Creative Media and Film, Bachelor of Science
- Available Emphasis Areas:
- Documentary Storytelling - Emphasis
- Independent Filmmaking - Emphasis
- Media Studies - Emphasis
Beginning fall 2027, the major will be updated to a redesigned and unified Creative Media and Film BS degree program. Emphasis areas will no longer be offered for the Creative Media and Film degree for students entering after summer 2027. Students entering prior to fall 2027 may complete those emphases.
This degree presents opportunities for students to create production house and film projects, including screenplays, as well as engaging in the critical analysis of a variety of media.
To receive a bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete at least 120 units of credit that minimally includes a major, the general studies requirements, and university requirements as listed below.
- All of Northern Arizona University's general studies, junior-level writing, and capstone requirements.
- All requirements for your specific academic plan(s).
- At least 30 units of upper-division courses, which may include transfer work.
- At least 30 units of coursework taken through Northern Arizona University, of which at least 18 must be upper-division courses (300-level or above). This requirement is not met by credit-by-exam, retro-credits, transfer coursework, etc.
- A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on all work attempted at Northern Arizona University.
The full policy can be viewed here.
In addition to University Requirements:
- 24 units of major requirements.
- 24 units of emphasis requirements.
- Up to 9 units of major prefix courses may be used to satisfy General Studies Requirements; these same courses may also be used to satisfy major requirements.
- Elective courses, if needed, to reach an overall total of at least 120 units.
Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.
| Minimum Units for Completion | 120 |
| Highest Mathematics Required | MAT 114 |
| Fieldwork Experience/Internship | Optional |
| University Honors Program | Optional |
| Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Plan | Optional |
| Progression Plan Link | View Progression Plan |
| Emphasis | An emphasis is required for this major. |
Purpose Statement
Creative Media and Film (CMF) teaches students to create and critique stories made with moving images and audio. Students will engage in a shared core that will teach them the fundamentals of production and criticism. This program blends analytical thinking, creative expression, and professional experience to develop students' skills in all aspects of digital film-making and critique.
CMF's foundation rests on the critical view that our students should be empowered to tell their own distinctive, idiosyncratic, and regional stories, rather than have those stories told for them. Our program focuses on narrative and storytelling theories, skills, and application. As moving image/audio storytellers, our students learn about and are trained within the domains of both cultural and aesthetic values.
The program begins with an exploration of the theoretical, social, historical, and industry standards within which all media are grounded. Through this foundation, students develop strong aesthetic sensibilities, storytelling skills, and a deep appreciation of the impact of audience, culture, time and place upon stylistic choices made during the creative process.
Intensive, hands-on experience drives student learning as they write, plan, produce, cast, budget, finance, shoot, edit, and promote their own work. Specific attention is paid to developing critical skills to formulate original ideas, persuasively articulate these ideas, and then combine film tools with storytelling skills to transform their ideas into engaging media. Developing students' skills in visual storytelling, audio production, and effective editing is accomplished by creating a variety of professional-quality projects.
The CMF major prepares students to work in the industry whether at a production house, working their way up in the Hollywood system, start their own client-based business, or developing their own personal projects after they graduate. At the very least, students will develop creative and critical thinking skills, teamwork, communication, and problem-solving traits needed to be successful in nearly every career. Furthermore, this major provides a strong foundation for graduate school in film-making, digital storytelling, cinema studies, and media studies.
Documentary Storytelling Emphasis
This emphasis is for students interested in producing documentary projects and nonfiction stories with a variety of media, including audio, photography, and digital film-making.
Independent Film-making Emphasis
This emphasis is for students who want to make fiction films from an independent film-making approach. Students will become versed in all aspects of production and post-production.
Media Studies Emphasis
This emphasis is for students who want to observe, think about, and write about media from a strong intellectual standpoint. Students not only learn about media criticism, but they also engage in some aspects of media production from a critical standpoint, including advocacy, cultural work, and professional applications.
Student Learning Outcomes
Core Creative Media and Film Outcomes
- Apply ethical, critical, and professional standards to the creation and critique of creative media and film.
- Apply professional standards to the creation of stories through basic techniques of screenwriting and film-making.
- Analyze, write, critique, and discuss the cultural, historical, and theoretical forces shaping regional, national, and international media, including works of creative media, client work, documentaries, and film.
- Develop and revise their work based on faculty and peer critiques and audience responses, culminating in final projects that may include fiction, documentary, or client-based films.
