Management and Film Studies

Management and film studies is a combination that draws together the discipline of managing organisations and the critical study of one of the twentieth and twenty-first century's most powerful and culturally significant art forms. Management develops your understanding of how organisations are structured and led, how strategy is formed, and how people and resources are deployed effectively. Film studies examines cinema as an aesthetic, cultural, and industrial phenomenon, developing your ability to read films closely and to situate them within their historical, political, and theoretical contexts.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, this three-year full-time degree is available with a foundation year. SOAS's distinctive identity as an institution focused on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East means that its film studies provision is particularly strong in non-Western cinema, giving you a genuinely global perspective on what film has been and is. The management dimension adds commercial and organisational knowledge that complements the critical and cultural focus of film studies.

Graduates from this combination go on to work in the creative and cultural industries, including film production, distribution, marketing, and exhibition, as well as in international business and management roles, particularly in contexts where knowledge of Asian, African, or Middle Eastern cultures and industries is an advantage. Many also move into arts administration, cultural policy, journalism, and education. The unusual combination of management skills and genuinely international film knowledge is distinctive in a competitive graduate market.

Postgraduate study in film, media studies, or management is available for those who want to develop their expertise further.