Virgin founder and entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, has given the National Film and Television School’s Creative Business for Entrepreneurs and Executives a ringing endorsement in a recent article on the Virgin website.
In the article, Sir Richard talks about how he and co-founder, Nik Powell – now director of the NFTS - shaped the Virgin business and learned: “entrepreneurship each day, making up new ways of running businesses as we went. We didn’t have a rulebook, but it we did, we would have ripped it up. Whether it was marketing, advertising, design, product or customer service, we learned new things every day – it was either adapt and survive, or stand still and fail. It was the best entrepreneurial education possible.”
Sir Richard believes that there are too few opportunities for young people to learn ‘in entrepreneurial ways’ and believes you can ‘learn entrepreneurship.’
“With that in mind, Nik set up the NFTS’ new course in creative business for entrepreneurs and executives, with the vision of helping students to design and build the media companies of the future. We need a new generation of makers and doers in all sectors, especially in the creative industries. The course, which is unique in Europe, will allow students to gain hands-on, practical knowledge and build the tools they need to create their own businesses and opportunities.”
About the MA:
The Creative Business MA helps students develop and launch a business with the support of the UK’s most successful business leaders. Participants gain access to and are uniquely taught by over 100 key influencers from the worlds of publishing, theatre, games, film, television, music and digital entertainment. Their insights are invaluable for the students and place them at an advantage in the flourishing world of creative business.
In addition to the students developing a viable business by the end of the course, they are also required to attempt to raise money to fund it. This is a unique requirement for an MA of this kind and parallels other NFTS courses where students make films, TV programmes or games, which are eligible for Oscar and BAFTA nominations, optioned for development by industry giants like Warner Brothers or developed for distribution on platforms like Stream.
Nik Powell, NFTS director says: “The UK continues to be a huge success story when it concerns the creative industries and we are proud that our graduates continue to play a key part in this. Our new Creative Business MA for Entrepreneurs and Executives capitalises on this success and ensures that we focus not only on creativity and storytelling but also on developing our students’ business acumen and entrepreneurship.”
Chris Auty, NFTS’ Head of Producing says: “Building business capacity in the creative industries is vital to future competitiveness in the UK. We need more entrepreneurs, financiers and managers who truly understand the creative process as well as business and commerce and this course will make a significant contribution to achieving these goals.”
The Creative Business MA is supported by major media investors Ingenious, law firm Lee & Thompson and accountancy firm Saffery Champness.
Don’t miss our Facebook Live open day on Monday 28th November at 1pm – visit the NFTS Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NFTSFilmTV/ to take part.
For more information and to apply for this course, which starts in January 2017, please visit https://www.nfts.co.uk/our-courses/masters/creative-business-entrepreneurs-executives
