Master of Arts in Entertainment Industry Management (EIM) - Curriculum

Course List (12 courses, 36 units)

• CTVA 680: Agencies, Management and Producing
• ACCT 685: Accounting for the Entertainment Industry
• CTVA 681: Storytelling & Script Analysis
• CTVA 682: Production Management I: Film and Television Production
• CTVA 683: Entertainment Industry Operations
• CTVA 684: Entertainment Marketing, Sales and Pitching
• BANA 645: Multimedia Content Analysis
• MGT 615: Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the changing media environment
• CTVA 686: Production Management II: Animation, Virtual Production and VFX
• CTVA 687: Entertainment Industry Management Internship
• CTVA 688: Entertainment Industry Regulations
• CTVA 698EIM: Graduate Project

Course Descriptions

course	name	units	description
CTVA 680	Agencies, Management and Producing	3 units	An introduction and overview of the role of the producer and gatekeepers in the entertainment industry. This class will provide students with a roadmap of how professionals in film and television decide what kinds of projects to develop and acquire, assemble the necessary elements, construct an overall producing plan, and get their projects produced and distributed.    Watch CTVA 680 overview
ACCT 685	Accounting for the Entertainment Industry	3 units	Prerequisites: Graduate standing; a grade of "C" or higher in MATH 103 or higher-level mathematics course. Study of accounting practices relevant to entertainment business, including general financial and managerial accounting processes used in the management of entertainment businesses. Provides students with the tools and techniques needed to read, understand, analyze and interpret financial statements and internal management accounting reports in the entertainment industry. Topics include financial reporting principles, financial statements, cost analysis, budgeting and performance evaluation.
CTVA 681	Storytelling & Script Analysis	3 units	This course provides students with the essential tools needed to analyze screenplays, pilot scripts, treatments, show bibles and pitches to assess viability in the entertainment marketplace. Students will learn the narrative aesthetics of film and television, basic structures of feature film, television short and long format, and reality TV. Students will learn to identify the core elements of successful content. By the end of the course, students will know the fundamentals of creating a polished pitch for an original film or program.
CTVA 682	Production Management I: Film and Television Production	3 units	This course explores the theory and practice of managing content production. Students will learn how to structure crews and productions; manage workflow methodology; schedule shoots in the most economically and time efficient ways; negotiate business deals for crews, locations, and technical equipment; and make production decisions to ensure that productions proceed safely, professionally and in a fiscally sound manner. At the end of the course, each student will have completed a script breakdown, production schedule and budget for short-form content.
CTVA 683	Entertainment Industry Operations	3 units	This course introduces and examines concepts underlying the daily operations of an entertainment media company (with special emphasis on film/TV production companies), including forming the company, financing operations, protecting company properties, conducting business with other companies and firms, and avoiding conflicts. Also examined will be how such companies interact internationally as well as a survey of the various roles of management, consultants, agents and unions. Semester topics may vary with class interests.    Watch CTVA 683 overview
CTVA 684	Entertainment Marketing, Sales and Pitching	3 units	This course explores general marketing concepts as they relate to the entertainment business. Students are introduced to marketing concepts and strategies including positioning, perceptual mapping, branding, market segmentation and defining a target audience. By the end of this course, students will understand the basics of developing a marketing plan as well as the critical role of social media in marketing strategy. Students will also be given the opportunity to create entertainment marketing presentations and develop pitching skills. (Cross-listed with MKT 684).    Watch CTVA 684 overview
BANA 645	Multimedia Content Analysis	3 units	This course discusses the business analytics methods and tools that help to systematically extract not only information but also insights from the international media data. In the first part of the course, students get mastery-level experience working with three main pillars of business analytics, including descriptive analytics, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics. In the second part, this class explores what metrics are important for decision-making in the media industry. This class will equip students to make critical decisions regarding trade-offs in terms of what is most important to decision-makers. Media analytics is the art and science of extracting insights from semi-structured and unstructured media data to enable informed and insightful decision-making. The science part involves systematically identifying, extracting and analyzing media data using sophisticated tools and techniques. The art part interprets and aligns the insights gained with business goals and objectives.
MGT 615	Innovation & Entrepreneurship in the changing media environment	3 units	Examination of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ventures in the media environment. Via class discussions and readings, the evolving media ecosystem is examined and state-of-the-art lean startup methodology tools are considered. Using this background, original new ideas are developed into new media ventures, which are then pitched to industry professionals in the culminating final activity. Other forms of entrepreneurship, such as intrapreneurship, freelancing, consulting and nonprofit business models are also considered.    Watch MGT 615 overview
CTVA 686	Production Management II: Animation, Virtual Production and VFX	3 units	Course covers the workflows and tools for tracking and managing animation, visual effects, virtual production and other digital productions. By way of case studies from real-world productions and practicing prevalent production tracking software, the core concepts, methods and skills of production management will be introduced. Various industry professionals from animation and VFX studios will discuss production best practices as guest speakers in this course.    Watch CTVA 686 overview
CTVA 687	Entertainment Industry Management Internship	3 units	Extensive on-the-job training in film or television development, production, accounting, entertainment law, marketing/sales or audience analytics. A minimum of 135 hours at an entertainment firm is required. (Credit/No Credit only.)    Watch CTVA 687 overview
CTVA 688	Entertainment Industry Regulations	3 units	This course introduces and examines concepts underlying the impact of regulations and policies on entertainment industry environments, production and management. The possible regulatory implications of changing media landscapes will be examined as will the ways in which United States' media regulations compare with those of other nations. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of regulatory and administrative laws in controlling and advancing social media applications and innovation, including the impact of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Semester topics may vary with class interests. Students will identify and analyze legal resources and content.    Watch CTVA 688 overview
CTVA 698EIM	Graduate Project	3 units	This capstone project is intended to challenge students to draw upon the knowledge and skills they have acquired through their prior coursework in the MA in Entertainment Industry Management program. Students will produce a 10-episode television limited series proposal which will include a documental package and a marketing plan for promoting the series. A presentation of the proposal, documental package, and marketing plan will then be delivered to executives working in network and cable television as well as in the streaming industry segment.