I wish I had a pound for every time someone had asked me “what’s that?” when I tell them I study Business of the Creative Industries at York.
Now I’m in my third and final year of this varied course, I’ve learned skills and knowledge that I feel excited about putting into practice in the industry when I graduate.
Here’s exactly how varied the Business of the Creative Industries course is at York.
Module options for Business of the Creative Industries
A real positive of Business of the Creative Industries is the variety of modules available over the three years. This means you have the ability to explore all aspects of the creative industries. Over the years, I have done projects involving theatre, TV, film and music.
I had the choice of three optional modules – two in 2nd Year and one in 3rd Year. This made it really easy to adapt my studies to fit the industry I was interested in most.
Optional modules are taught with students from other courses across the School of Arts and Creative Technologies. This is a great opportunity to work with a variety of students and staff.
Optional modules
The three optional modules I chose were:
- Theatre Design and Production
- Creative Producing
- TV Research Skills
These choices have allowed me to learn a variety of job roles, and range of skills to help me with my career within the creative industries! Not only am I now equipped with practical industry skills, but I have also hugely developed my confidence. Thanks to pitches and presentation work, I feel a lot more confident in public speaking to large groups – a skill vital for any industry, but particularly the creative industries!
Compulsory modules
Along with your optional modules, you will also undertake compulsory modules. Some of mine (among others) across the three years have included:
- Creative Business Strategies and Methods
- Content Development, Brands and Marketing
- Creative Business Leadership
As you can see, the compulsory modules still offer a varied learning experience, looking at different roles within both the business and creative industries. This will give you a vast range of knowledge to prepare you for a variety of jobs!
Theory and practical elements
Business of the Creative Industries also offers a great mix of both theory and practical learning. You will learn different types of theory when it comes to creative strategies. This includes how best to appeal to different markets, as well as practical skills for when you graduate.
During my first year, I did a module entitled Intro to Screen Production Methods. In this module, you work in teams to devise your own studio television production from scratch. You then get to produce your show in the fully equipped studio set!
Mixture of individual and team working
As mentioned before, the variety of the course modules also means there is a large mixture of both team and solo working for seminars and assessments.
Most of the modules I’ve undertaken on the course required two assessments – typically both a presentation and an essay of some sort. Many presentations are group-based. This means group work takes up a large number of assessments over the course. While group work may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it really helps to build teamwork skills, which are essential for working within the creative industries. You’ll also develop your listening skills by taking everyone’s ideas into account.
There is also a large amount of individual work, with the course involving essay-writing as a key part of assessment. Again, individual work really builds up a wide range of skills for future employment, such as time management and organisation.
Why I chose to study Business of the Creative Industries
When I was looking at courses to study at university, I know I really wanted to study something media related, but just couldn’t find something that completely appealed to me… until I found Business of the Creative Industries!
I have always known I wanted to work within the creative industries as I have always been a fan of theatre, TV and film; so this course was literally learning the types of jobs I wanted for the future! I wanted to do a degree that would be beneficial for my future career, so the introduction of Business of the Creative Industries is how I ended up at York!
Read more blogs about studying Film and TV production at York.
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