Los Angeles offers opportunities found nowhere else in the United States. For students interested in any sort of media experience—acting, writing, production, or advertising/public relations—LA is the place to be. Academics and practical experience are intertwined in the Los Angeles programs, and students benefit from the real-life knowledge of their professors. The Los Angeles Internship Program, offered for undergraduate and graduate students in the fall and spring semesters, has three tracks that give students the chance to study and work in the heart of the film and television, advertising and public relations, and entertainment management industries. Courses are taught by Boston University faculty and alumni who serve as mentors in and out of the classroom.
Study Abroad: Los Angeles
Study Abroad: Los Angeles
Requirements & Considerations
- All students must enroll according to, and remain in compliance with, the Boston University Study Abroad Course Load Policy.
- Undergraduate and graduate students
- Students must have rising sophomore status or higher; Priority will be given to qualified upperclassmen
- Admission requirements for all programs
Curriculum
Students take three academic courses concurrently with their internship placement. Students typically work at one or two internships for a minimum of 20 hours per week—in some cases, up to 40 hours per week—and continue to meet with their internship coordinator during the semester. Study Abroad will also enroll students in a non-credit Hub co-curricular and a four-credit internship course, which includes a classroom component.
The program offers three tracks from which undergraduate and graduate students can choose: Advertising & Public Relations, Film & Television, and Entertainment Management. Note: Syllabi are for course approval and reference only. Students will receive up-to-date syllabi when their courses begin.
Advertising & Public Relations Track
Required Courses
Students take the following two required courses:
Required Course List
- COM CM 563 Entertainment Marketing (4 credits)
- This course surveys the strategy, techniques, and communication media employed to market the range of entertainment available to the American audience. The course examines the organizations and people who conceive, create, and distribute video, film, print, interactive, and new technology within the framework of the entertainment promotion landscape. The course demonstrates how advertising, publicity, promotion, research, and overall marketing campaigns are created and the impact on the creative and business operations of entertainment companies.
- Syllabus
- COM CM 564 Entertainment Promotion: Speaker Series (4)
- The course will showcase agents, managers, publicists, and studio executives, among others, who will discuss their role and real-life experience in developing and guiding an entertainment project (be it a movie, play, book, or music) to success. The course surveys the nuts-and-bolts of taking an entertainment project from the ground up with emphasis on doing so in the digital age of the 21st century.
- Syllabus
Elective Courses
Students choose one of the following elective courses:
Elective Course List
- COM FT 539 Professional Production Methods (4)
- To introduce film and television students to professional-quality production techniques, suppliers, and equipment through field trips, speakers in the PLB classroom, and film and video shoots, vendors, and post-production facilities. The class will primarily consist of required excursions; it will also include lectures, guest speakers, screenings, class discussions, and demonstrations. The class meetings will be informal, striving for an open exchange of ideas, points of view, experiences, and difficulties encountered in film and video production. Students are encouraged to participate in an open forum of discussions regarding techniques, problems encountered related to directing and producing skills, and so forth. We also discuss potential solutions to problems, some of which are routinely encountered in the film industry.
- COM FT 554E Special Topics: Introduction to Virtual Production (4)Effective
Fall '23- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Creativity/Innovation
- Digital/Multimedia Expression
- Explores the ever-growing world of virtual production through the lens of creative storytelling. In this survey course students will utilize the virtualization process and techniques of The Third Floor, an industry leader in the area of pre-visualization, when taking an idea from script to audience. Through real examples the course breaks down each step in the process in exploring the relationship between technology and art. Students gain hands-on experience through project-based work where they define a workflow for a classic piece of cinema while applying the technology of today.
- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- COM FT 566 The Business of Hollywood (4)
- A practical analysis of the film and television industries: a general overview of the business of entertainment and the balancing act between art and commerce. How to evaluate, acquire, develop, package, promote, sell, finance, produce, and market motion picture and television product. Where to begin, how to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to the marketplace, and how to land your first and second jobs. Understanding the personalities and social constructs of the industry and how to navigate your way through the industry and make a career for yourself in film and television.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 584 The Creative Life in Television (4)
- Prerequisite: This course is open to COM students or those who have taken and passed a course in communications, creative writing, theater or film studies, acting, or literary study at the college level. This course is oriented to students who have a solid background in television and in the industry. It is not an introductory course.
- This course will follow the life and death of a television season. We examine what makes it on the air, why it gets there, who creates it, who sells it, who buys it, and who is going to pay for it. We look at the cultural, political, and commercial forces that shape the creative environment. The course examines the struggle of the networks to survive in a rapidly changing environment and in the face of new technologies. And as the dinosaurs die, we look at the new opportunities this era of change offers for fresh talent.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 585 Careers in Hollywood (4)
- A series of symposium-like evenings with industry professionals speaking primarily on those topics covered in COM FT 566 The Business of Hollywood. Some classes will reflect topics covered in COM FT 584 The Creative Life in Television. Students will be given the opportunity for up close and personal interaction with some of the industry’s movers and shakers. An opportunity to network with industry alumni as well as non-alumni professionals.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 586 Screenwriting in Hollywood (4)Effective
Fall '23- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Creativity/Innovation
- Writing Intensive Course
- Prerequisite: This course is open to COM students or those who have already taken a First Year writing course and at least three previous screenwriting courses
- In this advanced screenwriting workshop, students will focus on developing new skills and refining previously learned writing skills including story, structure, dialogue and character development in the process of writing a dynamic, professional film or television script. Students will also prepare their script for the marketplace employing creative strategies in ideation and rewriting.
- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Questrom SI 438/COM FT 438 Talent Representation, Management, and Contracts (4)
- Spring only
- Prerequisite for BU Questrom students: Questrom OB 221.
- Prerequisite for non-Boston University students: Organizational Behavior.
- No prerequisite for BU COM students.
- Participants in this course will be offered a rare, hands-on opportunity to peer behind the historically closed doors of talent agencies, personal management companies, entertainment law firms, and other representation team members. Utilizing case studies and business models, the class members will examine the manner in which these critical players interact and attempt to work together on behalf of clients. Participants will gain an understanding of the different areas of talent representation, how each one functions in the scope of a client’s career and what the position responsibilities are in each area of representation. Readings and research projects will focus on current approaches to negotiation.
- Syllabus
Internship Course
Study marketing techniques and media and consumer behavior while working in the marketing or PR departments of multinational firms, advertising agencies, or public relations agencies.
Upon successful completion of the internship experience, undergraduate students will receive a Hub unit in the area Individual in Community from the co-curricular HUB SA 330.
Internship Course List
Please note that these are examples of past internship placements only. While Study Abroad guarantees an internship to program participants, specific placements vary from semester to semester and may not always be available. Likewise, internship placements may be available in academic areas not listed.
- Non-credit Hub Co-curricular: HUB SA 330 Study Abroad Internship
- This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
- Individual in Community
- This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
- COM CM 471 Internship in Advertising/Marketing/Public Relations (4 credits)
- Study marketing techniques and media and consumer behavior while working in the marketing or PR departments of multinational firms, advertising agencies, or public relations agencies. Past internship placements have included MPRM, mml pr, Live Nation,Fabletics, Project Social T and ICON PR.
- COM CM 809 Graduate Internship (4)
- Study marketing techniques and media and consumer behavior while working in the marketing or PR departments of multinational firms, advertising agencies, or public relations agencies. Past internship placements have included MPRM, mml pr, Live Nation,Fabletics, Project Social T and ICON PR.
Entertainment Management Track
The Entertainment Management track is available during the spring semester only.
