COURSE OVERVIEW
The UK leads the world in unscripted TV formats - this MA puts you at the centre.
This one-year MA is designed to prepare graduates for the convergence now taking place between traditional broadcast television and the world of the online creator. Across six practical modules, you’ll learn how to devise, develop, and produce original unscripted formats for broadcast, streaming, and platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
If you want to shape the future of unscripted entertainment - on television or online - this is where it starts.
Content Tabs
The UK is the world’s leading exporter of unscripted TV formats. Hit shows like Britain’s Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing (adapted internationally as Dancing with the Stars), The X Factor, MasterChef, The Great British Bake Off, Love Island, Gogglebox, Come Dine With Me, Race Across the World, Undercover Boss, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and The 1% Club - all developed and produced in the UK - have helped establish Britain as the global powerhouse of unscripted television.
At the same time, a new generation of trailblazing UK content creators are creating fresh, digital-first formats and unlocking younger audiences for unscripted entertainment online - whether it’s Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date, which demonstrates how low-cost, high-concept formats can achieve significant international reach, or The Sidemen’s Inside, a digital reimagining of Big Brother.
This course will equip you to develop and produce original unscripted formats. You won’t just develop ideas - you’ll make them.
You’ll explore every stage of the process, from idea generation and development to casting, shooting, editing, and publishing your work. You’ll work both in a 4K TV studio and on location. You will be introduced to the latest AI tools shaping modern development and production workflows.
Along the way, you’ll get to discover how some of the world’s most successful unscripted formats are made and meet the creatives responsible for them.
By the end of the course, you’ll have built a strong portfolio demonstrating your ability to create original, returnable, and scalable formats for television and online platforms. You’ll have developed invaluable Industry connections through dedicated networking opportunities with producers, production companies and influential creators. You will graduate with a deep understanding of the unscripted landscape and how formats are produced and sold at the highest levels.
COURSE FACILITIES
You will have unparalleled access to Industry-standard facilities throughout the course. The 4K Television Studio is fully equipped with state-of-the-art UHD TV galleries with HDR monitoring and multi-purpose LED lighting, which provides space for large-scale multi-camera, television productions.
The MA is delivered across three terms:
Term 1 (January – April) includes:
Fundamentals 1: What is a Format?: What exactly is a format? How does it make a show both recognisable and adaptable across different markets and cultures?
Fundamentals 2: Single Camera, Sound & Lighting: Introducing students to the core technical skills essential for self-shooting in television production.
Module 1: Fact Ent Production - Location: An immersive location-based production experience, where you’ll apply the practical skills learnt in Fundamentals 2. Can you create a storyline and capture the tone of a hit Factual Entertainment show like Clarkson’s Farm?
Fundamentals 3: Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro: An introduction to editing with this popular and flexible software.
Term 2 (April – July) includes:
Module 2: YouTube Channel Challenge: In this longitudinal module students will create a YouTube channel from the ground up, creating multiple episodes across the year, tracking their audience, and evolving their content.
Fundamentals 4: Research: Focusing on building essential research skills required for working in television and online content production through a series of real-world, time-limited research challenges.
Module 3: Format Development - Studio: This module focuses on the creative and practical skills required to develop entertainment formats from concept to pitch where you will learn how to brainstorm ideas, create decks and sizzles, and pitch ideas to a panel.
Fundamentals 5: Casting: You will be introduced to the core principles and practices of casting for unscripted formats.
Module 4: Format Production - Studio: Students work in teams (1 x Director, 2 x Producers) to create a 25-minute pilot episode of their show.
Term 3 (September – December) includes:
Module 5: Digital-First Format Development: This graduation project tasks you with developing a digital-first format with potential for future broadcast development.
Fundamentals 6: Multi Camera (Location): Learning how to plan and execute a multi-camera setup on location before participating in a hands-on multi-camera field exercise.
Module 6: Digital-First Format Production: A graduation project to produce your digital-first format. Each student must work on at least one other graduation production.
Module 7: Master’s Portfolio
Throughout the course, you'll have the opportunity to network with production companies and Industry members working in unscripted.
You must be able to demonstrate your passion, commitment and talent for creating and developing unscripted formats.
Applicants will normally have an undergraduate degree or equivalent work experience.
While many applicants will have a degree from a British or overseas university, we will consider applicants who do not have a degree if they have an impressive portfolio, a creative track record (for instance, in theatre or other arts) or an alternative qualification.
International students Visa and English language requirements
If you have any questions, please email info@nfts.co.uk
The following items should accompany your online application:
- Describe an original unscripted TV concept you would love to develop. It could be for a linear TV channel, a streamer, or a social channel. Why would it appeal to audiences? (no more than one A4 typed page)
- Please submit Vimeo links with samples of any work you feel is relevant to your application specifying your role in each.
Applications will close at 23:59 on the day of the deadline, shown at the top of this page.
Funding Available
The NFTS awards more scholarships and bursaries to British students, relative to the size of our student body, than almost any other educational institution in the UK. If you’re successful at gaining a place on the course, you will be contacted by our funding team with details on how to apply for one of these scholarships.
Upcoming Events
Student Showcase
The Good, The Dad and The Ugly (trailer)
TV Entertainment Grad Show 2024
Director - Chiara Schreder
Producer - Natalia Branco
Factual entertainment format which sees fathers and sons go on a literal and metaphorical journey of self-discovery to reconnect with each other.
The Ministry of Enigmatic Affairs (trailer)
TV Entertainment Grad Show 2024
Director - Karan Dhar
Producer - Marina Fistal
Mockumentary in which paranormal investigators from a little-known government ministry meet a cast of real historians and psychics in the hope of connecting with the spirit of Henry VIII…
Bongo's Big Adventure (trailer)
TV Entertainment Grad Show 2024
Director - Matt Branston
Producer - Tamzin Murray
A scripted musical kids show about a honey badger with mental health problems.
Graduate Success
In recent years, our students have sold entertainment formats to Warner Brothers Television and ITV and graduation projects have won prestigious awards from the New York Television Festival and the Royal Television Society.
Recent credits include...
Black Magic With Trixy
Multistory Media / ITV’s Fresh Cuts for ITVX
Producer/Director Samuel Ofori-Attah
Graduate Success
In recent years, our students have sold entertainment formats to Warner Brothers Television and ITV and graduation projects have won prestigious awards from the New York Television Festival and the Royal Television Society.
Recent credits include...
The Traitors (US, Season 2)
Studio Lambert for Peacock
Edit Producer Jamie Minty
Graduate Success
In recent years, our students have sold entertainment formats to Warner Brothers Television and ITV and graduation projects have won prestigious awards from the New York Television Festival and the Royal Television Society.
Recent credits include...
The Chase (Series 15 & 16)
Potato for ITV
Researcher Marcus Brooker
Graduate Success
In recent years, our students have sold entertainment formats to Warner Brothers Television and ITV and graduation projects have won prestigious awards from the New York Television Festival and the Royal Television Society.
Recent credits include...
Gold Rush (Series 15)
Raw TV for Discovery
Assistant Producer Adam Robinson
Graduate Success
In recent years, our students have sold entertainment formats to Warner Brothers Television and ITV and graduation projects have won prestigious awards from the New York Television Festival and the Royal Television Society.
Recent credits include...
Have I Got News For You (Series 66)
Hat Trick Productions for BBC
Director Abigail Dankwa
