Producing the Short Fiction Film: From Conception to Screen

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the creative and logistical practices of producing short fiction films, with an emphasis on the Arab region, neighboring film industries, and comparable international contexts. It begins by exploring how producing workflows evolve within specific cultural and institutional settings; funding systems, collaboration traditions, labor practices, and creative hierarchies. As the semester progresses, attention turns to the practical stages of producing a short fiction project: development, budgeting, scheduling, casting, on-set management, postproduction, and delivery. Working in small teams, students will simulate the production process by creating a three-page proof-of-concept scene based on an original idea. This exercise allows them to experience a producer’s decision-making process from development through delivery. By the end, students submit a comprehensive Production Book documenting their process and reflecting on how creative and logistical choices vary across filmmaking systems and cultures.