Business of Entertainment

Online NYU Tisch Certificate Course

The entertainment landscape has been upended by AI, streaming, and emerging technologies. NYU Tisch School of the Arts, along with executives from leading entertainment companies, have teamed up to help you master the new business rules across the Film & Television, Music & Audio, Gaming, and Live Performance, including how AI is reshaping each sector.

Whether you’re raising financing for your first project, trying to land a job at a top company, or looking to advance your career, the Business of Entertainment online course will help prepare you for the new frontiers of a radically changing industry.

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Program Overview

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Curriculum

Study one or all four industry tracks - Film & TV, Music & Audio, Gaming, and Live Performance. Each track includes current business cases, including AI-focused scenarios, so you can gain the knowledge you need to raise financing and identify your market. The program includes five online course modules and related skill-building activities. Each module takes 3-5 hours to complete and is broken into several shorter lessons. Students earn a non‑credit certificate of completion from New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Yellowbrick.

Module 1 (HOW) MAY WE ENTERTAIN YOU?

1

As recently as twenty years ago, each sector of the entertainment industry had its own custom fiefdom, with different distribution channels, pricing, marketing techniques, and customer experiences. That world is almost gone today, as the internet and streaming services have overrun almost every business model. Creating content is now optimized for a smartphone, tablet, or home entertainment system with half a dozen subscriptions. How has this changed what makes a box office smash or a bomb? How does a designer get her video game out there? What topics do you have to master to get that job at Netflix or Amazon Music? Module 1 is focused on understanding the revolution that we’re in, and how to take advantage as an entrepreneur or executive.

Module 2 LET’S MAKE SOMETHING!: IDEATION & PLANNING

2

No matter what form the entertainment venture takes – a screenplay, a song, a play, a game – the work must be written and someone needs to identify its path to an audience. You need to find the investors to back the project. And before the cameras start to roll, the computer boots up, or the mics go live, you need people: the talent, crew, lawyers, and managers that will work together to realize the project. This module lays the groundwork for creative project development, from the conceptual framework for the project to the artistic and technical decisions that will shape the lifespan of the product. Only once all the elements are in place can you move into the next phase: production.

Module 3 CREATION: CONTENT

3

Any modern entertainment product almost always requires a camera, a computer, or a stage to reach their audience. The creation stage is often the highest-stakes, most expensive, and most volatile part of the process. This module explores all major content creation methods, and the steps that producers and executives take to keep the project on track. What are the stages involved in making a film? A game? A multi-platform web story experience? Students will learn who and what skills are needed to produce a wide spectrum of entertainment products, covering budgets, schedules, human resources, and more. This period in the process is intense so it behooves the producers to ensure efficiency to avoid waste. This module also explains how all the elements created during the production period gel into a final format.

Module 4 SELLING THE STORY: MARKETING & PRESS

4

Fundamentally, marketing is about raising and catalyzing awareness, while delivering a promise of value to a customer segment. What was once a straightforward task is now upended in a world of new streaming platforms, dying audience trends, social media, and a dizzying array of technology. This module provides students with a framework for understanding key marketing principles, functions, and tools, including quantitative methods, emerging tech, and interacting with a new media frontier. Marketing and PR are now a global effort as once-regional phenomena like K-pop and telenovelas cross borders, but are also becoming more focused on hardcore analytics instead of the intuition and tradition of bygone eras. Aspiring producers and executives should walk away with the ability to speak the marketer’s language, and be sensitive to how their message is playing to their intended audience.

Module 5 CONTENT IN THE WILD: DISTRIBUTION & PRODUCT LIFE VALUE

5

Industry veterans will always tell you that distribution is the most powerful part of the process. It’s why the movie studios were broken up in the 1940s. It’s why Apple and Spotify became kingmakers in music. Building the pipes to the audience is where the real magic happens. This module details how emerging platforms have gobbled up market share across the entertainment landscape, which has fundamentally altered the way we measure success, price entertainment properties, and value IP over time. Students will learn how distribution works in different sectors, where products generate their revenue, and how they build value over time. Mastery over distribution and IP valuation will help producers and executives think about their business in the long-term.

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