Peter Stark Producing Program

Overview

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding the history and present realities of the entertainment industry landscape with understanding and awareness of the dynamic evolving nature of the field. The faculty of working professionals brings up-to-date information and strategies to the classroom, enabling students to develop a current and savvy skillset, knowledge base, and network of contacts.
• The primacy of ideas and story (the “Art”) is our focus. At the Peter Stark Producing Program MFA program at University of Southern California, we also teach how to navigate the business to bring your ideas to life (the “Commerce”).
• Broad and deep practical knowledge of the profession of producing for the variety of arenas within the entertainment industry (features, television, digital media), plus, knowledge of other creative roles in content creation, thus enabling the students to choose a specific direction and also remain flexible and broadly-skilled.
• Always practical, especially as it pertains to their own specific career path, including internship experience, individual and group projects (from short films to film and television show pitches) culminating in the conception, development and completion of an individual thesis project.

Career Opportunities

Producing is an entrepreneurial endeavor. The film industry does not have a formalized recruitment program, thus students must expect to exert considerable ingenuity and persistence to secure their initial job. Some jobs do come through contacts made directly or indirectly through the Peter Stark Producing Program, such as summer internships, our mentor program, graduates, instructors and industry friends.