RTVF Programs

Our Radio-Television-Film (RTVF) programs offer hands-on experience in producing, writing, and directing for radio, television, and film. See what courses you can expect to take to achieve your academic, professional, and creative goals.

• Radio-Television-Film Major

  • Radio-Television-Film Major Requirements

    Our Radio-Television-Film (RTVF) major offers training and experience in radio, television, film, and multimedia production. This includes screenwriting, directing, cinematography, editing (video, colorization, sound, etc.), and management.

    The RTVF program operates KSJS 90.5 FM, a 24/7 radio station that provides entertainment, sports, and community services to the Bay Area.

    RTVF majors help create feature films through Spartan Film Studios and assist with other faculty, staff, and student production projects. Spartan Film Studios offers students a unique opportunity to participate in an interdisciplinary collaboration between the RTVF and Theatre Arts programs. Students are given a full range of film production experience under the guidance of studio directors (Barnaby Dallas and Nick Martinez), expert instructors, and industry professionals. This level of hands-on experiences continously results in the production of multiple short and feature-length films. 

    For both film and television, students in our screenwriting courses develop award-winning scripts that sweep competitions around the country. In RTVF studies, students learn about essential history, art, aesthetics, critical thinking/writing, theory, effects, cultural studies, gender/race/class issues, industry infrastructure, global perspectives, and more. Understanding studies in conjunction with elements of production makes you a better consumer and producer of media.

    As a culminating experience, the RTVF major requires students to complete an RTVF internship in order to obtain job-seeking skills and gain valuable industry knowledge, networking, and skills to achieve their post-graduation goals.

    San José State University recognizes the need for an interactive and productive education in the field of the arts. RTVF students are given multiple opportunities to perform, write, and direct their own works in preparation for a successful career in the Hollywood arts. We are excited to be working with you during your college journey. Please continue to explore our website to discover all we have to offer.

• Radio-Television-Film Major: Critical Studies in Film and Media Emphasis

  • We aren't just about production.

    The Radio-Television-Film Major program at San José State University includes an emphasis in scholarly production in film and media studies.

    Its faculty and students regularly produce original critical research and are participants in local, state, national, and international conferences and publications.

    The RTVF major includes both required and core course requirements in RTVF Critical Studies in Film and Media. The philosophy of the department and critical studies faculty is based on the belief that skills in history, critical theory, and thinking are essential survival tools in a world dominated by the profusion of mediated images and content, from cinema and television to radio and the internet, including but not limited to art forms, products of popular culture, content creators, and delivery systems.

    Our film and media critical studies curriculum has been developed to educate students with a view toward professional advancement in film and media applied fields and in other occupations and endeavors, such as scholars and teachers, theorists, and critics in RTVF, as well as other areas emphasizing critical thinking and analysis. In exploring the history, professional, intellectual, moral, aesthetic, psychological, economic and social-political aspects of film, television, and media, students refine their critical thinking and film and media literacy skills that are crucial to work in both related industries and further scholarly endeavor.

    See our RTVF Program Pathways for a list of courses in support of the Critical Studies in Film and Media Emphasis

• Radio-Television-Film Major: Film & TV Production Emphasis

  • The RTVF major includes both required and elective courses in film and television production. Our students develop valuable skills that equip them to effectively communicate their ideas to audiences in the ever-evolving field of film and television. Many of our students are focused on a career of narrative film or television production-this includes cinematography, directing, editing, sound design, production design, special effects and producing (or any combination thereof).

    Film and television outlets now extend beyond the traditional film studios and television networks to include streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV+, Qubi, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus. The demand for our students has never been greater, with many of our graduates working for these various platforms.

    Our students also work in corporate films, commercials, and gaming/music videos-all markets that are especially active in Silicon Valley tech enterprises. Our pathway allows students to mix and match their production curriculum according to their specific career goals or interests. We believe that a comprehensive and diverse knowledge of film production is essential to student success and career paths in the film and television industry.

