Jeremy Wong Chiu-nam, 36, trained as an architect but his dream has always been to become a film director. So he saved up to take two years off to attend the Master of Fine Arts in Film Production programme at the Academy for Performing Arts.
'The first year is a bit of everything,' Wong says. 'The course gives a bigger picture of what the film industry is, and how it operates in real life. Guest lecturers give us a clear idea of what is going on in the film industry.'
In the second year, Wong and his classmates have to produce a 90-minute film, with each student taking on a different role.
'I want to be a film director,' he says. 'But it's not that easy. But now the market is expanding in the China region so there may be more opportunities. I could become an assistant director in a company and follow the director's role. Alternatively, I could write my own scripts.'
Film production is just one course available at postgraduate level to students who would like to work in the creative industries, which cover a wide remit: design, architecture, animation, fashion and textiles, drama and comparative literature, to name but a few. But while universities have increased opportunities in these fields, the question is whether those courses set the students up to be industry professionals.
At Polytechnic University, there are two full-time master's courses related to fashion. The more creative one is the Master of Arts in Fashion and Textile Design, a full-time, one-year course that also involves external projects to prepare students for working in the industry.
