Georgia State University

Launching in fall 2022, the new Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Digital Filmmaking program and its Filmmaking concentration leverage the rich curriculum of the School of Film, Media & Theatre to create an ethically sustainable and socially engaged future for film and media production. The program cultivates diverse perspectives in an active and demanding learning environment within Atlanta's vibrant cultural and historical traditions.

The Filmmaking concentration prepares candidates to produce documentary, fiction, experimental, community-based and advocacy media, and 16mm and 35mm filmmaking through a combination of rigorous practice, collaboration and study. The program shapes candidates into well-rounded and skilled individuals with a thorough knowledge of film and media production and may contribute to the ongoing social justice work while developing distinctive styles of visual expression attractive to industry, artistic and activist communities.

Georgia State has been teaching film production at the graduate level for over 25 years, making it the longest-running graduate film school in Georgia.

Students in the Filmmaking concentration will:

• Gain a thorough grounding in the strategies, complexities and varieties of contemporary filmmaking and creative mediamaking.
• Be exposed to new storytelling perspectives to challenge traditional filmmaking structures and realize alternative possibilities to represent the human experience and condition.
• Engage in mentorship with award-winning and internationally recognized faculty filmmakers.
• Become adept in a diverse and expressive range of approaches to do work that synergizes arts-based and industrial practices.
• Partner with critical studies and scholarship in the School of Film, Media & Theatre, including the internationally renowned research group liquid blackness
• Leverage creative opportunities with other arts disciplines across the College of the Arts, including theatre, music, visual arts and design.
• Discover and hone an artistic voice through courses in directing, producing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, sound design, documentary and experimental media in preparation for each candidate's thesis project.
• Explore filmmaking in multicultural Atlanta, the third-largest media capital in America in the heart of Georgia's booming film and television industries. This unique environment provides filmmakers with access and experience to navigate the demands of a fast-changing and competitive film industry.
• Engage in rigorous, hands-on learning and professional training and develop a rich understanding of cinema and media history, theory and aesthetics while anticipating and developing future media practices.
• Gain practical teaching experience through funded teaching assistantships that prepare candidates for a career in education. The M.F.A. degree is a terminal degree required for most college/university teaching positions in film/media production.
• Acquire industry experience through Georgia Film Academy and Trilith Studios (formerly Pinewood Studios) for specialized technologies and crafts such as post-production, lighting and art direction, etc.