Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition

COURSE OVERVIEW

Could you turn a great story into a box office success?

Learn how to excel at selling, marketing, publicising, distributing, retailing and exhibiting films, television and games on this unique, practical MA course.

In partnership with UKCA

"The course has given me the confidence to know what I’m talking about and the knowledge of how the processes work. I have also found myself working with people I have met along the course, such as industry speakers. The networking was fantastic and an absolute godsend."

Briony Tanner

NFTS graduate

"The course is uniquely designed to give you that extra step into the industry, giving you a strong foundation of how it works and a network to utilise post graduation."

Louise Giadom

Course graduate

Programme Specification Full Course Outline

You will get the opportunity to work with leading industry partners to gain specialist knowledge, insights and hands-on work experience, as well as develop a strong network of contacts that will prove invaluable throughout your career. You will have company visits and work placements at top entertainment companies.

You’ll get mentoring from established professionals, and will attend major film, television and games festivals including the Berlin Film Festival and EGX, the UK’s biggest games event.

This course will take you through the process of taking a piece of content (a game, TV show or a feature film) to its market – examining how the sales, marketing, press and publicity, distribution and retail (or exhibition) side of each industry works from start to finish. The course will also look at the emergence of new and innovative forms of media that merge traditional media with digital markets and the commercial side of each.

At the heart of the course is where you get to undertake two six-week work placements at major entertainment businesses, field trips to film, television and games festivals, alongside professionally led seminars from executives at some of the world’s most prestigious companies.

Publicity is an intrinsic part of the MA and is recognised as one of the most powerful ways to connect content with a wide range of audiences. Students enjoy sessions with publicists in the independent sector and from major studios, for example, Curzon and Disney. They not only have the opportunity to practise their publicity skills on NFTS student projects, but publicity is often a core part of the work placements they have with companies such as Altitude and NBC Universal.

By the end of the course, you will be expected to have an unrivalled overview of the three key sectors and be able to move between them with ease, making you a very employable executive and marketer who can utilise multi-disciplinary skills to innovate in your chosen sector. Your final project will be a live proposal for, and implementation of, an ambitious sales, marketing/PR and distribution strategy for a film, television show or game.

Some proven experience in Marketing, Sales, Distribution, Press or PR is desirable. We would hope that students have worked in the media (although not limited to the industries we cover) and have a passion for Film, TV and/or games.

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 or an alternative qualification.

International students Visa and English language requirements

If you have any questions, please email info@nfts.co.uk

UK* Tuition Fees: £14,950 per year

*Includes EU Nationals with pre-settled/settled status, subject to meeting residency requirements.

International/EU Fees: £26,500 per year

These are the fees for January 2025 intake, and are updated yearly in June.

All production costs are included in the course fees, including the use of School facilities and equipment.

Please note, the following application fees apply:
Application fee: £25
Deposit on confirmation of place: £500
These fees are non-refundable

The NFTS is committed to ensuring it is open to students of genuine ability, no matter what their background or financial circumstances, which is why we award more scholarships and bursaries to British students, relative to the size of our student body, than almost any other educational institution in the UK.

The following item(s) should accompany your online application:

An overview of a marketing campaign that you are familiar with (no more than one side of A4)

Funding Available

The Lesley Land Scholarship has been set up (in honour of the highly regarded entertainment publicist) to cover tuition fees on this MA course, in addition to funding available from the UK Cinema Association (UKCA) and NFTS. If you are offered a place on the course and are eligible, you will be invited to apply.

Visit our Funding Guide

Tutors

Head of Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition

Clare Crean

Experienced film and television International Sales executive

Clare Crean

Main Campus

Lead Tutor

Deborah Rowland

Entertainment Marketing and Film Distribution

Deborah Rowland

Main Campus

Visiting Tutor

Poonam Sahota

Worldwide Acquisitions, Business and Content Development

Poonam Sahota

Student Showcase

Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition MA students are able to attend MIPCOM, held in Cannes, France. MIPCOM is the world's most extensive market for those in the creation, production, marketing and distribution of content.

As part of the course, you will work with a student from the NFTS Games Design and Development MA course to support their project with a marketing and publicity plan. This will culminate with the game being showcased at EGX London.

Throughout the course, teaching is highly practical and led by practitioners and Industry executives. This is enhanced by field trips to key markets and conferences, allowing you to build up invaluable contacts to kickstart your career.

Graduate Success

Graduates of the Marketing, Distribution, Sales and Exhibition MA are highly employable executives in the film, television and games industries and have gone on to contribute widely to the screen sector value chain, achieving roles with high profile companies.