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California Institute of the Arts

MFA: Directing

School of Theater

Performers on a large stage in various poses facing toward a small nook featuring a sculpture of an angel

El Misterio.

Redefine the boundaries of performance

Unleash your creative vision in the three-year MFA in Directing program, where intensive practical experience and tailored artistic exploration converge. Dive into the dramatic canon and immerse yourself in a vast array of devised and self-generated work, film aesthetics, and emerging media. The MFA is ideal for visionary leaders committed to creating singular new work in collaboration with a wide array of exceptional artists.

Person surrounded by darkness and lit with blue and purple light holding a sign that says “wanted.”

Roberto Zucco.

Interested in this program?

View our step-by-step application guide to learn more.
 

Start your application

Experiment and innovate

MFA Directing

Dedicated to artistic experimentation and innovation with plenty of hands-on experience, the selective and rigorous MFA Directing program prepares experienced directors to put forward a personal vision for the theater and redefine the boundaries of performance.

Let’s connect

As an MFA Directing candidate, your studies are rooted first and foremost in intensive, practical experience, tailored to your individual artistic interests. In addition to addressing the full spectrum of the dramatic canon, the program is singular in that it recognizes the importance of work generated by directors. It also pays significant attention to film aesthetics and practice, and their applications across a wide array of emerging media.

With the program’s clear and abiding emphasis on gaining hands-on experience, you’ll be directing as frequently as possible—in classes, studios, labs, and productions—realizing visionary work in collaboration with exceptional artists across the Institute. And the program’s location within the country’s only accredited, nonprofit college that gathers the visual and performing arts under one roof provides unique, interdisciplinary opportunities to work with peers across a wide range of métiers.

In addition to directing-specific seminars and labs, MFA candidates work extensively with faculty and students from the School of Theater’s Acting and Experience Design and Production programs. Directors are also encouraged to take classes offered by the other five schools across the Institute. Additionally, many MFA candidates take advantage of internship opportunities offered through the Institute, gaining professional experience while pursuing the degree. Student directors also collaborate on projects and workshops presented by the School of Theater and the CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP).

All MFA Directing students are required to pass a mid-residence and graduation review in order to complete the program and earn their degree.
 

Admission requirements

To be considered for the MFA Directing program, you must complete an application and all program-specific requirements, including submitting a portfolio, an artist statement, and two letters of recommendation. Before applying, please familiarize yourself with the detailed application requirements and resources available to assist you in this important process.

View detailed admission requirements

Degree requirements

MFA Directing students attend program-specific seminars and labs, engage deeply with the Acting and Experience Design and Production programs, and are encouraged to collaborate with peers and enroll in courses across other CalArts schools. 

MFA Directing academic requirements

Interdisciplinary opportunities

In addition to CalArts’ naturally collaborative atmosphere, many programs offer candidates the opportunity to pursue an additional concentration concurrently with their chosen discipline.

Concentrations and interdisciplinary opportunities

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as an MFA Directing student? Browse the courses offered in the School of Theater, one of the country’s preeminent theater training grounds.

School of Theater courses

Meet the faculty

At CalArts, faculty and students are collaborators, teaching, learning, and working together as members of our community of artists. 

Some of our alumni

More School of Theater alumni

Etta and Ella on the Upper West Side

World Premiere

Directed by Monty Cole (MFA 19), Etta and Ella follows the lives of the titular sisters: New York writers and academics whose mutual competitiveness threatens to poison both their professional ambitions and sibling love. The play, featuring more than a dozen CalArtians, had its world premiere at REDCAT. 

Theater events

More Theater events

  • Performance School of Theater

    Get ready for a playful evening of surprises, laughter and spontaneous creativity! Directed by Frank…

    Thu, Oct 24 / 8:00 PM - Sat, Oct 26 / 10:00 PM

    CalArts Campus

Gallery

Want to learn more?

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