Film and media have profound impacts on how we view the world and ourselves. Film and Media Studies explore the theory, criticism, and history of motion pictures and of continually evolving media platforms that shape and influence our everyday lives.

The Film and Media Studies Department at Santa Barbara City College offers a wide variety of courses designed for film majors and interested non-majors who wish to enhance their knowledge and appreciation of film and media as part of their undergraduate education. Students are exposed to a vast array of films from the classic to the contemporary, including both American and international works.

SBCC Students can immerse themselves in film and media research and analysis in an academic setting, as well as in current film industry practices. The Film and Media Studies program offers a vast survey of courses on-campus, online, internationally through Study Abroad, and at film festivals, such as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, AFI Fest in Hollywood, and the Los Angeles International Film Festival. Students also have the opportunity to gain practical work experience through the Film and Media Studies internship program.

The required courses in the Film and Media Studies Screenwriting Certificate track are designed to provide students with an introduction to film and media literature, film and media criticism and theory, a basic knowledge of film history and the motion picture industry, and a familiarity with major directors, actors and practitioners of cinema. Screenwriting courses are designed to provide students with an introduction, intermediate, and advanced screenwriting skills related to script development, research, outlines, scene and sequence analyses, treatments, draft editing, and completion of a final screenplay. The courses lead to an advanced study of the structure, development, pacing, and revision of a completed screenplay. In addition to analyzing feature film and television screenplays, students complete a final draft of a screenplay and learn how to edit and revise it, how to pitch it, and how to market it.

The Film and Media Studies Screenwriting Certificate has been developed by Santa Barbara City College’s core principles, mission statement, and institutional learning outcomes. The program is fully supported by the SBCC Academic Senate, Curriculum Advisory Committee as well as the SBCC administration and Board of Trustees.

There are a variety of career opportunities for students completing the Film and Media Studies certificate. Students may find employment at:

• Film festivals, such as the Santa Barbara Film Festival;
• Film programs at museums, such as the Armond Hammer Museum at UCLA or the Los County Museum of Art;
• Newspapers, magazines, or websites writing film and media journalism and criticism;
• Film and media department at a university, such as the University of California Santa Barbara or the University of California Los Angeles;
• Film production for screenplay analysis, and more.

Film and Media Studies at SBCC explores the history, theory, and criticism of film and of evolving media that shape our everyday lives. The department offers a variety of courses, from the early years of film history to the contemporary era, including both American and international works, designed for film majors and interested non-majors who wish to enhance their knowledge of film and media as part of their undergraduate education.

Students are able to immerse themselves in research and analysis in an academic setting, as well as in current film industry practices. The department offers courses on-campus, online, and as hybrids, as well as off-campus through Study Abroad, the Internship Program, and the Film Festival Studies courses.

The department offers an AA degree, certificates, and a Skills Competency Award. Students are prepared to pursue baccalaureate degrees in a variety of film related majors with courses that articulate to UC and CSU, as well as other 4-year universities. Students transfer to campuses in the UC and CSU system, as well as at top four-year film schools such as UCLA, USC, NYU and Chapman University.

SBCC offers a Transfer Agreement Guarantee (TAG). A TAG is a contractual agreement between the student, SBCC, and specific four-year colleges or universities. This includes six University of California ( *UC) institutions, six California State Institutions (CSU), seven California private institutions, nine out-of-state institutions, as well as Honors Transfer Agreements with ten institutions and 8 CSUs without campus impaction. Students must enroll in the TAG program and work with a TAG advisor. Please click here to learn more on the TAG program website.