Griffith College launches Creative Arts & Screen Media Faculty

Griffith College has recently launched a new faculty focusing on visual storytelling, image creation, and digital production. The Creative Arts and Screen Media faculty is home to 12 courses covering Photography, Film, and Screen Media Production, Visual Effects, and more.  

The faculty provides QQI-validated courses for innovators, creative thinkers, visual storytellers, and content creators. Programmes range from levels 6, 7 and 8 and include full and part-time options.  

Equipping students with screen media skills with a focus on conceptual ideation, and practical execution is at Griffith’s core. The new faculty covers everything from screenwriting and concept development to practical photography, cinematography, directing, editing, VFX, and live TV broadcast. Students graduate with skills and competencies in line with employers’ increasing diverse requirements.  

The cross-disciplinary approach provides learners with a broad understanding of the creation and production processes, in addition to specialised skills that enable learners to develop a deeper understanding of a specific area of study. 

Throughout the faculty, the predominantly practical programmes aim to provide learners with concrete preparation for the rigours of an ever-changing industry. This is achieved through both industry-based work experience placements and professional practice modules. 

Speaking about Griffith College’s strong industry links, Tanya Doyle, Head of Creative Arts & Screen Media explains: “The teaching and learning strategies employed seek to encourage experimentation, exploration, discussion, creative practice, analysis, and reflection. Yet our end goal is to equip our graduates with employable skills. The creative industries are built on personal relationships and creating networks. Many of our lecturers are working industry practitioners who bring current industry insights into the classroom and also bring our students out on location or to postproduction houses, so they can meet people and gain an insight into how the industry works. As part of our BA in Film, TV & Screen Media Production we have a structured work experience placement in our level 7 and level 8 programme to assist students in gaining a foothold in the industry.” 

For photography degree students, they build on their professional practice and branding and compile a business plan. This means that graduates leave Griffith with bodies of work made to a high standard, an online presence, and experience of delivering presentations to their tutors and peers, the accumulation of which provides a sound footing for navigating the industry. 

Speaking about how the wide range of courses can help students in the creative field, Sinead Murphy, Photography Programme Director for the faculty explains: “A visual media programme at Griffith College will help you to stand out in a specialised, competitive, and growing industry. Our graduates are renowned for both their technical and aesthetic skills. Our graduates not only know how to initiate a concept but are accomplished in the technical expertise to create the work around it. From the beginning, our learners work together, learn how to take feedback on board, and give presentations to their peers and tutors on their ideas. We strongly believe in providing our learners with the tools necessary to enable them to stand out in the field. Employers recognise the initiative and professionalism of Griffith graduates. Learners are assured of excellent teaching practices, using industry-standard techniques and technologies. Learners on our QQI validated visual media programmes are also entitled to student membership cards from the National Union of Journalists, which recognises the courses for professional training purposes. 

Sinead adds: “We teach the practical and technical skills alongside the theory behind the medium. We believe in learning by doing. At the heart of what we do is story-telling, we want our students to not only have the ability to initiate concepts but to have the technical ability to create the content and see the idea through to the end.” 

Griffith also stands out due to its standard of teaching, and world-class equipment and tools.  

Lecturers in Griffith’s Creative Arts and Screen Media Faculty are drawn from across film, TV, and lens-based industries; which keeps the knowledge up-to-date and relevant so that students not only gain the ability to network but also to learn from the best. Many of the Creative Arts and Screen Media lecturers are successful freelance professionals in film, photography, TV, and broadcasting. They are published and have many awards in recognition of their talent.  

Full access to industry-standard equipment is also a key benefit to studying at Griffith College. This includes two photography studios, a fully equipped TV studio, a wide array of cinematography equipment, access to editing, colour grading and audio editing suite, on-location sound recording equipment, and access to production spaces, not to mention direct connections with the film industry. 

Graduates who have previously studied creative courses at Griffith, have been successful in a wide range of areas across the media industry both nationally and internationally, with screen media graduates working with BBC, RTÉ, Virgin Media Television, TG4, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Element Pictures and Universal Pictures.  Photography graduates have gone on to work for Canon, Google, Sports File, OPW, Rolling News and The Library Project, and more.  

As well as having successful careers, graduates have gone on to win awards and accolades for their work.  

The thriving and growing faculty is an excellent film, TV and photographic education provider, with graduates proving themselves by winning awards nationally and internationally - namely Best Documentary Film, Galway Film Fleadh, Best Film at the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival, or Best Documentary at the prestigious Irish Film & TV Awards, SMEDIA  Short Film of the Year, Film Script of the Year, Film Documentary of the year, Photographer of the Year, News Photographer of the Year, Sports Photographer of the Year and as emerging visual artists winning mentorships with the Gallery of Photography Graduate Awards and RADAR in conjunction with PhotoIreland and Inspirational Arts. 

The courses are for those looking to improve their skills, gain qualifications to help them further their career, and for those who have no prior knowledge or experience in the field but want the best training for a bright future in the creative industry. 

If you're interested in learning more about the faculty or the courses we offer, check out our faculty page!