Required Course
Students choose one of the following two courses:
Required Course List
- Questrom LA 430 Entertainment Law (4 credits)
- Recommended for BU students: Questrom LA 245
- Recommended for non-Boston University Students: Introduction to Business Law
- This survey class covers the basics of “entertainment law,” including constitutional, contracts, labor, and employment law and intellectual property rights. Students develop a clear understanding of the applicable laws and how these laws have been applied in the past, how they are applied today, and how they might be amended and applied in the future. Students learn applicable legal concepts, practical insights, and an appreciation of how to deal with lawyers and the law in their entertainment business futures. It is intended to provide a good conceptual understanding of the law and demonstrate its relevance through case study, reading, guest speakers, field trips, and intense discussion. The application of the law to the “digital now,” the “digital future,” and the Internet—now crucial, indeed central, to any discussion of entertainment—will be included throughout and be the subject of an entire class toward the end of the course. The “law” to be explored will be constitutional, copyright, trademark, contracts, labor, employment, and remedies and their application to and use within the entertainment business.
- Syllabus
- Questrom FE 430 Entertainment Finance (4)
- Spring only
- Prerequisite: Questrom FE 323 Financial Management, or the equivalent.
- Entertainment Finance examines financial structures and decisions in entertainment and media realms, including feature film, television, music, live performance, sports, digital media, and related business endeavors. The course covers the various ways entertainment and media companies raise capital, budget capital, and manage return on investment to shareholders and other stakeholders. Students study business models within each segment to understand the financial, operational, and legal constraints and best practices under which media and entertainment firms operate.
- Syllabus
Elective Courses
Students choose two of the following elective courses:
Elective Course List
- COM CM 563 Entertainment Marketing (4)
- This course surveys the strategy, techniques, and communication media employed to market the range of entertainment available to the American audience. The course examines the organizations and people who conceive, create, and distribute video, film, print, interactive, and new technology within the framework of the entertainment promotion landscape. The course demonstrates how advertising, publicity, promotion, research, and overall marketing campaigns are created and the impact on the creative and business operations of entertainment companies.
- Syllabus
- COM CM 564 Entertainment Promotion: Speaker Series (4)
- The course will showcase agents, managers, publicists, and studio executives, among others, who will discuss their role and real-life experience in developing and guiding an entertainment project (be it a movie, play, book, or music) to success. The course surveys the nuts-and-bolts of taking an entertainment project from the ground up with emphasis on doing so in the digital age of the 21st century.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 554E Special Topics: Introduction to Virtual Production (4)Effective
Fall '23- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Creativity/Innovation
- Digital/Multimedia Expression
- Explores the ever-growing world of virtual production through the lens of creative storytelling. In this survey course students will utilize the virtualization process and techniques of The Third Floor, an industry leader in the area of pre-visualization, when taking an idea from script to audience. Through real examples the course breaks down each step in the process in exploring the relationship between technology and art. Students gain hands-on experience through project-based work where they define a workflow for a classic piece of cinema while applying the technology of today.
- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- COM FT 566 : The Business of Hollywood (4)
- A practical analysis of the film and television industries. A general overview of the business of entertainment and the balancing act between art and commerce. How to evaluate, acquire, develop, package, promote, sell, finance, produce, and market motion picture and television product. Where to begin, how to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to the marketplace, and how to land your first and second jobs. Understanding the personalities and social constructs of the industry and how to navigate your way through the industry and make a career for yourself in film and television.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 585 Careers in Hollywood (4)
- A series of symposium-like evenings with industry professionals speaking primarily on those topics covered in COM FT 566 The Business of Hollywood. Some classes will reflect topics covered in COM FT 584 Creative Life in Television. Students will be given the opportunity for up close and personal interaction with some of the industry’s movers and shakers. An opportunity to network with industry alumni as well as non-alumni professionals.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 586 Screenwriting in Hollywood (4)Effective
Fall '23- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Creativity/Innovation
- Writing Intensive Course
- Prerequisite: This course is open to COM students or those who have already taken a First Year writing course and at least three previous screenwriting courses
- In this advanced screenwriting workshop, students will focus on developing new skills and refining previously learned writing skills including story, structure, dialogue and character development in the process of writing a dynamic, professional film or television script. Students will also prepare their script for the marketplace employing creative strategies in ideation and rewriting.
- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Questrom FE 430 Entertainment Finance (4)
- Spring only
- Prerequisite: Questrom FE 323 Financial Management, or the equivalent.
- Entertainment Finance examines financial structures and decisions in entertainment and media realms, including feature film, television, music, live performance, sports, digital media, and related business endeavors. The course covers the various ways entertainment and media companies raise capital, budget capital, and manage return on investment to shareholders and other stakeholders. Students study business models within each segment to understand the financial, operational, and legal constraints and best practices under which media and entertainment firms operate.
- Syllabus
- Questrom LA 430 Entertainment Law (4 credits)
- Recommended for BU students: Questrom LA 245
- Recommended for non-Boston University students: Introduction to Business Law
- This survey class covers the basics of “entertainment law,” including constitutional, contracts, labor, and employment law and intellectual property rights. Students develop a clear understanding of the applicable laws and how these laws have been applied in the past, how they are applied today, and how they might be amended and applied in the future. Students learn applicable legal concepts, practical insights, and an appreciation of how to deal with lawyers and the law in their entertainment business futures. It is intended to provide a good conceptual understanding of the law and demonstrate its relevance through case study, reading, guest speakers, field trips, and intense discussion. The application of the law to the “digital now,” the “digital future,” and the Internet—now crucial, indeed central, to any discussion of entertainment—will be included throughout and be the subject of an entire class toward the end of the course. The “law” to be explored will be constitutional, copyright, trademark, contracts, labor, employment, and remedies and their application to and use within the entertainment business.
- Syllabus
- Questrom MK 435 Introduction to the Music Business and Music Marketing
(4)- Spring only
- Prerequisite: Questrom MK 323 Marketing Management, or the equivalent.
- Survey of the music industry with a focus on understanding its structure and the intersection of business and music. Discusses key areas of music marketing, including opportunities for musicians, such as publicity, advertising, promotion (online and traditional), digital distribution, touring, licensing/synch, and radio.
- Syllabus
- Questrom SI 438/COM FT 438 Talent Representation, Management, and
Contracts (4)- Spring only
- Prerequisite for BU Questrom students: Questrom OB 221.
- Prerequisite for non-Boston University students: Organizational Behavior.
- No prerequisite for BU COM students.
- Participants in this course will be offered a rare, hands-on opportunity to peer behind the historically closed doors of talent agencies, personal management companies, entertainment law firms, and other representation team members. Utilizing case studies and business models, the class members will examine the manner in which these critical players interact and attempt to work together on behalf of clients. Participants will gain an understanding of the different areas of talent representation, how each one functions in the scope of a client’s career, and what the position responsibilities are in each area of representation. Readings and research projects will focus on current approaches to negotiation.
- Syllabus
Internship Course
Study the current economic, political, and social issues affecting the entertainment industry.
Upon successful completion of the internship experience, undergraduate students will receive a Hub unit in the area Individual in Community from the co-curricular HUB SA 330.
Internship Course List
Please note that these are examples of past internship placements only. While BU International Programs guarantees an internship to program participants, specific placements vary from semester to semester and may not always be available. Likewise, internship placements may be available in academic areas not listed.
- Non-credit Hub Co-curricular: HUB SA 330 Study Abroad Internship
- This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
- Individual in Community
- This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
- CAS EC 497 Internship in Business/Economics (4 credits)
- Study the current economic, political, and social issues affecting the entertainment industry. Internship placements have included PatMa Productions, Stampede Ventures, Double Dutch International, Paramount Pictures Finance Department, Fox Sports and NBCUniversal.
