Note: The School of Theater, Film and Television does NOT allow double majors.

The undergraduate Film and Television major encourages development of a personal vision that incorporates creative, practical, intellectual, and aesthetic values. Within the context of a liberal arts education, the program provides a broad background in the field and in the diversity of film and television practice, including courses in history and theory, critical thinking, animation, screenwriting, and the fundamentals of film, video, and television production.

Freshmen and sophomores enroll each quarter in one or two courses designed as preparation for the major (primarily cinema and media studies), while also completing their general education, writing, literature and foreign language degree requirements.

In their junior year, students explore and develop a range of craft skills covering all major aspects of film, television, and digital media production. In their senior year, students concentrate in their choice of film production/directing (narrative and documentary), screenwriting, cinematography, animation, digital media, or editing/postproduction. Students must complete a professional internship in their junior or senior year as part of the degree.

Our course offerings cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Scholarly work in the areas of history, criticism and theory provide a conceptual underpinning for our world class professional training courses and an educational response to the opportunities that emerging technologies offer. Our scholarly explorations, in turn, are anchored and informed by the practice of the art.

Students have access to exceptional resources, including the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the largest university-based moving image collection in the world. The proximity of the world's entertainment center, in Los Angeles, gives students access to people accomplished in their fields, many of whom are supportive UCLA alumni. Working and highly placed professionals visit the campus regularly as instructors or come to work here as adjunct and visiting professors.

The Department of Film, Television and Digital Media empowers the creative innovators of tomorrow by training them in all aspects of the arts and crafts of the moving image, from the aesthetic to the technological. At the same time, the Department explores the best work of past masters of film and television in Cinema and Media Studies courses, and encourages students to aspire to similar accomplishments. We affirm the importance of storytelling as the form in which human beings give weight and meaning to the most important passage of their lives.

While all media technologies are means to creative ends, not ends in themselves, we believe it is essential for our students to be actively engaged in the digital and telecommunications revolution that is transforming all areas of contemporary culture. Currently, the School can boast of more than a dozen innovative initiatives that range across every program including computer assisted theater design, special effects for film and television, digital library research and archival restoration, the design of interactive texts and instructional software, computer animation and video gaming, interactive television, and the development of web-based media arts.

UCLA students must satisfactorily complete for credit a minimum of 180 units for the bachelor’s degree, which includes all university, School of Theater, Film and Television and FTVDM department requirements. At least 64 of the 180 units must be upper-division courses numbered 100 through 199. A maximum of 216 units may be permitted. The Film and Television, BA is a four-year degree, which includes seven Preparation for the Major courses and the Major courses. Transfer students will complete the preparatory courses (Film and Television 4, 6A, 10A, 33, 51, 84A and One Theater course) during their junior and senior years. Transfer students are expected to graduate within six (6) quarters (two years) and must complete all preparation for the major courses before graduation. Upon arrival at UCLA, transfer students may petition to use non-UCLA college courses toward preparation for the major course requirements where appropriate.

• University requirements
• Entry-level writing (or ESL)
• American history and institutions
• School of Theater, Film and Television requirements
• General education
• Foreign language
• Writing I and Writing II
• Upper Division Non-Major Requirements
• Department of FTVDM requirements
• Preparation for the major
• The major

FRESHMAN YEAR (Four prep courses, 18-21 units)

• FILM TV 1A, 1B, 1C – Freshman Symposium
• FILM TV 4 – The Art and Technique of Filmmaking (prep course)
• FILM TV 6A – History of American Motion Picture (prep course)
• FILM TV 10A – American Television History (prep course)
• One Theater course (prep course)

SOPHOMORE YEAR (3 prep courses, 13 units)

• FILM TV 33 – Introductory Screenwriting
• FILM TV 51 – Digital Media Studies
• FILM TV 84A – Overview of Contemporary Film Industry

JUNIOR YEAR (8-9 major courses, 27-33 units)

• FILM TV 101A – Junior Symposium
• FILM TV 106B – History of European Motion Picture or FILM TV 106C - History of African, Asian and Latin American Film
• One cinema and media studies elective course
• FILM TV 134 – Intermediate Screenwriting
• FILM TV 150 – Cinematography
• FILM TV 154 – Film Editing
• FILM TV 155 – Introduction to Digital Media and Tools
• FILM TV 163 – Directing Cameras
• FILM TV 185 – Intermediate Undergraduate Film Production (required for those who will complete the Narrative Directing Concentration in their senior year, optional for other students)

SENIOR YEAR

• FILM TV 102A, 102B, 102C – Senior Symposium
• Senior concentration (at least 20 units of letter graded, upper division coursework, including at least two courses in a single concentration ):
• animation
• film production/directing (narrative or documentary)
• cinema and media studies
• digital media
• producing
• Production – Narrative Directing
• Production – Documentary
• Production – Cinematography
• Post-Production
• screenwriting
• FILM TV 195 – internship

The department admits new students only once each year for the Fall Quarter.

Please select how you will be applying to Film and Television BA Program:

• Click Here, for Freshman admission as a high school student.
• Click Here, for Transfer admission from another college or university.
• Click Here, for Change of Major admission as a current UCLA students.

** Please be sure to select the correct type of application as materials and deadlines may differ.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

For more information on requirements and applying to UCLA as an International Student, visit http://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/intl.htm.

FAFSA

For U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents interested in receiving financial aid in the 2024-2025 year, note that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) deadline for UCLA is March 2, 2024. Applicants must complete the FAFSA by this date if they want to be eligible for all awards, work-study, and scholarships that UCLA offers. If applying after March 2, please check with the Financial Aid Office for available funding opportunities. www.financialaid.ucla.edu

DREAM Act

For non-U.S. Citizens or non-Permanent Residents who are approved to pay in-state tuition because they graduated from a high school in California; they will need to complete the California DREAM application by the March 2, 2024 deadline. The DREAM application can be accessed at https://dream.csac.ca.gov. If applying after March 2, please check with the Financial Aid Office for available funding opportunities. www.financialaid.ucla.edu

Please visit the FAQ page for answers to additional for additional information, call, or call 310-206-8441, or email filmundergrad@tft.ucla.edu.

** Please do not contact the department to check on your application, as we cannot update you on your application status or materials.