Bachelor of Fine Arts Film and Television

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television is a specialist degree. Students concentrate in one of eleven specific film and television areas and create portfolios preparing them for careers in the industry.

DePaul has been named a top film school by The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage, Variety, and MovieMaker for giving students real-world opportunities to work on Chicago’s film and television sets. Film and Television students take classes and work on their projects at DePaul’s nearly 60,000-square-foot professional production facility at Cinespace, next door to the production of high-profile series like Chicago Fire, The Bear, and The Chi. This one-of-a-kind student filmmaking experience allows students to use same facilities and equipment as professional filmmakers.

12 Concentrations

Cinematography

Future cinematographers, gaffers, and camera assistants gain a foundation in production for film, TV and the Web, while specializing in camera and lighting.

Comedy Filmmaking

Future comedy filmmakers train at The Second City and the School of Cinematic Arts to hone their point of view by creating a vetted writing portfolio and short films or web series.

Creative Producing

Future producers gain a foundation in production, while specializing in skills related to the business side of film, TV, and the Web.

Documentary

Future documentary filmmakers are taught the whole filmmaking process here, and apply them to non-fiction stories on film, TV or the Web.

Directing

Future directors gain a foundation in production and theory for film, TV and the Web, while specializing in directing actors and crew.

Editing

Future picture editors gain a foundation in post-production, while specializing in editing, sound design, and color correction.

Production

New, beginning in Fall 2025. Equips students with a broad foundation in all aspects of film and television production. Students have the flexibility to tailor their education through a wide range of electives. This concentration supports both individual vision and collaborative practice, preparing students to enter the industry with a well-rounded and personalized skill set.

Production Design

Future production designers, art directors and set decorators gain a foundation in production, while specializing in skills common to deisgning productions for theater, film, TV and the Web.

Screenwriting

Future screenwriters learn the craft and business of writing screenplays for film, TV, and the Web, while cultivating their voices through writing feature films, short films, sitcoms, or episodic dramas.

Showrunner

Future showrunners learn the craft of becoming a sought-after producer in an ever-changing television landscape by creating a vetted writing portfolio and web series to cultivate their identity as a storyteller.

Sound Design

Future sound designers learn production and post-production sounds for film, TV and the Web, while specializing in skills like recording, scoring, mixing, or editing sound.

Visual Effects

Future visual effects artists gain a foundation in effects production, while specializing in skills like compositing, 3D computer graphics, virtual production.

Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (BFA'19)

Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan is an independent film writer/director born of Ifugao and Visayan descent. His works explore themes of trauma, spirituality, and nature told through the cosmic lens of post-colonial spaces and Indigenous identities. His most recent short film, The Headhunter’s Daughter, recently won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Don is based both in La Trinidad and Chicago where he also practices as a musician, composer, and a graphic artist.

SCA Alumni

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Anuradha Rana
Anu’s work focuses on ideas of representation, identity, and varied perspectives in a global environment. Her award-winning films have been produced and directed in India, Ecuador, Japan, South Africa, and the US, and have also screened internationally.
Fatou Samba
Fatou is an editor, director, and writer who got her start working in reality television in Norway, where she field-directed and edited shows like the Norwegian version of Survivor and Paradise Hotel. Since transitioning into writing, she has placed in several screenwriting competitions including WeScreenplay Diverse Voices and Austin Film Festival. Prior to joining DePaul, Fatou worked as a reader for The Blacklist and as a development assistant in Los Angeles.
Michael Flores
Michael X. Flores studied film at USC, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Cinema-Television Production. In 2011, Michael edited Nick Broomfield’s documentary Sarah Palin: You Betcha!(2011), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. He has since edited several films including Tommy O'Haver's Netflix Original biopic The Most Hated Woman in America (2017), which premiered at SXSW, and Jason Kohn’s Showtime documentary Love Means Zero (2017), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Lori Felker
Lori is a filmmaker, teacher, programmer, and performer. Her films celebrate the ineloquent, oppositional, frustrating, chaotic qualities of human interaction. She has made work in a variety of forms including, experimental film, video installation, music video, documentary, and fiction. Her short films, feature documentary, and music videos have screened internationally at festivals including Rotterdam, Slamdance, Ann Arbor Film Festival, EXiS in Korea, and Festival du nouveau cinema in Montreal.

DePaul Cinespace Studios

CDM boasts a one-of-a-kind, nearly 60,000-square-foot professional production facility and cinematic learning environment formed in alliance with Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. Students learn filmmaking craft and technique steps away from high-profile network productions filming on the Cinespace lot.

Visiting Artists Series

This series brings innovative practitioners and industry leaders to the DePaul campus for film screenings, on-stage conversations, and professional panels. Students are given the opportunity to have direct and meaningful contact with established and emerging innovators and professionals in the field.

LA Quarter

This ten-week immersion program allows students to experience the inner workings of Hollywood first hand as they live in Los Angeles, take classes on a historic studio lot, and intern at high profile companies aligning with their professional aspirations.

Premiere Film Festival

Our annual Premiere Film Festival showcases the best of student work in cinema and animation with awards covering all facets of filmmaking, from screenwriting to post production. Jury members include industry insiders, festival programmers, and filmmakers from around the country.

The Second City wall of fame alumni headshots

Comedy Filmmaking Concentration

In collaboration with The Second City, we are offering a new concentration in Comedy Filmmaking as part of the BFA in Film and Television. It is the most comprehensive undergraduate degree in Comedy Filmmaking in the country.

Project Bluelight

Project Bluelight is a professional, educational, and community outreach program where students receive hands-on experience in motion picture production. The goals of the program are to create high-quality independent films and to provide an intensive, practical, film production experience for DePaul students.

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BFA in Film & Television

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