Free Online Course Offered By FutureLearn: The Essential Financial Management Toolbox for Film, Screen and Broadcast

Future Learn Platform is offering a free online course under the theme of “The Essential Financial Management Toolbox for Film, Screen and Broadcast”.

Arm yourself with a deeper understanding of the financial skills required to begin the journey to successfully financing a new project. Learn more about the financing ‘tools’ that drive screen content creation and creative businesses around the globe.

This course is part of our Study with Australia collection, with free upgrades and digital certificates supported by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission until 31st July, 2026. Explore more courses from leading Australian education providers.

This course is intended for:

• This course is designed for screen media content creators and business operators who want to better understand the financing of projects.
• Whether you are a production accountant, a small business operator, a creative business manager or an emerging producer with a slate of prospective projects, this course will provide you with a better understanding of where to start and how to get your creative project financed.

Required softwares or tools:

While this course doesn’t require any existing specialist skills or equipment, basic Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and formula skills, or equitable free software alternatives, will give you a head start.

Course duration:

2 hours per week for 3weeks.

Course topics:

Finance Speak:

• Core accounting principles and the language of financing creative projects.
• 3 key financial statements that all investors live by.

How does money flow around a company?

• ‘The Balancing Act’ of balance sheets.
• Why ‘Cash Flow is King’ and the realm of profit and loss statements.
• ‘Long Live the King’. If you make a profit what can you do with it?
• What are all these taxes?

What is a company?

• Business structures and setting up your own creative endeavour.
• Director, shareholder, board, auditors… what do all these people do?
• Working with capital, liabilities and debt.

Course objectives:

By the end of this course learners will be able to:

• Identify the basic financial skills relating to the establishment and ongoing maintenance of a company.
• Discuss the basic financial structures supporting an existing company.
• Identify key financial drivers in companies.
• Investigate basic financial spreadsheets.
• Discuss the financial reasoning behind a business proposal or business plan.
• Improve your financial analysis of your own creative proposals.

Course costs:

Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:

• Unlimited access to this course
• Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
• A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you’re eligible

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