Cinema

Cinema majors dedicate their undergraduate experience to the study of narrative filmmaking. From technical crafts such as camerawork and editing to creative leadership roles in writing, producing, and directing, VCUarts Cinema students learn skills in pre-production, production, and post-production as well as studying the history of cinema.

If you dream of working on professional movie productions, completing this major will help you to prepare for a variety of real-world positions.

Graduates have been accepted into M.F.A. programs at NYU, FSU, Columbia, and The New School, and have worked on numerous productions around the region and beyond, including films such as Harriet, Boy Erased and Loving, and television shows such as Insecure, Homeland, The Walking Dead, and High Maintenance.

Degree Programs

Bachelor of Arts in Cinema

The Bachelor of Arts in Cinema covers the entire scope of narrative filmmaking, from theory and screenwriting all the way through post-production and distribution.

The Work

VCUarts Opera Trailer for “Speed Dating Tonight!” by Michael Ching

VCUarts Music & Cinema Students

VCUarts Opera created a trailer in Fall 2024 for their production of "Speed Dating Tonight!" by Michael Ching, which was created in collaboration with the VCUarts Cinema department.

Magnaforma

Research Faculty and Students

Magnaforma is a large-scale, award-winning, multi-university arts research exhibition designed to harness the power and precision of a large industrial robotic arm whose movement over time will physically create the entire surface topography of Mars here on Earth.

When the Phone Rings

VCUarts Cinema Program

Summer Intensive Cinema Students filming Critic's Choice, a dark comedy about an abduction and the desire for creative validation at private residence in the Ginter Park neighborhood.

Critic’s Choice Location Shoot

VCUarts Cinema Program

Students filming a test scene of Prety When You Die, a film that explores the not too hidden underbelly of influencer culture.

Pretty When You Die

VCUarts Cinema Program

title card for the film New Strairs showing a couple's faces with a man in the background holding a lemon in front of the womans eye in the foreground while she is holding a lime in her mouth

New Strains

Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan

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Our Faculty

are Teachers and Doers

Faculty act as executive producers, working alongside students from pre-production to post. We also employ a casting director as an adjunct professor and hold real casting sessions for every film.

Meet Our Faculty & Staff

Cinema professor instructing student operating camera on location

Equipment & Facilities

We are conscious of our students’ financial need and do not require any student to purchase their own filmmaking materials. No additional tuition is charged for filmmaking expenses, and student films use professional equipment and auditioned actors.

Explore our Facilities

Featured Productions

We seek to replicate the environment of a professional film set in terms of both staffing and protocol. Students work on crews from 25-75 people, while the faculty act as executive producers, working alongside students from pre-production to post. We also employ a casting director as an adjunct professor and hold real casting sessions for every film. Unlike other top film schools, your tuition also covers all of your filmmaking expenses, from equipment rental to film development.

View past productions

Work with Us

Student Crew request form
If you are interested in hiring VCUarts Cinema students as crew members for a project, please fill out the form with all pertinent information. We will share your listing with students and they will reach out to you if they are interested or available. Filling out the form does not guarantee student participation!
Actors
Casting for all VCUarts Cinema films is done through Anne Chapman Casting.