JOINT JD/MFA DEGREE

 Located in the heart of Southern California and its thriving entertainment industry, Chapman University School of Law is proud to offer the first and only fully-integrated JD/MFA program in the country.  The program provides students with two highly marketable professional degrees and affords them with an interdisciplinary education in both the legal and creative sides of Hollywood.  As a result, graduates of the JD/MFA program are uniquely poised for successful careers in all facets of the entertainment industry.

Program Overview

In partnership with the Conservatory of Motion Pictures at Chapman University’s award-winning Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, the Chapman University School of Law offers a joint program leading to both the JD and an MFA in Film and Television Producing. Offered to full-time students, the program requires four years of study and acceptance to both the Chapman University School of Law and the Conservatory at Dodge College.

The dual degree program requires the completion of 124 total credits (as opposed to 136 credits if the two degrees are sought separately and outside the joint program). The School of Law accepts up to 12 selected credits from the MFA in Film and Television Producing toward completion of its 88-credit requirement; thus students must complete 76 credits from the JD program (54-56 units of required courses and 20-22 units of electives). The Dodge College of Film and Media Arts accepts up to six credits from the JD program.

The program is intentionally designed to be a joint degree rather than a dual-degree program, that is, two separate transcripts will be maintained for each student – one in Law and one in the MFA. Cumulative GPAs will not be co-mingled. Work transferred into the JD from the MFA will be treated as Pass/No Pass for the purposes of arriving at a law school GPA. Degrees from each School will be awarded upon successful completion of all requirements for each degree. The degrees conferred are to be reflected on both transcripts (i.e., the Law transcript would reflect both the JD and the MFA, and vice versa).

Admissions and Registration

 Students interested in the joint degree must meet all admission requirements for each school and must submit separate applications to each school. Students should consult Dodge College about current requirements for the MFA admissions application. Students must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.6 or above upon completion of the first-year law curriculum in order to proceed into the second year JD/MFA combined curriculum.

Students in the JD/MFA program will be “housed” in the law school. Their financial aid will be handled by the law school’s Director of Financial Aid and they will register for course work with the law school’s Registrar. However, each program will appoint an advisor for students and that advisor will counsel students on progress to the respective degrees as well as changes or updates within each school. The advisor for the JD portion of the program is Professor Kathy Heller, and the advisor for the MFA component is Professor Joe Slowensky.

Students in the JD/MFA program will pay law school tuition for all four years of the program. (Should a student abandon either the JD or the MFA, such student will pay the tuition for the program in which he/she continues.)

Students receiving scholarships from the law school will have those scholarships applied to the 1st year, the second semester of their 3rd year, and the 4th year of the program according to the law school’s scholarship policy in effect at the time the student entered. Any scholarships awarded by the MFA program will be applied to the students 2nd year and the first semester of the 3rd year in the program. Thus, a JD/MFA student’s law scholarship will be suspended during the time in the program while the student engages primarily in MFA work. The renewal of a law scholarship after the 1st year will be based on the scholarship policy in effect at the time the student matriculated. Law scholarships are not available for summer courses.

Note: The Law School has, in addition to completion of a certain number of credits and specific required courses, a residency requirement. Law students must complete six units of residency. A JD/MFA program must be carefully constructed to allow students to meet their residency requirements. Students are cautioned that any self-initiated deviations from the schedule could result in difficulty meeting residency requirements.

 Cross-listed Courses:

 MFA in Film and Television Producing Courses eligible for credit towards JD Degree:

FTV 560          Overview of Producing                                              3

FTV 562          Development Process of Film and Television               3

FTV 564          Film and Television Financing                                     3

FTV 661          Marketing/Distribution/Exhibition                                3

FTV 667          Entertainment Law                                                    3

Students must earn a grade of 3.0 or better in each of these courses, but will be assigned a grade of “P” or “NP” in the School of Law.

JD Courses eligible for credit towards MFA in Film and Television degree:

 
LAW 7538      Entertainment Law                                                     3
LAW 7600      Entertainment Contracts & Negotiations                       3

LAW 7347      Film & Television Law                                                 3

LAW 7348      International Entertainment Law                                  3

LAW 7830      Moviemaking and the Law                                           3

LAW 7843      New Media and the Entertainment Industry                   3

School of Law Entertainment Course Offerings: