About the Northern Film School

The Northern Film School is one of the best known film and television schools in the UK, making innovative and award winning films for over 25 years. Learning the arts of storytelling, cinematography and creativity under the guidance of industry professionals makes our graduates the filmmakers of the future.

The school prides itself on:

• Practical filmmaking, with real production budgets.
• Teaching staff with international film and TV credits.
• Industry partnerships, placements and collaborations.
• Specialised teaching in Producing, Directing, Screenwriting, Production Design, Cinematography, Sound, Editing and Animation.
• State of the art camera and lighting, sound, editing and post equipment.
• Industry standard studios, post-production suites, and production offices.
• Courses informed by film theory and criticism.

With its roots originating in the late 1970s in the Leeds Polytechnic Film Unit, the Northern School of Film and Television came into being in January 1990. Eventually simplifying its name to the Northern Film School and residing within the Leeds School of Arts at Leeds Beckett University, the Northern Film School offers filmmaking awards at BA (Hons), MA and PhD levels, attracting students from around the world.

The main school site is in the historic Electric Press building on Millennium Square in the centre of Leeds. Here we have studios, edit labs, edit suites, grading suites, a viewing theatre, animation facilities, props and set storage, kit storage, a sound studio, production offices, flexible teaching spaces and staff offices. We have another site at the professional Prime Studios in Kirkstall Road, a short walk from Electric Press. Kirkstall Road is the centre of film and television production in Leeds, with major TV series and feature films regularly shooting there. As such, Prime Studios, which is home to a full-size infinity cove studio, puts our students at the heart of professional production in Yorkshire. In September 2020 the school will be relocating to the brand new £80million Leeds School of Arts building.

Since its founding more than 40 years ago, many of the alumni of the Northern Film School have gone on to win major awards, including BAFTAs and Oscars, for their work in television and film. In 2014, the Northern Film School was recognised by the Hollywood Reporter, the leading American entertainment trade publication, as one of five film schools to watch in the world.

The school is tremendously proud of its graduates and looks forward to their continued success as it prepares the next generation of filmmakers.