Film Production vs. Film Studies: Making Films or Studying Them

"Film school" covers two different kinds of study. A film production program teaches you to make work: you write, shoot, light, record and edit, usually in crews, and you finish with films or a reel. A film studies program (also called cinema studies or cinema and media studies) teaches you to analyze work: you study film history, theory and criticism, and you finish with research papers or a thesis. Both are legitimate degrees, but they ask for different application materials, they spend your time differently, and they cost different things beyond tuition. This guide sets out how to tell them apart from a program's own pages.

What each degree is for

Production degrees are built around making. NYU's undergraduate Film and Television BFA, for example, requires four core production courses, a production safety course, craft courses and screenwriting, alongside history and criticism courses, and its stated learning outcomes include mastery of the technical skills and conventions of media.

Film studies degrees are built around analysis. NYU's Cinema Studies BA describes itself as a liberal arts program that studies cinema both as an art form and as mass culture. Its required courses are introduction to cinema studies, silent film history, film theory and television history, plus U.S. and non-U.S. cinema courses. The department also requires a minor or a second major, which signals that the degree is meant to sit inside a broad education rather than replace it.

A useful rule: if the core courses are named for crafts (directing, cinematography, sound, editing), it is a production degree. If they are named for periods, theories, national cinemas or methods, it is a studies degree. Browse both fields on our film production and film studies pages.

How the curriculum differs

At the master's level the gap is sharper. NYU's Cinema Studies MA requires 36 credits of coursework in history, theory and criticism and a take-home comprehensive examination. UCLA's Cinema & Media Studies MA offers a professional track (aimed at programming, archival and curatorial work) and an academic track that prepares students for doctoral study; both require 36 units. Neither is production training, even where electives allow some hands-on classes.

Programs that combine the two

Some programs deliberately mix analysis and practice. UC Santa Cruz's catalog says its Film + Digital Media general major is neither strictly a theory program nor a production program but both, and lets undergraduates take critical studies and production-focused classes. Temple University's Film and Media Arts program offers, among other options, a Screen Studies concentration within its BA and several production concentrations.

When a program blends the two, read the requirement list rather than the title. Count how many credits go to production courses, check whether there is a capstone film, and see whether production courses are open to every major or only to students admitted to a concentration. One production elective inside a studies degree does not make it a production degree, and one theory seminar inside a production degree does not make it a studies degree.

What you submit when you apply

Application materials follow the degree's purpose:

• Production programs usually ask for creative work. NYU's undergraduate Film & TV program, for

instance, asks every applicant for a multi-part creative portfolio (see our guide to preparing a film school portfolio).

• Film studies programs usually ask for academic writing. NYU's Cinema Studies MA asks for a

15–20 page writing sample showing sustained critical, theoretical or historical thinking, a statement of purpose, a résumé and two recommendation letters. Chapman's MA in Film and Media Studies asks for a 12–15 page scholarly writing sample, which its instructions say does not have to be about film or media.

If you have strong essays but no films, a studies program may be the more natural fit. If you have made work and want to make more, a production program is built for that.

Costs beyond tuition

Production programs carry costs that studies programs mostly do not. NYU's Film and TV BFA policies describe nonrefundable laboratory/equipment, projection and insurance fees charged each semester to every major, and a separate requirement to buy insurance for school equipment used on location. Florida State's 2026–2027 tuition table lists a $350 Film Equipment Fee for all College of Motion Picture Arts majors. Other programs publish supplies allowances or estimates of what students spend on their own films.

Tuition is a separate number from these fees and from what a student film actually costs to make. Compare them line by line using our production costs overview, and confirm the current figures on each school's official cost pages.

Where each path can lead

Schools describe outcomes in their own words, and those descriptions are not guarantees. NYU's Cinema Studies BA says graduates can use the degree as a liberal arts degree or as preparation for professional careers, and lists fields such as archival work, teaching and journalism. NYU's Cinema Studies MA lists curating, programming, preservation, criticism and teaching among its graduates' paths. Production programs typically point to directing, cinematography, editing and producing.

If you are considering a research career, the studies route leads toward a PhD; Film Studies PhDs are research degrees, not production training. See our PhD page.

How to decide

Ask yourself three questions:

1. Do you want to spend most of your time making work or writing about it?
2. Which application materials can you produce well right now: creative work or analytical writing?
3. Can you budget for production fees and project costs on top of tuition?

Then compare specific programs in our program directory. Requirements, fees and curricula vary by school and change from year to year, so confirm every detail on the program's official pages before you apply.