- Apply ethical, critical, and professional standards to the creation and critique of documentary.
- Refine their skills in shooting, sound recording, editing, photography, and sound design in a variety of projects.
- Research, plan, produce, budget, finance, shoot, edit, and promote documentary projects.
- Apply skills of reporting - interviewing, gathering information, researching people and ideas for potential documentary stories.
- Read, write, and discuss the traditions and history of a variety of documentary stories.
- Integrate other areas of knowledge, such as from anthropology, women and gender studies, history, and humanities, in order to help students research potential documentary story topics.
- Apply ethical, critical, and professional standards to the creation and critique of film.
- Refine their skills in shooting, sound recording, lighting, directing, editing, and sound design in a variety of projects.
- Research, plan, produce, budget, finance, cast, and promote fiction film projects.
- Create medium and long form fiction scripts.
- Examine a variety of foreign and independent film traditions that they can apply to their own film projects.
- Apply ethical, critical, and professional standards to analysis of film and media.
- Survey a variety of regional, national, and international media forms.
- Acquire and apply media literacy skills while analyzing a variety of film and other media projects.
- Examine the various forms of media creation, circulation, and consumption both locally and global.
- Investigate media consumption through an increased understanding of regional, national, and global media practice.
- Interpret their own production, circulation, and consumption of media both as a reflection of their own culture and in conversation with media users in other cultures.
- Engage in meaningful and productive discussion, debate, and open intellectual exchange with others about regional, national, and global media practice.
Major Requirements
This major requires 48 units distributed as follows:
- Creative Media and Film Common Courses: 24 units
- Emphasis - Select one: 24 units
- Documentary Storytelling Emphasis
- Media Studies Emphasis
- Independent Filmmaking Emphasis
Take the following 48 units:
Creative Media and Film Common Courses (24 units)
- Emphasis Requirements - Select One
Students enrolled in this emphasis may not enroll in or pursue the following:
- Documentary Storytelling, Minor
Media Studies Emphasis (24 units)
A minor is not required for the Creative Media and Film degree; however, we strongly encourage you to consult with your advisor or CMF faculty member about a minor that is appropriate for your career aspirations and educational needs. Such minors could include anthropology, business, cinema studies, English, ethnic studies, political science, women's and gender studies, sociology, or theatre.
CMF 408 Field Experience is highly recommended for all students but not required.
General Electives
Additional coursework is required if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.
You may take these remaining courses from any of the academic areas, using these courses to pursue your specific interests and goals. You may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or General Studies Requirements.
We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you.
Additional Information
- See the School of Communication page for information about the Communication Core, Advising and Student Responsibilities, and Graduation Requirements.
- All majors must earn a Grade of "C" or better in their freshman composition required course, and their foundation mathematics course.
Some courses may have prerequisites. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.
Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Program
This program is available as an Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Plan wherein a student may start a master's degree while simultaneously completing their bachelor's degree.
Students enrolled at the Flagstaff campus for both undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible to complete the Bachelor of Science in Creative Media and Film - Media Studies Emphasis and start a Master of Arts in Communication - Communication Coursework Emphasis at NAU.
A total of 3 units will be shared between the plans:
OR
Students enrolled at the Flagstaff campus for both undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible to complete the Bachelor of Science in Creative Media and Film - Documentary Storytelling Emphasis and start a Master of Arts in Communication - Documentary Studies Emphasis at NAU.
A total of 6 units will be shared between the plans:
- Students must apply to the master's program by the graduate program's application deadline, meet all admissions requirements listed in the policy Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Programs, as well as the admissions requirements for the specified master's plan to be considered for admission. Admission to programs is competitive and qualified applicants may be denied because of limits on the number of students admitted each year.
Be sure to speak with the Master's Program Director/Coordinator regarding your interest in the accelerated plan.
- Students must apply to the master's program by the graduate program's application deadline, meet all admissions requirements listed in the policy Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Programs, as well as the admissions requirements for the specified master's plan to be considered for admission. Admission to programs is competitive and qualified applicants may be denied because of limits on the number of students admitted each year.