    See our RTVF Program Pathways for a list of courses in support of the Film and TV Production Emphasis.

• Radio-Television-Film Major: Radio Station 90.5 FM KSJS Emphasis

  • Our programming includes a wide range of eclectic info and music. KSJS provides the best alternative to commercial radio programming by offering a diverse selection of under- represented music and unique public affairs. 

    The KSJS broadcast signal covers seven San Francisco Bay Area counties: Alameda, San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. This lets listeners tune in to 90.5 FM from San Jose to Gilroy, Fremont to Berkeley and from Palo Alto to Oakland. 

    As a public university radio station, KSJS looks to surrounding businesses and people in the community for support. By taking advantage of the KSJS underwriting program, community businesses profit while providing a valuable public service. 

    We transmit at 1500 watts, effective radiated power from high atop Coyote Peak in San Jose, California from our studios at SJSU. 

    See our RTVF Program Pathways for a list of courses in suport of the Radio Emphasis.

• Radio-Television-Film Major: Screenwriting Emphasis

  • The Department of Film, Theatre, and Dance's screenwriting program is one of the most successful in California, and student writing is the foundation of film production at SJSU. There have been numerous feature films based on scripts written in our classes, and our students regularly dominate the annual CSU Media Arts Festival feature-length screenwriting competition as well as frequently placing highly in the Broadcast Education Association's annual national student feature screenwriting competition. Our classes emphasize time-tested principles and full-length writing, the principle being that students who can write full-length work can easily write something shorter.

    The Radio-Television-Film (RTVF) Major offers a screenwriting track that consists of two classes. The basic screenwriting class, RTVF 160, uses the principles and methods of the course reader written by Professor Scott Sublett, which divides the creation of a screenplay into small, incremental steps that are ordered in such a way as not to overwhelm the novice writer. The process outlined in the course reader is unique in the way it breaks down the process of planning and writing, and that unique approach is one of the things that makes our RTVF program unique in the nation. Our instruction refuses the myth that writing "can't be taught" and that people are simply "born to write," but rather flows out of a belief that any normal, reasonably intelligent, and properly taught person can write a screenplay. Many students find that RTVF 160 is all the screenwriting instruction they ever need. The advanced screenwriting class, RTVF 161, tailors the classroom experience to the needs of the writer who has already completed RTVF 160. Through a cooperative arrangement with the English Department's MFA Creative Writing Program, graduate students learn screenwriting alongside undergraduates, enriching the experience for both.

    See our Program Pathways for courses in support of the Screenwriting Emphasis.

• Radio-Television-Film Major: Sound Production Emphasis

  • The RTVF program offers required and elective courses in audio production and postproduction. Our students acquire the understanding of the principles of sound and digital audio (RTVF 20), then further develop skills by applying that knowledge to practical, hands-on projects (RTVF 120, RTVF 126, RTVF 135). Students investigate the role of sound in storytelling aesthetically and technologically within different narratives. Exploring various audio equipment and tools, students develop the skills and techniques of recording, editing, manipulating, designing, and mixing audio narrative. 

    Students also develop workflow knowledge of projects and responsibilities of sound crews in each aspect of audio production and postproduction required by the professional world. Using digital audio tools and equipment, students will practice sound recording in a studio and in the field. They later learn postproduction workflow utilizing professional digital audio workstations. In the advanced sound course, students actively learn to design and mix sound for film and media in a equipped audio lab with a surround sound system. 

    See our RTVF Program Pathways for a list of courses in support of the Sound Production emphasis.

• Radio-Television-Film Minor

  • RTVF Minor Requirements

    To be awarded a minor, at least 12 units of coursework must be completely distinct and separate from the coursework in the major, and coursework for the minor must include a minimum of 6 upper-division units (University Policy S16-4). Minor preparation or support courses do not count toward the 12 distinct units. Of the coursework for the minor, at least 6 units must be completed in residence at SJSU. The minimum aggregate GPA for all coursework required for the minor must be at least 2.0.