2024 applications are closed.

Do you want learn how to make a film professionally and be part of a production team that spends an intensive, full year planning, producing, and distributing a film at festivals and in theaters?

The Minor in Fiction Filmmaking educates undergraduates at Michigan State University in the history, theory, and production of Fiction Film. The minor combines practical skills in production with conceptual training in film studies. By bringing production and analysis together students can produce theoretically informed work that gives them a cutting edge understanding of the challenges of creating quality film experiences.

The minor is administered jointly by the College of Arts & Letters and College of Communication Arts & Sciences. With the approval of the department that administers the student’s degree program, courses that are used to satisfy the requirements for the minor may also be used to satisfy the requirements for the bachelor’s degree. The student’s program of study must be approved by the student’s academic advisor for the minor.

a young woman holds a digital slate in front of a cinema camera on the set of a film
On the set of the 2019 Fiction Film capstone film Dead Ends

Who is the Minor for?

The primary pool of students that the minor will draw from will be Film Studies or Media and Information majors. However, students in other academic disciplines are encouraged to apply as long as they are enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs at Michigan State University and are in good standing.

The Fiction Film Production minor takes 4 consecutive fall/spring semesters to complete. Students who plan to graduate in 4 years should apply in the Spring of their first or second years. If you are applying after your sophomore year, you will need to have a personal interview with the faculty to have your application considered.

a group of young people smile for a picture in front of a step and repeat background
Students from FLM435 at their red carpet premiere

Eligibility and Applying

For additional information on applying, eligibility, and academic requirements for the Fiction Film Minor, please contact an English department academic advisor.

To apply for the minor, students must have successfully completed the required prerequisite courses (3.0 or higher) OR successfully completed one of the prerequisite courses and enroll in the second for the following fall. While CAS 112 says on the schedule of courses it is restricted to students in the College of Communication Arts & Sciences, it is open to all students in the Fiction Filmmaking minor. Please use this link to request an override – http://override.cas.msu.edu/index.php.  In your request, be sure to indicate you are pursuing the Fiction Filmmaking minor.

You must apply and get accepted into this program in order to complete the minor. 

To apply, students must submit an application below. Applications will be reviewed and decisions made before by a subset of the core faculty who teach in the minor. Students will be notified of their acceptance before the beginning of Enrollment for Fall.

2024 applications are now closed.


Contact:

Pete Johnston
john2950@msu.edu