The School of Cinema is committed to a program of cinema studies and production as a common enterprise. For this reason, the 200-level core courses and the 300-level foundation courses are necessary prerequisites to advanced work in the major, including the emphases. Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) courses in cinema are an exception; if the necessary prerequisites have been completed, GWAR courses may be taken concurrently with core or foundation courses, provided the student is an upper-division cinema major. The School of Cinema strictly enforces the completion of the core and foundation courses before enrollment in all other courses. Students should be aware that filmmaking is time consuming and expensive. Although course requirements seldom demand it, students often spend considerable sums of money on their film projects. Production courses require hands-on practice and experience; this necessarily limits the number of students enrolled in such courses.

Graduates of the program often work as independent film producers or as professionals throughout the film and media industries—as producers, directors, creative executives, cinematographers, editors, sound recordists and mixers, animators, and multimedia artists. Many B.A. graduates continue to advanced studies in animation, filmmaking, media and culture, or screenwriting. The M.A. prepares graduates to pursue doctoral study in cinema and other areas, as well as work in various areas of film and media arts exhibition, management, and research. The M.F.A. prepares graduates to work as independent filmmakers, to assume creative professional roles within the film industry, or to teach at the college or university level.