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CAREER ADVICE

Get into Filmmaking

Explore a range of filmmaking specialisms - from screenwriting to production to visual effects - with these online courses. Learn with award-winning filmmakers, specialist organisations and leading universities.

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Get into filmmaking with these free online courses

  • Learn more

    This collection of free online filmmaking courses is designed for anyone who wants to work in the film industry, improve their filmmaking skills, or simply loves film.

  • Go behind the scenes

    If you’re a film fan who wants to understand more about what happens behind the scenes, these courses are for you. They will help you understand the entire filmmaking process - from writing a screenplay to securing film funding to releasing a finished feature.

  • Choose your career

    From animation to production, screenwriting to visual effects, these courses will introduce you to a range of filmmaking specialisms. You will meet people working in every area of a film crew and understand the range of careers available in the film industry.

  • Meet filmmakers

    Many of these courses feature guest contributions from award-winning filmmakers, who discuss their own work as well as that of the people who influenced them. On each course, you’ll also learn with hundreds of other people from around the world, who all share your passion for film and filmmaking.

Develop your skills with a filmmaking course online with FutureLearn

Audience in a cinema watching a film
Film Distributors' Association

Film Distribution: Connecting Films with Audiences

Discover how your favourite films make it to your local cinema or television screen, through the film distribution process.
4 weeks
3 hrs per week
University of Leeds

WW1 Heroism: Through Art and Film

Discover just some of the ways that heroism and the First World War is portrayed through art and film.
2 weeks
2 hrs per week
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UEA (University of East Anglia)

An Introduction to Screenwriting

This online course explores the key concepts and fundamental principles involved in the process of screenwriting.
2 weeks
3 hrs per week
A film roll with an image of people sharing business ideas around a table
The Open University

The Business of Film

Explore the intriguing world of film production and find out about the complexities of development, distribution and finance.
6 weeks
3 hrs per week
Animation: a variety of characters created through stop motion, 2D, CGI and pixilation
National Film and Television School

Explore Animation

Learn animation techniques, including stop motion, 2D, CGI and pixilation, with award-winning animators, in this free NFTS course.
4 weeks
3 hrs per week
Lead educator Muriel teaching language in a classroom at the whiteboard
The British Film Institute (BFI)

Short Film in Language Teaching

Find out how teaching with short film can bring alive the learning of languages and introduce rich cultural content to lessons.
3 weeks
3 hrs per week

What do people say about these filmmaking courses?

A clear, concise and beautifully structured course. The video content is informative and lively, and the screenwriters are refreshingly down to earth in the way they talk about their processes. I am going to write a beat sheet, plough through a first draft without spending hours polishing each scene and I'm going to use some of the resources the course suggests. Thanks very much.

Mychaela S
Learner on An Introduction to Screenwriting course

The benefits of taking filmmaking courses online with FutureLearn

Learn online, for free, around the world

Develop valuable skills with a short, online filmmaking course wherever you are. Start learning for free, on desktop, tablet or mobile.

Upgrade for tests and Certificates

Upgrade your chosen course to get unlimited access, take tests and prove what you’ve learnt with a Certificate of Achievement.

Meet professional filmmakers

Learn with experts from top international organisations. Learn with filmmakers from all over the world.

Contact FutureLearn for Support