Designed for a new generation of screen leaders, the Master of Arts Screen: Business focuses on business growth through adoption of new technology.
Every year, the course offers its students the opportunity to travel overseas to do a live business case study and learn directly from screen leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.
This year, the business challenge took place in Singapore, and Sean Cousins, currently studying the Master of Arts Screen: Business, reported directly on the business learnings and networking developments.
Sean: “I knew it was a good omen when I arrived in Singapore and Qantas delivered my bag to the same airport. My Melbourne flight arrive at the same time as fellow students EJ Garrett and Katherine White who arrived wearing broad smiles from Sydney. It was great to see them both in person after months of sharing time on zoom.”
“The first morning we had the pleasure of sitting down with Intellectual Property Lawyer Alana Triscott and with Krista Jordan, Learning Designer for VFX and VP at AFTRS, in a lively and wide-reaching discussion about the complexity of working in the screen business in the region. Singapore is well-known as a financial hub but also has a screen agency that is active across many sectors.”
“Tuesday morning, we ventured out to the famous Block71 Creative Hub – which The Economist referred as the heart of Singapore’s technology start-up ecosystem and the world’s most tightly packed entrepreneurial ecosystem.
We met Kenny Tan from Viddsee, a start-up which has been 10 years building an online platform for short films. They’ve achieved some impressive numbers over that time; 2 billion platform views and average 30 million views a month, with 1 million subscribers in the 15–34-year-old demographic.”
“Our mission this week is to analyse Viddsee, to identify opportunities for new ventures and growth. It’s going to be a challenge but one we are looking forward to as the business resonated strongly with all of us. They have a strong commitment to talent identification and development across the region.”
“In the afternoon we had the pleasure of spending an hour with Sashim Parmanand, CEO of Moonbug Entertainment, who have acquired the Singaporean animation company One Animation. Sashim was a wonderful storyteller who vividly described the company journey. The tale of a local enterprise – started by a couple of Animal Logic veterans – producing content for an international market. Sashim was so impressive, I can understand how she’s been so successful in re-capitalising and growing the business.”
“Our last visit, on Wednesday morning was to Warner Bros Discovery where we met the equally impressive Esther Poh, a former free trade negotiator who has moved across to the Entertainment industry. It made a great contrast to the “local business looking globally” that is Moonbug. Warner Bros Disney is a monolith with an incredible number of franchises and networks under their umbrella. Esther was so generous with her insights and observations about the challenge of governance and regulation in a global economy when managing such a varied slate. It was a treat and a great contrast to the challenges faced by Kenny and Sashim.”
“Now down to work. We have a presentation to work on. I couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Katherine and EJ.
In truth, the people I’ve met across this degree has been one of the main highlights. This practicum will be another.”
The Master of Arts Screen: Business offers a mix of in-depth research and intensive workshops exploring the benefits and opportunities to be found in a screen sector undergoing profound disruption. Learning on the field and through strong networking opportunities leads graduates into highly skilled leaders in the screen industry.
If you’re interested in studying the Master of Arts Screen: Business next year, applications are closing next Monday 27 November, learn more.
Master of Arts Screen: Business
Designed for a new generation of screen leaders, AFTRS’ Master of Arts Screen: Business is Australia’s foremost screen business course.