12 monthsProgramme duration
19 Aug, 2026Application Deadline
SepStarting Month
Programme overview
Main Subject
Communication and Media Studies
Degree
MA
Study Level
Master's
Study Mode
On Campus
Course summary
What happens to a film after the credits roll? Who decides what reaches audiences, which stories get promoted and how cinema becomes part of wider cultural life?
If you want to understand film while exploring how the cultural sector works behind the scenes, MA Film and Cultural Management is for you.
At Southampton, you’ll bring together film studies and cultural management, developing an in-depth understanding of film theory, film history and the contemporary film industry alongside the principles that shape cultural organisations.
You’ll explore the importance of film within society and examine how cultural management influences the way visual media is produced, distributed, exhibited and experienced. Depending on your module choices, you could investigate film festivals and specialist programming, cultural policy, exhibition, marketing, audience development and the role of film agencies.
Your perspective will be global. Through case studies and comparative study, you’ll explore film industries and cultural practice using local, national and international examples, including contexts across the UK, Europe and East Asia.
You’ll also examine the growing role of culture within political, social and economic policy, questioning how film and cultural organisations can enrich cultural life while operating within complex commercial and public environments.
Southampton is ranked 2nd in the UK for Communication and Media Studies research quality (Complete University Guide 2026).
Find your place where film, culture and management meet, and develop the critical and professional understanding to help shape how stories reach audiences.
Key features of this course
**See film from both sides of the screen.** Combine film theory, textual analysis and film history with an understanding of cultural management and professional practice.
**Explore how films reach audiences.** Investigate areas such as distribution, exhibition, film festivals, specialist programming, marketing and audience development.
**Question who shapes film culture.** Examine film policy and the role of governments, agencies and cultural organisations in influencing which films are produced, distributed and seen.
**Take a global view.** Compare contemporary film industries across different national and international settings, with particular opportunities to explore the UK, Europe and East Asia.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop skills in research, critical thinking, communication, commercial awareness, creativity and independent working through seminars, presentations, essays and individual study.
**Make your dissertation your own.** Complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a film or cultural management subject that interests you, carrying out original research with one-to-one guidance from a supervisor.
Your future career
You’ll graduate with skills in research, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, creativity, commercial awareness and self-management, alongside specialist knowledge of film and cultural management.
Graduates can develop careers across film production companies, television and radio, arts organisations, museums and galleries, digital and print media, broadcasting, journalism, events, theatres, social media, advertising and public relations.
Roles directly connected with the course can include producer, production coordinator, programme researcher, film and video editor, location manager and screenwriter. Wider opportunities include arts administration, event management, journalism, marketing and public relations.
The programme can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your next step takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to understand how film operates as both a cultural form and an industry, and how thoughtful management can connect it with audiences.
What happens to a film after the credits roll? Who decides what reaches audiences, which stories get promoted and how cinema becomes part of wider cultural life?
If you want to understand film while exploring how the cultural sector works behind the scenes, MA Film and Cultural Management is for you.
At Southampton, you’ll bring together film studies and cultural management, developing an in-depth understanding of film theory, film history and the contemporary film industry alongside the principles that shape cultural organisations.
You’ll explore the importance of film within society and examine how cultural management influences the way visual media is produced, distributed, exhibited and experienced. Depending on your module choices, you could investigate film festivals and specialist programming, cultural policy, exhibition, marketing, audience development and the role of film agencies.
Your perspective will be global. Through case studies and comparative study, you’ll explore film industries and cultural practice using local, national and international examples, including contexts across the UK, Europe and East Asia.
You’ll also examine the growing role of culture within political, social and economic policy, questioning how film and cultural organisations can enrich cultural life while operating within complex commercial and public environments.
Southampton is ranked 2nd in the UK for Communication and Media Studies research quality (Complete University Guide 2026).
Find your place where film, culture and management meet, and develop the critical and professional understanding to help shape how stories reach audiences.
Key features of this course
**See film from both sides of the screen.** Combine film theory, textual analysis and film history with an understanding of cultural management and professional practice.
**Explore how films reach audiences.** Investigate areas such as distribution, exhibition, film festivals, specialist programming, marketing and audience development.
**Question who shapes film culture.** Examine film policy and the role of governments, agencies and cultural organisations in influencing which films are produced, distributed and seen.
**Take a global view.** Compare contemporary film industries across different national and international settings, with particular opportunities to explore the UK, Europe and East Asia.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop skills in research, critical thinking, communication, commercial awareness, creativity and independent working through seminars, presentations, essays and individual study.
**Make your dissertation your own.** Complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a film or cultural management subject that interests you, carrying out original research with one-to-one guidance from a supervisor.
Your future career
You’ll graduate with skills in research, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, creativity, commercial awareness and self-management, alongside specialist knowledge of film and cultural management.
Graduates can develop careers across film production companies, television and radio, arts organisations, museums and galleries, digital and print media, broadcasting, journalism, events, theatres, social media, advertising and public relations.
Roles directly connected with the course can include producer, production coordinator, programme researcher, film and video editor, location manager and screenwriter. Wider opportunities include arts administration, event management, journalism, marketing and public relations.
The programme can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your next step takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to understand how film operates as both a cultural form and an industry, and how thoughtful management can connect it with audiences.