Film & Television Track
Course information for the Film & Television track:
Required Courses
Students take the following required course:
Required Course
- COM FT 566 The Business of Hollywood (4 credits)
- A practical analysis of the film and television industries. A general overview of the business of entertainment and the balancing act between art and commerce. How to evaluate, acquire, develop, package, promote, sell, finance, produce, and market motion picture and television product. Where to begin, how to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom to the marketplace, and how to land your first and second jobs. Understanding the personalities and social constructs of the industry and how to navigate your way through the industry and make a career for yourself in film and television.
- Syllabus
Elective Courses
Students choose two of the following elective courses:
Elective Course List
- COM CM 563 Entertainment Marketing (4 credits)
- This course surveys the strategy, techniques, and communication media employed to market the range of entertainment available to the American audience. The course examines the organizations and people who conceive, create, and distribute video, film, print, interactive, and new technology within the framework of the entertainment promotion landscape. The course demonstrates how advertising, publicity, promotion, research, and overall marketing campaigns are created and the impact on the creative and business operations of entertainment companies.
- Syllabus
- COM CM 564 Entertainment Promotion: Speaker Series (4)
- The course will showcase agents, managers, publicists, and studio executives, among others, who will discuss their role and real-life experience in developing and guiding an entertainment project (be it a movie, play, book, or music) to success. The course surveys the nuts-and-bolts of taking an entertainment project from the ground up with emphasis on doing so in the digital age of the 21st century.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 539 Professional Production Methods (4)
- To introduce film and television students to professional-quality production techniques, suppliers, and equipment through field trips and speakers in the PLB classroom, and at film and video shoots, vendors, and post-production facilities. The class will primarily consist of required excursions; it will also include lectures, guest speakers, screenings, class discussions, and demonstrations. The class meetings will be informal, striving for an open exchange of ideas, points of view, experiences, and difficulties encountered in film and video production. Students are encouraged to participate in an open forum of discussions regarding techniques, problems encountered related to directing and producing skills, and so forth. We also discuss potential solutions to problems, some of which are routinely encountered in the film industry.
- COM FT 554E Special Topics: Introduction to Virtual Production (4)Effective
Fall '23- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Creativity/Innovation
- Digital/Multimedia Expression
- Explores the ever-growing world of virtual production through the lens of creative storytelling. In this survey course students will utilize the virtualization process and techniques of The Third Floor, an industry leader in the area of pre-visualization, when taking an idea from script to audience. Through real examples the course breaks down each step in the process in exploring the relationship between technology and art. Students gain hands-on experience through project-based work where they define a workflow for a classic piece of cinema while applying the technology of today.
- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- COM FT 584 The Creative Life in Television (4)
- Prerequisite: This course is open to COM students or those who have taken and passed a course in communications, creative writing, theater or film studies, acting, or literary study at the college level. This course is oriented to students who have a solid background in television and in the industry and is not an introductory course.
- This course will follow the life and death of a television season. We examine what makes it on the air, why it gets there, who creates it, who sells it, who buys it, and who is going to pay for it. We look at the cultural, political, and commercial forces that shape the creative environment. The course examines the struggle of the networks to survive in a rapidly changing environment and in the face of new technologies. And as the dinosaurs die, we look at the new opportunities this era of change offers for fresh talent.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 585 Careers in Hollywood (4)
- A series of symposium-like evenings with industry professionals speaking primarily on those topics covered in COM FT 566 The Business of Hollywood. Some classes will reflect topics covered in COM FT 584 The Creative Life in Television. Students will be given the opportunity for up close and personal interaction with some of the industry’s movers and shakers. An opportunity to network with industry alumni as well as non-alumni professionals.
- Syllabus
- COM FT 586 Screenwriting in Hollywood (4)Effective
Fall '23- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Creativity/Innovation
- Writing Intensive Course
- Prerequisite: This course is open to COM students or those who have already taken a First Year writing course and at least three previous screenwriting courses
- In this advanced screenwriting workshop, students will focus on developing new skills and refining previously learned writing skills including story, structure, dialogue and character development in the process of writing a dynamic, professional film or television script. Students will also prepare their script for the marketplace employing creative strategies in ideation and rewriting.
