The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) is opening a second round of applications for the 2024 intake of the Master of Arts Screen. From October 4 to 31, you can apply for the Documentary, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Sound Design disciplines of the program. If you’re looking to perfect your craft and fast-track your career in the global screen industry, apply to study at Australia’s national screen arts school.
AFTRS is celebrating 50 years as a global centre of excellence and an accomplished network of alumni who have gone on to achieve incredible success in the local and international screen industry. From award-winners Jane Campion, Warwick Thornton, Andrew Leslie, Gillian Armstrong and Chris Noonan to recent alumni Thomas Wilson-White, Shannon Murphy, Reilly O’Loughlin and Ruby Challenger, AFTRS’ screen graduates have a reputation for being leaders in their craft.
“AFTRS is a space to explore your voice and cultivate interests,” says Master of Arts Screen: Producing alum and Flickerfest award-winner Jayden Rathsam Hüa. “It helped me to establish myself as a professional and discover how best to collaborate with others. As graduates, we are empowered to tell stories with such gusto that audiences won’t be able to look away.”
The Master of Arts Screen is a hands-on program designed for you to take control of your career and become a leader in your field. You will learn by doing and most importantly by collaborating with the other disciplines. As part of the program, you will have one-to-one mentorships with your Discipline Lead and award-winning Australian practitioners, as well as a professional placement tailored to your goals.
Read more about the disciplines open for our second round of applications:
DOCUMENTARY
Venture into unknown worlds, discover your voice and challenge what we think we know through the power of documentary. The Master of Arts Screen: Documentary will develop your directing, storytelling and leadership skills through hands-on specialist workshops, masterclasses and industry mentoring. Expand your understanding of all aspects of documentary making from story conception, development and pitching, through to visual storytelling and screen business. If you have a passion for telling stories about the world around us, learn more about studying Documentary at AFTRS.
EDITING
“We test the ideas and the emotions that are in the footage to try and reveal the soul of the film,” says Discipline Lead of Editing, Roland Gallois. The Master of Arts Screen: Editing provides you with the opportunity to immerse yourself in the craft of editing. From shaping an actor’s performance and structuring a scene, to working with archival as well as shot footage and threading it together seamlessly, you will develop your craft of making cohesive moving stories. Join a community of decorated AFTRS alumni, including Academy Award winner Margaret Sixel ASE and AACTA Award winner Nick Meyers ASE, and take your editing skills to the world.
PRODUCING
Bring exciting screen stories to life and hone your creative practice and business acumen with the Master of Arts Screen: Producing. At the core of producing is the power of story and the innovative ways stories can be brought to the screen. This program will allow you to explore your own ideas and provide you with the tools to create and develop your own projects. With your specialist skills in ideation, development, team leadership and content creation, studying Producing at AFTRS will propel your career in the screen industries.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Explore your artistry and create the story worlds you want to see. The Master of Arts Screen: Production Design offers emerging production designers, art directors, designers and artists the skills to forge a creative and versatile career in the design or art department on screen projects. Learn from Discipline Lead, Natalie Beak (Production Designer on Stan series Year Of), and develop your design and collaboration skills and explore innovative ways to support screen stories.
SOUND DESIGN
Are you a good listener? Open up the whole world of sound at AFTRS with the Master of Arts Screen: Sound Design. “To be a good sound person you have to be a good listener,” says Discipline Lead, Stephen Murphy. “Listening to the world that you’re building in sound, listening to content, but it’s also listening to your collaborators and developing that story.” In this program, you will learn the listening skills needed to explore sound as a means of driving narrative and building story worlds. Challenge the norms and build your creative practice so that you’re prepared for tomorrow’s industry.
AFTRS has a range of scholarships available to Master of Arts Screen students to help with the associated costs of higher education. Underwater cinematographer Jemma Craig was an AFTRS scholarship recipient and shared her story about how this recognition made her feel seen and heard in pursuing her creative journey. Since graduating from the Master of Arts Screen: Documentary, Jemma has continued making films “that inspire people to care about the world around them.” Watch her story here.
Have questions about your discipline? Speak directly with our Discipline Leads by booking a one-on-one chat. This is a great opportunity to meet the experts you’ll learn from and get personalised advice on your next career move. You can also hear them discuss the program in our Postgraduate Info Session recordings. Second round applications close Tuesday, 31 October, 2023.
