MFAFilm

Our faculty are working filmmakers and media artists with backgrounds in various practices, including directing, cinematography, sound design, and installation. Faculty work with graduate students one on one to expand their conceptual thinking and aesthetic approaches to film.

Our students graduate with conceptual skills, technical dexterity, and professional networks that enable them to pursue lifelong careers in filmmaking. As they enter the field, alumni draw from their robust experiences at CCA, including teaching undergraduate film students and collaborating with curators and visual artists, to forge unique creative paths. Whether they choose commercial film or expanded cinema or experimental media, alumni find exciting opportunities that challenge them to redefine contemporary cinema.

Our two-year program is designated for those with a bachelor’s degree in film, visual studies, or a related fine arts field. Most of our applicants are self-driven filmmakers who are excited to join a collaborative community. Overall, admission is based on the strength of your portfolio and transcripts.

Start your application

You’ll apply to CCA and submit all required application materials via SlideRoom. Afterward, you may be contacted for an interview with a faculty member as part of the application process. Being selected for an interview doesn’t indicate applicant status or increase or decrease an applicant’s chances of being admitted into their desired graduate program. Interviews are conducted at the program’s discretion and are used to gain more insight into an application.

MFA Film application requirements

• Application and $70 nonrefundable application fee
  To be completed and submitted on SlideRoom.
  
  
• Resume/curriculum vitae
  Please outline your educational and professional background and relevant experiences and activities, including community work. Resumes/CVs must be in PDF document format.
  
  
• Two recommendation letters
  You’ll request two letters of recommendation from academic or professional sources in SlideRoom by entering the contact information for your recommenders/references. They will then receive an automated email from SlideRoom with instructions for uploading their letter of recommendation.
  
  
• Unofficial college transcripts
  You are required to provide your complete undergraduate academic history. Students who have already taken graduate courses are encouraged to submit those transcripts, too. For international applicants, all transcripts must be in English or accompanied by a certified English translation.
  
  Please provide an unofficial transcript from the college where you will receive or have received your bachelor’s degree, as well as unofficial transcripts for all other undergraduate coursework. Unofficial transcripts will be used for review purposes.
  
  Once you have been admitted and enrolled, all students will need to submit official, sealed transcripts showing the completion of a bachelor’s degree to our graduate admissions office by August 1 of the fall semester they begin enrollment at CCA.
  
  
• Proof of English proficiency (international applicants only)
  Review and plan to meet our English proficiency requirements for graduate students.
  
  
• Personal essay
  In a personal essay, submitted as a PDF, write 500 to 1,000 words about your work within the context of contemporary artistic practice and why you want to study at the graduate level.
  
  
• Portfolio
  We encourage you to submit at least one completed recent work. You may also submit a five-minute sample reel that the review committee will watch in its entirety. The five-minute sample reel should be labeled clearly with the title, date, running time, and description of the piece, or pieces, it contains. Your role in the production of each piece must be clearly labeled as well.
  
  You have the option to also submit: supplemental reels of up to 10 minutes in length, which will be viewed at the discretion of the committee; additional video files (we encourage you to submit at least one completed recent work); and up to 10 still images, written work, and links to web-based work.
  
  Technical specs are as follows:
  
  
  • Images (up to 5 MB each)
  • Videos (up to 250 MB each)
  • Audio (up to 30 MB each)
  • PDFs (up to 10 MB each)
  • Links to media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud are also acceptable

For prospective student inquiries, including questions about the program or how to apply, please contact us