- Peter Stark Producing Program Curriculum 2017
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The Peter Stark Producing Program
Master of Fine Arts
The Peter Stark Producing Program is an innovative two-year (four semester) full-time graduate program designed to prepare a select group of highly motivated students for careers as independent film and television producers or as executives in motion picture and television companies.
Approximately 25 Peter Stark Program students are enrolled each fall (there are no spring admissions). The curriculum places equal emphasis on the creative and the managerial, to enhance and develop artistic skills and judgment while providing a sound background in business essentials. Each course is continually updated to ensure that the Stark program remains responsive to the needs of our students and the ever-changing motion picture, television and new media field.
A minimum of 44 units of 500-level courses is required for the Peter Stark Producing Program leading to the MFA degree.
In CMPP 541ab, first-year students get hands-on filmmaking experience, working on collaborative projects in different roles. Projects are shot using digital cameras and edited on non-linear systems. Equipment is provided by the school.
In lieu of a thesis, the completion requirement is a fully developed film project with an attendant production schedule, budget assumptions, and marketing/distribution plan.
Its Peter Stark Producing Program, under The Graduate producer Larry Turman, remains the premier venue for aspiring producers and execs. Insiders were split when asked to choose between AFI.
What does it take to be a producer, how does one get started, and what on earth does one actually do' In So You Want to Be a Producer Lawrence Turman, the producer of more than forty films, including The Graduate, The River Wild, Short Circuit, and American History X, and Endowed Chair of the famed Peter Stark Producing Program at the. Franklin is a graduate of Harvard University and has an M.F.A. From the USC Peter Stark Producing Program. Lisa Vangellow: FTV 101A Guest Speaker Symposium Vangellow is a Los Angeles based producer and executive with a penchant for character driven feature films, documentaries, and television. The Producing program fosters assured filmmakers with the skills necessary to shape narratives across platforms, identify content, develop material with writers, and collaborate with directors, cinematographers, editors and production designers to bring a wide array of stories to audiences. The Peter Stark Producing Program is a two-year (four semester) full-time graduate program. Approximately 24 Peter Stark Program students are enrolled each fall (there are no spring admissions). The curriculum places equal emphasis on the creative and the managerial, to enhance and develop artistic skills and judgment while providing a sound background in business essentials.
An internship period between school years gives students an opportunity to gain valuable experience with participating entertainment companies. The internships last a minimum of eight weeks, and are paid and subject to availability, academic performance and good standing in the first year of studies.
The completion of a film/television industry internship, or combination of internships, of at least eight weeks, is a requirement for graduation.
During the second year, Peter Stark Producing Program students have an opportunity to initiate and produce a 20-minute short film financed by the program. Projects are selected on a competitive basis.
Films must be produced by a Stark student or team of two Stark students. Scripts may be written by a Stark student or a student from the Cinematic Arts Writing Division. The director may be a Stark student or a student from the Cinematic Arts Production Division. Each Stark student may only perform one major task on the film, i.e., director or writer or producer. Each team has a professional adviser available as needed. Completed films are screened at the school’s “First Film” festival, and have also been selected for outside festivals.
Inquiries regarding the program should be addressed to: The Peter Stark Program, USC School of Cinematic Arts, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211. Telephone (213) 740-3304, FAX (213) 745-6652 or email pstark@cinema.usc.edu .
Two-Year Requirements for the MFA in Producing for Film, Television, and New Media
| Year One, First Semester | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| CNTV 501 | Cinematic Arts Seminar | 1 |
| CMPP 541a | Producing Workshop | 4 |
| CMPP 550 | Script Analysis for the Producer | 2 |
| CMPP 563 | Producing Symposium | 2 |
| CMPP 589a | Graduate Film Business Seminar | 3 |
| 12 | ||
| Year One, Second Semester | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| CMPP 541b | Producing Workshop | 4 |
| CMPP 560 | Script Development | 2 |
| CMPP 568 | Producing for Television | 2 |
| CMPP 589b | Graduate Film Business Seminar | 4 |
| 12 | ||
| Year Two, First Semester | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| CMPP 561 | Motion Picture and Television Marketing | 2 |
| CMPP 565 | Scheduling and Budgeting | 4 |
| CMPP 566 | Finance | 2 |
| CMPP 571 | Producing the Screenplay | 2 |
| 10 | ||
| Year Two, Second Semester | Units | |
|---|---|---|
| CMPP 564 | Digital Media and Entertainment | 2 |
| CMPP 569 | Seminar on Non-Mainstream Producing | 2 |
| CMPP 570 | Advanced Television | 2 |
| CMPP 592 | Individual Project Seminar | 4 |
| 10 | ||
Grade Point Average Requirement
An overall GPA of 3.0 (A = 4.0) is required for graduation. Elastiquepitch 2 mac torrent. Courses in which a grade of C- (1.7) or lower is earned will not apply toward a graduate course. A grade of C-, D or F in any course may be cause for termination.