Programme overview
Main Subject
Communication and Media Studies
Degree
MA
Study Level
Master's
Study Mode
On Campus
Course summary
What happens to a film after the credits roll? Who decides what reaches audiences, which stories get promoted and how cinema becomes part of wider cultural life?
If you want to understand film while exploring how the cultural sector works behind the scenes, MA Film and Cultural Management is for you.
At Southampton, you’ll bring together film studies and cultural management, developing an in-depth understanding of film theory, film history and the contemporary film industry alongside the principles that shape cultural organisations.
You’ll explore the importance of film within society and examine how cultural management influences the way visual media is produced, distributed, exhibited and experienced. Depending on your module choices, you could investigate film festivals and specialist programming, cultural policy, exhibition, marketing, audience development and the role of film agencies.
Your perspective will be global. Through case studies and comparative study, you’ll explore film industries and cultural practice using local, national and international examples, including contexts across the UK, Europe and East Asia.
You’ll also examine the growing role of culture within political, social and economic policy, questioning how film and cultural organisations can enrich cultural life while operating within complex commercial and public environments.
Southampton is ranked 2nd in the UK for Communication and Media Studies research quality (Complete University Guide 2026).
Find your place where film, culture and management meet, and develop the critical and professional understanding to help shape how stories reach audiences.
Key features of this course
**See film from both sides of the screen.** Combine film theory, textual analysis and film history with an understanding of cultural management and professional practice.
**Explore how films reach audiences.** Investigate areas such as distribution, exhibition, film festivals, specialist programming, marketing and audience development.
**Question who shapes film culture.** Examine film policy and the role of governments, agencies and cultural organisations in influencing which films are produced, distributed and seen.
**Take a global view.** Compare contemporary film industries across different national and international settings, with particular opportunities to explore the UK, Europe and East Asia.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop skills in research, critical thinking, communication, commercial awareness, creativity and independent working through seminars, presentations, essays and individual study.
**Make your dissertation your own.** Complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a film or cultural management subject that interests you, carrying out original research with one-to-one guidance from a supervisor.
Your future career
You’ll graduate with skills in research, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, creativity, commercial awareness and self-management, alongside specialist knowledge of film and cultural management.
Graduates can develop careers across film production companies, television and radio, arts organisations, museums and galleries, digital and print media, broadcasting, journalism, events, theatres, social media, advertising and public relations.
Roles directly connected with the course can include producer, production coordinator, programme researcher, film and video editor, location manager and screenwriter. Wider opportunities include arts administration, event management, journalism, marketing and public relations.
The programme can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your next step takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to understand how film operates as both a cultural form and an industry, and how thoughtful management can connect it with audiences.
What happens to a film after the credits roll? Who decides what reaches audiences, which stories get promoted and how cinema becomes part of wider cultural life?
If you want to understand film while exploring how the cultural sector works behind the scenes, MA Film and Cultural Management is for you.
At Southampton, you’ll bring together film studies and cultural management, developing an in-depth understanding of film theory, film history and the contemporary film industry alongside the principles that shape cultural organisations.
You’ll explore the importance of film within society and examine how cultural management influences the way visual media is produced, distributed, exhibited and experienced. Depending on your module choices, you could investigate film festivals and specialist programming, cultural policy, exhibition, marketing, audience development and the role of film agencies.
Your perspective will be global. Through case studies and comparative study, you’ll explore film industries and cultural practice using local, national and international examples, including contexts across the UK, Europe and East Asia.
You’ll also examine the growing role of culture within political, social and economic policy, questioning how film and cultural organisations can enrich cultural life while operating within complex commercial and public environments.
Southampton is ranked 2nd in the UK for Communication and Media Studies research quality (Complete University Guide 2026).
Find your place where film, culture and management meet, and develop the critical and professional understanding to help shape how stories reach audiences.
Key features of this course
**See film from both sides of the screen.** Combine film theory, textual analysis and film history with an understanding of cultural management and professional practice.
**Explore how films reach audiences.** Investigate areas such as distribution, exhibition, film festivals, specialist programming, marketing and audience development.
**Question who shapes film culture.** Examine film policy and the role of governments, agencies and cultural organisations in influencing which films are produced, distributed and seen.
**Take a global view.** Compare contemporary film industries across different national and international settings, with particular opportunities to explore the UK, Europe and East Asia.
**Build your research toolkit.** Develop skills in research, critical thinking, communication, commercial awareness, creativity and independent working through seminars, presentations, essays and individual study.
**Make your dissertation your own.** Complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a film or cultural management subject that interests you, carrying out original research with one-to-one guidance from a supervisor.
Your future career
You’ll graduate with skills in research, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, creativity, commercial awareness and self-management, alongside specialist knowledge of film and cultural management.
Graduates can develop careers across film production companies, television and radio, arts organisations, museums and galleries, digital and print media, broadcasting, journalism, events, theatres, social media, advertising and public relations.
Roles directly connected with the course can include producer, production coordinator, programme researcher, film and video editor, location manager and screenwriter. Wider opportunities include arts administration, event management, journalism, marketing and public relations.
The programme can also prepare you for further academic research, including PhD study.
Wherever your next step takes you, you’ll leave Southampton better equipped to understand how film operates as both a cultural form and an industry, and how thoughtful management can connect it with audiences.
Admission Requirements
176+
67+
92+
6.5+
3.2+
120+
You’ll need a 2:2 degree in film or another arts subject.
19 Aug 2026
1 Year
Sep
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