Students accepted into the Accelerated Program should complete the following requirements:
Major Requirements
This major requires 48 units distributed as follows:
- Creative Media and Film Common Courses: 24 units
- Emphasis Requirement - Select one: 24 units
- Documentary Storytelling Emphasis
- Media Studies Emphasis
Take the following 48 units:
- Emphasis Requirement - Select One (24 units)
Media Studies Emphasis (24 units):
A minor is not required for the Creative Media and Film degree; however, we strongly encourage you to consult with your advisor or CMF faculty member about a minor that is appropriate for your career aspirations and educational needs. Such minors could include anthropology, business, cinema studies, English, ethnic studies, political science, women's and gender studies, sociology, or theatre.
CMF 408 Field Experience is highly recommended for all students but not required.
General Electives
Additional coursework is required if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.
You may take these remaining courses from any of the academic areas, using these courses to pursue your specific interests and goals. You may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or General Studies Requirements.
We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you.
Additional Information
- See the School of Communication page for information about the Communication Core, Advising and Student Responsibilities, and Graduation Requirements.
- All majors must earn a Grade of "C" or better in their freshman composition required course, and their foundation mathematics course.
Some courses may have prerequisites. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.
The Creative Media & Film program at Northern Arizona University brings stories to life through filmmaking, collaboration, and hands-on production.
From narrative shorts to experimental documentaries, students develop creative vision, technical skills, and a commitment to meaningful storytelling.
Through production courses, studio experiences, and capstone projects, students develop the artistic, technical, and collaborative skills needed to produce compelling moving-image work for a rapidly changing media landscape.
Creative Storytelling
Develop original narratives through filmmaking, visual storytelling, and experimentation.
Hands-On Production
Gain experience with cameras, sound, editing, and collaborative production workflows.
Collaborative Learning
Work with fellow filmmakers through team-based productions, studio courses, and capstone projects.
Professional Experience
Build a portfolio of work and share films through festivals and professional opportunities.
CMF Student Work Sizzle Reel
Explore outstanding storytelling and production work created by students in the Creative Media & Film program.
These films were produced through UTV Studios, an independent film production studio where NAU students collaborate in teams, or as co-productions between UTV Studios and the CMF Capstone course (470C).
Student work sizzle reel coming soon.
Award-Winning Student Filmmakers
Creative Media & Film students participate in film festivals and earn recognition for their creativity, technical achievement, and storytelling. Here are several recent accomplishments.
BLOOM
Produced through UTV Studios, BLOOM has received multiple awards recognizing excellence in student filmmaking.
- Fox International — Best Student Film
- Atlantis Awards — Best Director
- 52 Week Film Festival — Best US Short Film
- 52 Week Film Festival — Best Screenplay
MEMORY LANE
Produced in a CMF Capstone course, MEMORY LANE has earned several film festival awards.
- Hollywood Blvd. Film Festival — Best Male Director, Nick Hiratsuka
- Indie Motion Club — Best Actor, Kaleb Deatherage
- Milan Gold Awards — Best Student Film
- New York Film Awards — Best Drama
Chasers
An archival and experimental film created by Hope Deaver in the Archival Storytelling course.
Received the 2025 Audience Choice Award at the Student Experimental Film Festival at Binghamton University.
Golden Boys
Created by Jacob Whitehead, Class of 2025, as part of the CMF Capstone course.
Won Best Cinematography at the Student Production Awards.
The film has also appeared at the Flagstaff Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Tucson's Legendary Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, and London Lift Off Festival.
Student Production Awards
Northern Arizona University students have earned nominations and recognition through the Rocky Mountain Student Production Awards, presented by the regional chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
2025 STUDENT PRODUCTION AWARD NOMINEE
Pickup Line
Northern Arizona University
Devon Walkenhorst
Writer
2025 STUDENT PRODUCTION AWARD NOMINEE
Mikey Eggert Wildlife Photography
Northern Arizona University
Zach Hoerl
Producer / Editor / Photographer / Sound Designer
2024 STUDENT PRODUCTION AWARD NOMINEE
Vacancy
Northern Arizona University
- Juliana Haley — Director
- Emily Riskas — Writer / Photographer
- Serena Weingardt — Producer
Creative Community & Opportunities
UTV Studios
Collaborate with fellow filmmakers through student-produced films, hands-on production, and team-based storytelling experiences.
Scholarships
Support your education by exploring scholarship opportunities through the NAU School of Communication.
Student Filmmaking
Develop original creative work through production courses, capstone projects, film festivals, and collaborative opportunities.
Contact
Interested in learning more about the Creative Media & Film program at Northern Arizona University?