Cinema and Television Directing

We are currently reviewing applications for this program on a rolling basis.

Time to degree: two years plus thesis (56 credits)

The best directors need equal mastery of leadership, storytelling, and production skills. As a Master of Fine Arts candidate in the Cinema and Television Directing program at Columbia College Chicago, you'll learn how to craft character-driven narratives, lead a crew, and create diverse and authentic films grounded in the human experience. You'll complete intensive study in  areas including screenwriting, cinematography, editing and sound, and direct your own scripts and those written by others. You will have the opportunity to work on both stand-alone short films and series production. For your thesis project, you'll develop and direct a short film or episodic pilot.

Grow your own style while collaborating with other Columbia graduate students and artist from Chicago’s rich arts community.

Quick Links

See application requirements | View required courses | View program costs (PDF)

In the Classroom

In the first year, you’ll make several short films, exercising creative control and learning to collaborate. You will study cinematic visual storytelling. In addition, you’ll deepen your understanding of film and television history and the contemporary film and television industry through graduate seminars and screenings. At the end of both semesters, graduate faculty members will constructively critique your work.

In your last year, you will collaborate on the creation of an original series. You will also develop and write a long form project, either a feature screenplay or show bible for a series. At the same time, you’ll work with two thesis advisors to develop and shoot your thesis film. In Thesis Workshop, you’ll explore your thesis material through individualized rehearsals, pre-visualization exercises, exploratory shoots, critique, and discussion. This time of exploration will help you further develop the script and pre-production for your thesis film, which you’ll direct and screen as part of your thesis requirement.

Thesis: 

Your thesis project is an original piece of media – a short film, a short television pilot, or multiple short webisodes – that brings together everything you’ve learned in your courses. You will write a script, create visualization materials, develop a casting plan, collaborate with other creatives as shoot your project, and screen at an end-of-semester premiere screening. Thesis projects have a maximum length of 15 minutes.  

Past MFA thesis projects have screened in numerous festivals and won awards. Some recent examples:  

• “Close Ties to Home Country,” directed by Akanksha Cruczynski (’21) and produced by Felicia Ferrara (’21), screened at Sundance, Telluride, The Chicago International Film Festival and others, and received a Silver Student Academy Award. 
• “Abhagir Swargo (Heaven for the Unfortunate)” directed by Tridev (’21), was included on the 2022 Yugo BAFTA Student Awards Live Action Short List. 
• “Santé,” produced and directed by Taylor Dominique Mason, was an official selection in the 2022 Black Harvest Film Festival. 
• “Brother,” directed by Aleksei Borovokov (’22) and produced by Chris Sonnenschein (’22) won “Best Short Film” at Pride Queer Film Festival, “Best International Short Film” at Out & Loud – Pune International Queer Film Festival, and was featured in 10 other festivals.  
• “Jack and Anna,” directed by Ksenia Naughton, was featured in over 40 film festivals and won “Best Global Short: Beyond the Rainbow Award at the 2019 SCAD Savannah Film Festival” and a Silver Telly Award.  

Outside the Classroom

You’ll have endless opportunities to engage with Columbia College Chicago’s passionate film community. Here are a few examples of exciting events that take place outside the classroom:

• Advance Screenings: watch independent and major studio releases in our own Film Row Cinema before they play in the theatres. 
• FrameWork: A series of student-produced video interviews that allow seniors and graduate students to talk about their filmmaking processes.
• University Film and Video Association (UFVA): Students interested in teaching participate in this international conference each year.
• Film Festivals: Chicago hosts several renowned film festivals. Some festivals, like the Chicago Feminist Film Festival, are hosted on campus and organized by our faculty and students. We encourage students to submit their films and volunteer.
• Volunteer opportunities: Students are invited to volunteer at the prestigious Chicago International Film Festival and other cultural events in Chicago.
• Cinema and television-related student organizations including the Editors Guild of Columbia, The Experimental Film Society, and the Cult Cinema Club.

Creatives Spaces and Facilities

Alumni

Columbia College Chicago has produced many successful alumni. Our alumni find work in the industry right out of college, and some have gone on to win Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes.

Alumni highlights

A small sample of our department’s alumni success stories:

• Ayanna Floyd MFA ’98 was coexecutive producer for the TV shows Empire and Falling Skies, and has writing credits on episodes of Empire, The Chi, Falling Skies, and Private Practice.
• Akanksha Cruczynski MFA '21, Director; Felicia Ferrara MFA '21, Producer: “Close Ties to Home Country”: Akanksha and Felicia’s thesis film was screened at Sundance, Telluride, Aspen, and other film festivals, was on the BAFTA short list, and won a Silver Student Academy Award.
• Michael Goi ’80 is a cinematographer, director, writer, and producer who has worked on films and TV shows such as The Mentalist, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, and American Horror Story. Goi was president of the American Society of Cinematographers.
• Janusz Kaminski ’87 is a two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer whose credits include Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Lincoln, and The Post.
• Declan Quinn ’79 has film credits as a cinematographer and director of photography for Leaving Las Vegas, 28 Days, and My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.
• Christian Sprenger ’07 is the Emmy Award-winning cinematographer for the TV shows Atlanta, GLOW, Baskets, and Last Man on Earth.
• Bob Teitel ’90 is a producer and writer whose credits include Soul Food, the Barbershop movies, and the Academy Award-nominated Mudbound.
• Antonia Tighe MFA ’02 is an editor and Emmy winner on the TV series Top Chef.
• Jordan Vogt-Roberts ’06 directed the films Kings of Summer and Kong: Skull Island.
• Lena Waithe ’06 is an Emmy Award-winning writer, actress, and producer on shows and films such as Dear White People, Bones, Master of None, and The Chi, and was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2018.
• Diane Weyermann MFA ’92 was president of documentary film and television at Participant Media. Participant Media’s documentary projects include the Academy Award-winning documentary films Citizenfour and An Inconvenient Truth as well as Emmy-winning Food, Inc. and Emmy-nominated The Great Invisible.
• Annick Wokan ’05 is an associate producer on the award-winning TV show Game of Thrones. Read more profiles of Cinema and Television Arts alumni.

Read more profiles of Cinema and Television Arts alumni.

Faculty

Our faculty members are working professionals, documentarians, producers, directors and editors who stay up-to-date with industry trends and teach them in the classroom. They’re dedicated to giving you a real-world education, and they’re great resources for jobs and references once you graduate.

View all department faculty.