FILM 284 - Producing for Independent Film

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

This course introduces students to the art and practice of producing independent films, emphasizing both practical management and creative leadership. This course covers producing in both documentary and fiction contexts, with particular attention to the dual role many first-time filmmakers assume as both producer and director.

Students learn how the producer’s responsibilities span the full life cycle of a project: from the inception of an idea through development, collaboration, planning, and executing production, and guiding the finished work through post-production and distribution. By the end of the semester, students are able to build and interpret budgets suited to independent film production, design production schedules that account for locations, collaborators, and available resources, identify and manage crews across documentary and fiction contexts, apply legal and logistical requirements such as appearance and location releases, and understand the essentials of post-production workflows from ingest through delivery. They also demonstrate an understanding of the producer’s creative role in supporting a director’s vision while balancing the practical realities of filmmaking.

Students work with real-world production documents, including a sample budget for a low-budget feature, to practice translating these goals into concrete plans. Guest lectures from established producers offer insight into current industry practices, highlighting how producers collaborate across disciplines and genres. By semester’s end, students are prepared to take on producing responsibilities for their junior and senior projects, equipped with both the technical tools and the collaborative mindset needed to bring independent productions to life. Yance Ford.

Prerequisite(s): FILM 209 .

Corequisite(s): FILM 240 .

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS