I'm writing this review because I feel like other reviews are not doing this class justice. I absolutely LOVED this class. The grade is made up of a 3 page midterm paper, 4 page final paper, weekly attendance, and a small group project. Both papers were graded super easily and were interesting prompts that let you choose which movies you wanted to write about. The group project was also relatively easy but you had to present to the class (and a guest speaker that Barbara brought in, who was renowned in the industry). The class did take attendance which I usually hate, but her lectures were actually interesting and you really do learn a lot about producing and the industry. My only complaint would be that there are no slides, the lecture is just Barbara talking, but this also means that if you miss a class you don't really have any idea what you missed. Overall Barbara was amazing, always chatted with us and asked us questions about movies we had seen, and I think anyone would be lucky to get a chance to take a class with her. I think it was a pretty easy A, as long as you show up to class. (you are allowed one unexcused absence). PS she also brought in a couple very cool guest speakers that are renowned in their field!

This was one of the worst classes I've taken at UCLA. I came in thinking it was going to be a simple upper-division elective, but my grade shows otherwise. The professor is basically absent and the entire course is managed by your TA. The papers were graded so harshly for no reason and my TA was extremely unhelpful when asked questions. The weekly discussion posts were so annoying and then you have to act like you're interested in what your classmates are saying to post a response. This class, especially a summer session, was not worth doing three long papers for. Hopefully, if you do take it you have an easy-going TA because they can really make or break your grade. WORST. CLASS. EVER.

Don't watch the lectures or the movies. Don't even read the readings. All you have to do is the three papers and the weekly discussion posts. At first, the papers seemed extremely ambiguous, but it's really easy once you realize from your first paper what they want in your other papers. Don't waste your time on anything else because you won't be tested on it and the papers are nearly irrelevant to lectures. Grading is as follows: 10% first paper, 10% second paper, 50% final paper, 30% discussion posts. The papers don't take long, probably a few hours each. We were never given feedback about our discussion posts so we had no idea how much to even write or how to structure them properly.

Overall, doesn't take much time or effort but the class just seemed kind of ambiguous and weird. Take it if you want a GPA booster, but keep in mind grading is extremely ambiguous and up to your TA's discretion.

Take my review with a grain of salt please, I was in it for a very brief period! I also took it online, so it may be a different experience than in-person lectures.

I wanted to take this class for my film minor but I dropped it 1.5 weeks into Summer Session A. It's hard for me to stay accountable with online classes (especially since there are very few due dates) but this class made it even more difficult. The course website is organized but Professor Boyle's lectures do not seem so. She tends to ramble and talks in depth about her own experiences being a producer, but she skims over major production topics. However, I'm also more into the art side of film than the business side, so maybe this class just wasn't for me. I would've stuck it out longer in case the lectures got better but I had to pull out before the refund deadline :(