United States

Columbia College Chicago

MFA Cinema and Television Directing

University degrees: Postgraduate

Course length: two years plus thesis (50 credits)

The best directors need equal mastery of leadership, storytelling, and production skills. As a master’s candidate in the Cinema and Television Directing program at Columbia College Chicago, you’ll learn how to craft character-driven narratives, work with producers, lead a crew, and create diverse and authentic films grounded in the human experience. You’ll complete intensive study in screenwriting, and direct your own scripts and those written by others. For your thesis project, you’ll develop and direct a short film.

Columbia offers one of the country’s few programs that give aspiring directors the opportunity to work with producers their first semester. You’ll develop your own style and voice while working closely with aspiring producers, cinematographers, production designers, composers, and actors in Columbia’s graduate and undergraduate programs and throughout Chicago’s arts scene.

In the Classroom

In the first year, you’ll make several films, exercising creative control and gaining work-for-hire experience. In addition, you’ll deepen your understanding of film history and the film industry through graduate seminars and a screening series. At the end of both semesters, graduate faculty members will constructively critique your work.

In your last year, you’ll work with two thesis advisors to develop and shoot your thesis film. In Thesis Workshop, you’ll explore your thesis material through individualized rehearsals, pre-visualization exercises, exploratory shoots, critique, and discussion. This time of exploration will help you further develop the script and pre-production for your thesis film, which you’ll direct and screen as part of your thesis requirement.

Outside the Classroom

You’ll have endless opportunities to engage with Columbia College Chicago’s passionate film community. Here are a few examples of exciting events that take place outside the classroom:

  • Doc Your World: a student-curated festival showcasing documentary works.
  • Cinema Slapdown: Watch a screening of a polarizing movie or television show, followed by a debate between someone who loves it and someone who hates it.
  • FrameWork: a series of student-produced video interviews that allow seniors and graduate students to talk about their filmmaking processes.
  • University Film and Video Association (UFVA): Students interested in teaching participate in this international conference each year.
  • Film Festivals: Chicago hosts several renowned film festivals. Some festivals, like the Chicago Feminist Film Festival, are hosted on campus and organized by our faculty and students. We encourage students to submit their films and volunteer.

  • Creatives Spaces and Facilities

    We offer a number of audio and post-production facilities, equipment rental centers, professional sound stages, and TV studios equipped with industry-standard software and technology.

Programs, Courses, Workshops