Time Limit
Students must maintain satisfactory progress toward their master’s degrees at all times. The degree must be completed three years after the beginning of graduate work at USC.
I just had a reader write in with this question:
Seth,
Someone once told me to do what I love. Simply put, what I love is film. Allmynotes organizer deluxe edition keygen. I have been a fan of cinema ever since the first movie I saw, Peter Pan, the one with Mary Martin from 1960. It has always been my dream to somehow work in that industry whether I write, direct, produce, or whatever. That being said, I never knew how to even begin to start down that path and its kind of a hard sell to the folks.
I have already gone through undergraduate business school and left with a marketing degree and an operations mgmt degree. I am now working in the field of operations mgmt for a tech company. NYU Tisch school has a joint MBA/MFA program which I feel I would fit into perfectly. Its designed for creative people who also have the ability to think analytically and financially. On their website they specifically describe how the program is designed to teach many of the things which you said NYU did not teach you i.e. “practical training on producing a feature film, networking, marketing themselves, and the proper means to actually raise funds from private investors.” So while it will mean a lot of money and a lot of loans, I will also leave with two advanced degrees, including an MBA. Can you please give me your thoughts as to whether this would be just a waste of my time and money?
Thanks and Regards,
John
Peter Stark Producing Program Curriculum 2017
Thanks for the question John. Since you love movies, I hope to guide you in a direction that allows you to do what you love for a living.
When I was at Tisch I had a friend studying at the Stern School of Business. He was a passionate advocate that the “Tischies”, or art students, should partner with the “Sternies” or business students to help combine the two. It sounded like a great, practical idea.
But like most things in Academia, the execution of this idea has become completely impractical. This article is a detailed inquiry into the question, for people either considering a Master’s in Film or Business who wish to work in the film industry.
A friend of mine, Cary Solomon, is a 20 year veteran of the business and a big support of this site. He enrolled in a similar program at USC, the Peter Stark Master’s program in Producing. And he is even more vehement than I am about what a waste Master’s programs in producing are.
The fact of the matter is this: film producing is not rocket science. You get some money, put together a script cast and crew, and shoot a movie. I personally raised $40,000 in 3 months from private investors after learning on my own how to pitch, put together a proposal and working with an attorney to draft a private placement memorandum to legitimately receive funds from outside investors. And that’s with no business training.
That project was small but the same theory applies to a $10M movie. Standard horizon hx300 manual. It’s basic investment and if you already have a degree in marketing and business, pursuing an advanced degree to learn how to do this doesn’t make much sense.
To me, a joint MFA MBA degree is kind of like welding together a Chevy Nova and a Cadillac Esplanade and trying to squeeze through a drive through window.
Autocad civil 3d land desktop companion 2009 keygen 64 bits. Case in point: many of the faculty of the MBA/MFA program do not have a degree in film. For instance Peter Newman, a long time successful independent producer of such movies as “The Squid and the Whale”, got his start as a sportscaster and has no formal training in the field. Furthermore, all of the industry experienced faculty in the program are Adjuncts, meaning they might just make a cameo appearance while you are there. All of the full time faculty are serious academics and have little industry experience.
Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit google drive. Take for example William Green. He is a very accomplished Professor in Economics. That’s great. The bio sheet says he has experience in Entertainment, but has he produced a movie? Has he been in a room where they green lit a major movie? No, he is a full time Professor. Learning this business from an Academic is a big mistake.
An MFA in Film Production is actually be a detriment in the film business. Whether you are looking for work on a film set or simply networking, having an advanced degree in film is not respected, nor does it carry any technical advantages. There are no positions in the film business that have an MFA as a prerequisite, except Professor positions at some colleges. Having an MFA in film doesn’t make you a better filmmaker and it won’t inspire investors to give you more money.
In many cases people with Master’s degrees are seen as being heady and conceited. Consider that this is a business where many of the most successful producers and directors have no formal training in film at all.
