsmanship with the imaginative freedom and sense of social responsibility that gives screen storytellers such as Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Alexander Payne (Sideways), Gore Verbinski (The Ring), and hundreds of others, the depth of craftsmanship that frees them to take creative risks.

At every stage of the curriculum our students are at work on their own films.

The art of collaboration

The first year of the program is an intensive workshop in the collaborative process of production that culminates in each student completing a short (2-5 minute) sync sound 16mm film. The curriculum includes film and television writing, directing, cinematography, editing, sound, and production planning.

Working closely with a faculty mentor on an advanced project

The second year of the program allows for the further development of the student-mentor relationship as the student completes an advanced directing project in narrative, non-narrative or experimental film or video, and takes critical studies and advanced craft courses.

Thesis production launched in third year

No later than the second quarter of the third year, the student begins work on his or her thesis production, which is to be completed by the end of the fourth year. Thesis productions can be in either medium, in any form, with a maximum length of 30 minutes.