The screen media sector is a terrific playing field for those who seek exciting and life-changing opportunities in a fast moving and rewarding industry. But it also a challenging industry and needs targeted skills and strategic thinking to make a go of it. The Master of Arts Screen: Business at AFTRS has been designed to meet just this need. And now, in 2021, AFTRS has created a mid-year intake in response to increasing student demand.
‘The Master of Arts Screen for Business would typically suit someone looking to accelerate their career or their career trajectory, either in an existent role or as a career change. Many come because they want to form a business enterprise,’ said Gerard Reed, senior lecturer of AFTRS’ Screen Business course.
The course is a combination of subjects focused on three key strands: creative leadership and entrepreneurial studies, financial management and screen media technology. It seeks students who can apply their existing media experiences to a course that sees, typically, graduates emerging with focussed business and entrepreneurial skills. Many do indeed go on to build exciting new businesses.
Gerard Reed is the senior lecturer of AFTRS’ Screen Business course.
In 2020, students studied VP by looking at Unreal Engine through Epic Games. Workshops studied the way the gaming market has evolved and influenced the way films are, well, ‘filmed’. It’s the expansion into traditional screen areas that it is important, Reed says.
‘You have to keep up.
‘Needless to say, we no longer focus on cinema presentation; we look at what we call Blue Ocean opportunities,’ Reed said. ‘We’re asking students to look outside of the existent market, or the legacy industries, and see what the opportunities are,’ said Reed. ‘The FAANG companies – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google – now dominate our screens in ways the Hollywood Studios could never have conceived of last century. And those companies are now mature. So, ask yourself what is next?’