Program at a glance
- Format: Full-time, on campus
- Graduate credits: 32
- Length: 1 year (2 semesters)
- Entry term: Fall
- GRE: Not required
- 4+1 option: Available for eligible BU COM undergraduates
What is Branded Content Production?
The lines between brands, media companies, and creators are blurring. Brands are building their own audiences. Creators are building their own brands. And both need people who understand what makes content worth someone’s time.
That’s where branded content production comes in. It brings together audience insight, brand strategy, storytelling, and hands-on media production to create content that people want to engage with.
In BU’s MS in Branded Content Production, you’ll learn how to take an idea from the first audience insight to the finished production. You’ll develop the strategy behind the work, then learn how to turn your ideas into videos, documentaries, podcasts, social campaigns, and more. Whether you’re creating for a brand, collaborating with creators, or building a platform of your own, you’ll understand both the creative and strategic decisions that go into making content people want to watch.
Know what to say.
Understand audiences through research, then turn those insights into communication strategy.
Know how to tell it.
Turn strategy into stories through video, podcasts, documentaries, social content, and other multimedia formats.
Know how to make it happen.
Take ideas from concept through production and delivery—managing teams, timelines, budgets, and clients along the way.
Who this program is for
- Creators who want to think strategically: Add audience insight, branding, and communication strategy to your creative and production skills.
- Strategists who want to create: Learn to turn the ideas you’ve been developing and managing into content you can produce.
- People who want to do both: Maybe you’ve worked on the creative side and want to understand the strategy behind it. Or you’ve helped develop campaigns and want to be more involved in making them. This program helps you bring those skills together.
This program is designed for students who bring some foundation in communication, media, marketing, storytelling, or content production. That foundation might come from academic coursework or experiences such as internships, employment, student media, marketing or communication work, filmmaking, social media, or independent creative projects. You don’t need a bachelor’s degree in communication or film and television, but you should have some relevant experience or exposure that you’re ready to build on at the graduate level.
What you’ll learn
A good idea is only the beginning. You also need to know who you’re trying to reach, what you want to say, and how to make it happen. You’ll learn to develop ideas with a clear purpose, then work through the creative and practical decisions that bring them to life.
By graduation, you’ll have a professional portfolio demonstrating your ability to:
- Turn communication goals and audience insights into content that serves a purpose.
- Produce multimedia content, from short-form social video to long-form narratives, on budget and on deadline.
- Work with creative teams to take projects from concept through delivery.
- Combine strategic thinking and production expertise.
What you’ll study: A one-year, 32-credit curriculum
Semester one
- Practical Production (4 credits): Build hands-on skills in camera operation, sound recording, and editing for branded content.
- Content and Project Management (4 credits): Learn to manage the budgets, timelines, talent, and workflows that keep creative projects moving.
- Writing Branded Content (4 credits): Write scripts, treatments, and strategic narratives designed to connect brands with their audiences.
- Career Practicum 1 (4 credits): Gain professional experience in studio, agency, or brand environments while building your industry network.
Semester two
- Real-World Productions (4 credits): The capstone experience. Work in collaborative teams to pitch, produce, and deliver original content for clients.
- Career Practicum 2 (4 credits): Finalize your portfolio, expand your professional network, and prepare for creative and strategic roles across the industry.
- Approved Electives (8 credits): Tailor your focus. Choose from specialized courses like Data Visualization, Creative Video Development, Social Media Strategy, Documentary Production, Motion Picture Editing, or Marketing Communication.
Where this degree can take you
Developing a great idea is one skill. Knowing how to bring it to life is another. This program helps you do both.
With experience in strategy and production, you’ll be prepared for opportunities at agencies, brands, production companies, media organizations, nonprofits, and startups. You might help a company launch a new content series, produce a documentary for a nonprofit, or develop videos and social campaigns that bring a brand’s story to life.
Types of roles graduates can pursue
- Multimedia producer
- Branded content producer
- Content producer
- Video producer/editor
- Content marketing strategist
- Brand strategist
- Creative strategist
- Creative director (longer-term pathway)
Learn from faculty across strategy and production
You’ll learn from faculty with experience in advertising, public relations, filmmaking, media production, and branded content. They’ll help you understand how creative decisions get made, how projects come together, and what it takes to turn an idea into finished work.
In our integrated world, communication professionals require both literacy in content production and a strategic framework to break through and connect with stakeholders. Gaining a master’s degree in Branded Content Production will prepare students for success in our rapidly changing and ever-expanding communication industry.
Amy Shanler, Professor of the Practice, Public Relations
Frequently asked questions about the MS in Branded Content Production program
Not necessarily. Students should come to the program with some background in communication, media, marketing, storytelling, or content production, but you don’t need experience in every area. If your background is in strategic communication, advertising, marketing, or journalism, you’ll build production skills. If your background is in film, video, or multimedia production, you’ll strengthen your expertise in audience insight, branding, and communication strategy.
Yes. You don’t need a bachelor’s degree in communication or film and television. Students may come from a range of academic and professional backgrounds, but you should have some prior exposure to communication, media, marketing, storytelling, or content creation through coursework, internships, professional experience, student organizations, independent creative work, or other experiences.
This degree can prepare you for creative and strategic roles at agencies, media companies, nonprofits, startups, corporate marketing teams, entertainment organizations, and mission-driven organizations. Career paths include multimedia producer, branded content producer, content marketing strategist, creative strategist, video producer, brand storyteller, and related roles that combine communication strategy with content creation.
An MFA typically focuses on developing your artistic voice and creative practice. The MS in Branded Content Production prepares you to create content that serves communication and organizational goals. Alongside advanced production skills, you’ll learn branding, audience research, communication strategy, and project management—-so you understand both how to make content and why you’re making it.
The MS in Strategic Integrated Communication is a fully online program for experienced communication professionals focused on integrated strategy, leadership, research, and AI. The MS in Branded Content Production is an on-campus program focused on the intersection of storytelling, multimedia production, and strategic communication—from audience insight to final execution.
Yes. Eligible Boston University College of Communication undergraduates can earn this same master’s degree through an accelerated 4+1 pathway, allowing approved undergraduate coursework to count toward the master’s degree. Visit the BS/MS page to learn about eligibility, application requirements, and how the accelerated pathway works.
Yes. The program combines audience research, brand strategy, storytelling, and production—skills that apply whether you’re creating content for an established brand, working with independent creators, or developing your own projects. You’ll learn how to understand your audience, make creative decisions with a clear purpose, and manage the production process from idea to finished work.
Also worth exploring:
- MS in Advertising: Develop bold ideas, creative campaigns, and strategic brand thinking that help organizations stand out in a competitive marketplace.
- MS in Public Relations: Build trust, shape reputation, and lead strategic communication for organizations across every sector.
- MS in Television: Create exceptional film, television, and streaming content while developing advanced production, directing, and storytelling skills.
- MS in Marketing Communication Research: Use consumer research, analytics, and behavioral insights to help organizations make smarter marketing and communication decisions.
- MS in Media Science: Understand how communication influences people through audience research, persuasion, and data-driven strategy.
- MS in Strategic Integrated Communication: Advance your leadership through an online master’s focused on integrated communication strategy, research, AI, branding, and organizational leadership.