Overview
Ranging from filmmaking and production to screenwriting to visual effects and animation, our project-based degree programmes and short courses help you develop your creative voice as an audiovisual storyteller and prepare you for a career in the world of film and visual media.
Our courses will empower you to cultivate your skills and experience across various media and storytelling formats. Moreover, they will challenge you to question the status quo, innovate and embark on the creation of original work, all under the guidance of industry-acclaimed experts. You’ll also have the opportunity to collaborate with students in our acting and music schools.
Undergraduate courses
Screenwriting BA (Hons) / HE Certificate
Build your skills as a versatile storyteller as you learn to write and deliver engaging narratives for a variety of formats and genres, developing your own ideas as well as collaborating in a Writers' Room.
Visual Effects, Digital Arts & Animation BA (Hons) / HE Certificate
Create 2D and 3D animations, game-ready assets, and visual effects for film, games, live visuals and digital arts in this hands-on, multidisciplinary, project-based programme.
Film Production BA (Hons) / HE Certificate
Learn how to express your authentic self through film, create original work from your own unique point of view and embrace global perspectives as part of an international community of filmmakers.
Postgraduate courses
Creative Production (Film) MA
Deepen your creative practice as a filmmaker, director, cinematographer, editor, writer or audiovisual artist through practice-based artistic research.
Summer short courses
Screenwriting – Short Course
Level: Beginner
Course length: 4 weeks
Our 4-week Screenwriting course is for writers and storytellers who want to translate their ideas into scripts for film. You'll master the basics of narratology, character development and story arcs. Gain the skills to edit, pitch, promote your work and the confidence to take the next steps towards a career in screenwriting.
Filmmaking – Short Course
Level: Beginner
Kickstart your journey as a film writer, director, cinematographer or editor and learn the fundamentals of storytelling, photography, pre-production, working with actors and post-production.
Learn by doing
You won’t find any “traditional” classrooms, lectures or exams at Catalyst. It’s hands-on from day one and you’ll be collaborating with other motivated creatives on projects. You’ll produce work under challenging creative and logistical constraints that will both stretch and empower you. You’ll use this momentum to form a foundation of technical skills and theoretical understanding, then build upon it with expert guidance by our tutors.
Professional facilities
Based at the iconic Funkhaus, our riverside campus is part of the historic building that was once home to the GDR’s broadcasting station and was one of the world’s largest multi-studio complexes during the Soviet era.
It’s a technological playground with professional facilities, including a film studio with green screen, a cinema, a theatre, post-production suites, visual effects workstations, vocal studios and multiple computer labs. You’ll also get your hands on several tons of bookable audiovisual equipment, including cameras, lights, stands, grips, graphic tablets, motion capture equipment, high definition projectors and VR headsets.
Taught by experts
Our courses are delivered by a team of expert tutors and internationally-acclaimed visiting industry professionals, with a genuine passion for passing on their specialist knowledge to others.
They'll ask the difficult questions you've been avoiding, set challenges that stretch you in ways you didn’t know you were capable of, provide insights into new ways of thinking, heap praise where it's due and prepare you for professional opportunities.
