Filmmaking is just one aspect of a larger industry — the mass media — and this 100-year-old university located in the heart of the media capital of the world offers a master’s program that will immerse students in studying the various mediums that share human stories through audio and visual elements. The two-year education is designed to be broad or specific, with a limited number of required courses, allowing a flexible curriculum catering to students’ interests. Take a deep dive into digital cinema production of documentary or narrative storytelling to learn the craft, or take the scholarly route to analyze, criticize and philosophize about the history and future of film. In addition to a fine faculty of diverse media professionals, students will have the opportunity to learn from modern masters through the Hirshon Director-In-Residence, which previously featured Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) and Oscar nominee Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild). “It’s a unique opportunity for students to learn from contemporary filmmakers in an intimate setting,” Vladan Nikolic, the dean of the School of Media Studies, tells MovieMaker. “The filmmakers are very open about their processes, and all it takes to get a film made, especially for those films that are personal and oftentimes difficult to get made. Students have regularly said afterward that they have been immensely inspired by the filmmakers, and that these master classes helped them in thinking about and shaping their own work.”
The New School program is notable for its flexibility, which allows students — 80 percent of whom receive some type of merit-based university scholarship — to combine courses to fit their own interests. Ultimately, students graduate with either a master’s in media studies or entertainment management.