- This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas:
- Questrom MK 435 Introduction to the Music Business and Music Marketing (4)
- Spring only
- Prerequisite: Questrom MK 323 Marketing Management, or the equivalent.
- Survey of the music industry with a focus on understanding of its structure and the intersection of business and music. Discusses key areas of music marketing, including opportunities for musicians, such as publicity, advertising, promotion (online and traditional), digital distribution, touring, licensing/synch, and radio.
- Syllabus
- Questrom SI 438/COM FT 438 Talent Representation, Management, and Contracts (4)
- Spring only
- Prerequisite for BU Questrom students: Questrom OB 221.
- Prerequisite for non-Boston University students: Organizational Behavior.
- No prerequisite for BU COM students.
- Participants in this course will be offered a rare, hands-on opportunity to peer behind the historically closed doors of talent agencies, personal management companies, entertainment law firms, and other representation team members. Utilizing case studies and business models, the class members will examine the manner in which these critical players interact and attempt to work together on behalf of clients. Participants will gain an understanding of the different areas of talent representation, how each one functions in the scope of a client’s career and what the position responsibilities are in each area of representation. Readings and research projects will focus on current approaches to negotiation.
- Syllabus
Internship Course
Study communications and society and work for one of Los Angeles’s television networks or film production companies.
Upon successful completion of the internship experience, undergraduate students will receive a Hub unit in the area Individual in Community from the co-curricular HUB SA 330.
Internship Course List
Please note that these are examples of past internship placements only. While BU Study Abroad guarantees an internship to program participants, specific placements vary from semester to semester and may not always be available. Likewise, internship placements may be available in academic areas not listed.
- Non-credit Hub Co-curricular: HUB SA 330 Study Abroad Internship
- This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
- Individual in Community
- This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area:
- COM FT 493 Internship in Film/TV (4 credits)
- Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and film production companies, studios and other media institutions. Examples of past placements have included NBCUniversal, PatMa Productions, Thunder Road Films, ABC/Disney, Gunpowder & Sky, AMC and Sony but are subject to change in any given semester, depending on availability.
- COM FT 953/954 Graduate Internship in Film/Television (4)
- Opportunity for students to gain professional experience at television and film production companies, studios and other media institutions. Examples of past placements have included NBCUniversal, PatMa Productions, Thunder Road Films, ABC/Disney, Gunpowder & Sky, AMC and Sony but are subject to change in any given semester, depending on availability.
Housing & Student Services
Program Residence
Students may live in housing in reasonably close proximity to the BU LA program office at 5700 Wilshire Blvd.
In general, students on the LA program share apartments, though floor plans and numbers of bedrooms may vary by location.
Apartments include basic kitchen utensils supplied by the program.
Board is not included in this program; housing is situated close to supermarkets and restaurants, and BU LA staff can guide students who may have specific dietary needs.
For more information, students should contact Julliet Mayinja at jmayinja@bu.edu.
Program Dates
- Fall Semester: Late August to early December
- Spring Semester: Early January to late April
Application Timeline
This program follows rolling admissions and may fill before the official deadline.
Fall Semester
- Applications Open December 15
- Applications Deadline March 15
Spring Semester
- Applications Open June 1
- Applications Deadline October 1
This program is rolling admissions; applications are reviewed once all application materials are received, prior to all deadlines. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all required materials are received by the BU Study Abroad office. Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible as some programs and internship tracks have limited space and may fill up before the deadline. Submitting a complete application prior to the application deadline, does not guarantee acceptance. Students will be emailed an admissions decision within three weeks of a completed application.
Information for BU Students Awaiting an Admissions Decision and exceptions to the standard admission calendar for all students can be found here.
Cost & Financial Considerations
- 2023/2024 Tuition & Fees: $37,929 per semester
Cost includes tuition, housing, program related activities, and administrative fee. - Estimated program budget, including cost of living expenses.
- Grants and Scholarships available
