Studying at York
Business for Screen (BCI) - TFT00031C
Module summary
This module will introduce students to the key business models, and industrial conditions, which surround the production of creative content for the screen: the funding, distribution and marketing of movies; the commissioning and scheduling of TV programmes, the investment systems that fund game development and distribution. It will focus on how projects raise money - commercial and public - and how they make money, or deliver on their investment. This will be a cutting-edge module which considers the latest developments - streaming and online distribution, for example - alongside the established models whereby the screen industries develop and deliver their projects to audiences.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
This module aims to:
Acquaint you with the core business models that drive the financing and production of screen content: cinema, TV, video games.
Acquaint you with the the impact audiences and markets have on investment in screen content
Explore the key business workflows that take creative projects through from conception to production and beyond.
Explore the differences between public and private investment, and content creation, models
Explore where traditional models persist and where new developments - streaming, online for example - are changing some of the terms of screen business
Module learning outcomes
At the end of this module, students will be:
Familiar with the key business models, and industrial workflows, that drive development, production and distribution in the screen creative industries: cinema, TV and games.
Familiar with some of the ways in which different forms of finance - public and commercial - as well as markets and audiences affect screen content production.
Able to critically analyse how screen projects have been designed from a business and financial perspective with a view to designing business strategies for your own projects.
Able to respond to new business conditions - for example, streaming and online distribution - in critically evaluating and adapting business strategies.
Module content
This module will focus, in part, on key case-studies. You will be expected to work on researching case studies, in teams, for some of your module seminars.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 70 |
| Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 30 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Formative work is embedded in each seminar.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 70 |
| Essay/coursework | 30 |
Module feedback
Feedback will be delivered according to university timescales. Formative feedback will be delivered at each seminar
Indicative reading
David Hesmondhalgh,The Cultural Industries (London: Sage, 2019)
Jeff Ulin, The Business of Media Distribution : Monetizing Film, TV, and Video Content in an Online World (New York: Routledge, 2019)
Aphra Kerr, Global Games: Production, Circulation and Policy in the Networked Era (London: Routledge, 2017)
Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang, Streaming, Sharing Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016)
David Lee, Independent Television Production in the UK (London: Palgrave, 2018)