The MBA/MFA website doesn’t address any real world examples of their graduates working in the industry. All of the FAQ involve the program logistics, etc. It’s like film school; they focus on their programs without talking about the practical application.
The MFA Curriculum
In 2012 it makes no sense to pay a premium to learn what is being taught in these courses, particularly in the isolated academic environment of a university. Producing a Short Film used to be a hard to learn and complex undertaking. Nowadays the amount of information available on how to do this on the internet alone is staggering. Paying $1000 a credit to learn how to do what most 18 year old kids are already doing doesn’t make much sense to me.
Beyond that, writing a short screenplay, basic cinematography, learning to use an Avid editing system… these concepts are scattered all over the place. If you want to produce, your job is to find people that know how to do this. If you want to learn the technical side of these skills, then either pick up a camera and some lights and learn it from the net or my course, or get in touch with a local filmmaker and they will show you.
There are also dozens of online courses available to teach these things, and doing it at Tisch doesn’t somehow make the process of learning how to set up 3 lights for a scene any better.
I also find it strange that the course titled “Producing the Independent Feature” is only 2 credits and electives take up 12 credits. If you are there to produce then you shouldn’t be taking a theoretical class. you should be producing.
Peter Stark Producing Program Curriculum List
In fact I took a producing course at NYU and it involved us sitting in a class taking notes on budgets and location permits, etc. It was absurd. I learned how to do all of those things in the field when I set out to produce my own feature, through trial and error and learning from people more experienced than myself.
The MBA Curriculum
When I started raising money for my movie, I hired a company to create projections. They took all the data of 5 similar films and created a great looking spreadsheet. The attorney incorporated the projections into the PPC/Business plan and I set out talking to rich people. After a lot of conversations I found a couple of people who believed in me enough to invest.
At the end of the day, after all the stats and legalities were underlined, I had to highlight one point: you are probably going to lose all your money in this investment.
Film is high risk, particularly the way it’s traditionally been done. A lot of money put into production, even more into marketing, and then a lot of money to exhibit and distribute. And nobody really every knows what is going to perform.
That’s why studios rely on stars and franchises, still. It’s a very simple business once you understand the basics.
But do you want to be one of those people who tracks box office? Is this the best expression of your love for making movies?
It’s absurd that the course titled “Entertainment and Media Industries” is only 1.5 credits in this curriculum. It should be the entire curriculum.
The fact is, entertainment and media is one of the fastest changing industries in the world. A camera that cost $70,000 in 2006 now costs $25,000, a huge depreciation. More viewers are consuming media online than every before; but these courses and an entrenched curriculum like this doesn’t move fast enough to keep up with all these trends.
These days it is actually more realistic to earn a return on a movie by distributing digitally, through the internet. The low cost of high quality digital equipment makes it easier and cheaper than ever to get good images. But most schools, even Tisch, are still teaching the old model of filmmaking. That’s what you are going to get in this program.
The theoretical notion that applying traditional studies in Stats, Gloabal Finance, etc. into the ever evolving entertainment biz just doesn’t pan out in reality.
Peter Stark Program
To that end I wish the MBA/MFA site would provide some real world examples of successful graduates. Instead all they have are some shout outs from Variety magazine and one film produced by a graduate.
Conclusion
I would suggest watching how “Nightmare on Elm Street” got made. (Rent the movie and look at the “behind the scenes”).It was a nightmare, literally, for the producers, who had to hustle and eek out some money to get the thing made. Studying finance, economics, etc. had nothing to do with it. It’s actually a very inspiring story.
Such is the story with the beginning of most film careers. Obama may have risen through the ranks by earning a degree from Harvard, teaching law, entering politics, etc. In film it just never happens that way. If someone actually did earn an advanced degree in film and business then become a successful producer it would be the exception to the rule.
I would encourage you to take “Film School Secrets”, get inspired and realize how easy it is to just start producing your own projects without a degree. As a business minded individual, I strongly hope you see that incurring a massive amount of debt to get this degree is not worth it. In fact I think you may want to shoot yourself if you look up 2 years from now and you are still taking notes on financial projections and budgeting and haven’t actually had the chance to just shoot something, be creative, and have fun.
Rather than weighing yourself down with more degrees, I suggest leverage your existing knowledge and financial resources into making a movie now, not later. I believe you will be glad you did.
Thanks for the question, John. Let me know if this is helpful.