Crossmedia

The study programme is a well balanced mix of theoretical and practical courses aimed at shaping today’s media professionals. The courses range from practical courses such as Transmedia Project, Sound Recording, Writing for Transmedia and Camera Work to theoretical courses such as Introduction to Digital Marketing Project, Semiotics of Multimedia, Media Research and New Media Economy. While studying crossmedia, students will develop a number of projects aimed at answering market needs and expectations.

See the study programme

Andres Jõesaar PhD has a long experience in the media and telecom industries. In the 90s he was one of the founding members of the private television channel RTV and the general director of the commercial broadcaster TV3. From 2000 - 2011 he was the director for the content services at the Tele2. Between 2000-2012 Jõesaar has been the chairman of the Council of the Estonian Public Broadcasting. He has been a member and chair of several Council of Europe and OSCE expert groups and currently is also media advisor for the Ministry of Culture.

His main research interests are media policy, media economics, and audience studies. In his research, he has paid particular attention to the role and impact of media, including public service media, in different communities. Drawing on research on audiences’ evaluations of the public value, credibility, and importance of the media, he has advised policymakers on the design and implementation of media legislation.

Andres Jõesaar's ETIS profile.

Dr Michael Keerdo-Dawson is an award-winning lecturer and artistic researcher who specialises in experimental approaches to screenwriting, storytelling, and film production. He holds three degrees, including a PhD in Audiovisual Arts, and has two decades of experience in the film and television industry. Keerdo-Dawson has written and directed short and feature films selected for prestigious film festivals; most recently the interactive feature film The Limits of Consent (2022) which featured nine possible endings depending on the audience’s choices.

Michael Keerdo-Dawson on IMDB.
Michael Keerdo-Dawson on Flickr.

Sangam Panta is a professional in the field of sound recording, sound design, and music for cinema. He holds a Master's degree in Ethnomusicology from Kathmandu University, and a Master's degree in Cinema Sound from Tallinn University and Universidade Lusófona.

From 2015 to 2020, he was a lecturer in the Department of Music, Kathmandu University where he taught the Philosophy of Sound and Music in Eastern Classical Music. Since 2022, as a lecturer in BFM, he covers the art of sound recording and sound design for films and documentaries.
In addition to his academic path, he is the founder of Maya Satsang, where he teaches mindfulness and meditation, incorporating the practice of understanding, and accepting sounds and noises of the exterior surrounding and interior mind. 

Sangam Panta on IMDB

Sangam Panta's website

Neveli Niit is a guest lecturer for the BA curriculum in Crossmedia in which she teaches Crossmedia Production courses. Neveli has learned from the best entrepreneurs in Europe and has won many business accelerators in Estonia and Finland. With that and the time studying BA Audiovisual Media at Tallinn University, plus Marketing and Service Management in TalTech, she has gathered unique storytelling knowledge and knows how to create messages that engage the audience. As her everyday job, she creates innovative digital services for different businesses and the public sector, building a bridge between the company's needs and client wishes.

General Requirements

• Completed Secondary Education or the equivalent
• Proof of English Proficiency
  Please see the complete overview of admission and application requirements for Bachelor's level applicants.

Entrance Exams

The Crossmedia admission competition is made of three different elements:

• Audiovisual CV (30%)
• Creative assignment (20%)
• Interview (50%)

Round 1: Audiovisual CV (30%)
AV CV is an audiovisual introduction of the candidate. It should convey the candidate’s motivation to study crossmedia. Preferably, it includes candidate’s previous creative work made using new technologies, for instance videos, electronic cards, webpages, animations, 3D design, etc. The introduction must be in English. It should be made available for the examination committee via web page or via web platform, like YouTube. If the audiovisual introduction is made in video format, the length should not exceed 3 minutes.

Round 2: Creative assignment* (20%)
(1) Create a story with at least two characters and a clear beginning, middle, and end. The beginning should establish the world of the story, the central characters and their goals; the middle should develop the story and deepen the conflict and the characters; the end should resolve the conflict and possibly provide a moment of emotional decompression.
(2) Use ONE of the themes for your creative assignment given loneliness or confusion. 
(3) Present the story using a combination of at least two different media such as: text, still photos, paintings/drawings, audio (e.g. podcast), animation, or video material.  In other words, your story should somehow encompass more than one medium (e.g. be presented as a short story in combination with an animation, or as a podcast in combination with a series of still photographs).
(4) Combine your two media into one ‘document’. This can be offline (e.g. a PDF with text, images, and links), or online (e.g. a social media page, audiovisual solutions).

Round 3: Interview (50%). Interviews take place via Zoom (in English), 20 minutes for each candidate. It is not possible to change the interview time. 

Main Assessment Criteria

1. Audiovisual CV - Crossmediality of Audiovisual CV, Storytelling of the Audiovisual CV, Quality of Sound and Photography in the Audiovisual CV; 

2. Creative Assignment - Coherence of the storytelling, Development of the dramaturgical arch; 

3. Interview - Ability to understand and answer questions in an articulated, informed and coherent manner.

The committee evaluates the candidate on the basis of pre-agreed evaluation criteria. The grade is formed as a result of the grades of all members of the committee.

Audiovisual CV and creative assignment must be sent to us as a Drive link (make the link public, must be accessible to everyone without registration). Upload a PDF file with the Drive link to DreamApply/SAIS.

NB! International applicants who cannot travel to Estonia will be offered a chance to take the entrance exams over the Internet. It is not possible to change the interview time. Interviews take place via Zoom (in English), 20 minutes for each candidate.

For the purposes of identity verification at the admission procedure the Admission Committee has the right to take a screenshot during the oral part of the admission exam carried out via video bridge.

Sample Questions

The questions are specific to what is presented, however, a question could be: What were the reasons behind choosing a certain tool rather than another in your audiovisual CV? (for instance, why did you choose to add animation to your CV? What is the relation between the protagonist and the antagonist in your story?).

General Admissions Information

Media industry is awaiting professionals who are aware of the innovative solutions and can take audiovisual content and stories to new media platforms and this is what the crossmedia study programme focuses on. 

Graduates with a bachelor degree in crossmedia most commonly find employment in the creative and media industries. The natural outcome of studies can be summarized by positions such as:

• Media Strategist and Producer;
• Social Media Manager;
• Creative Director for Media, Marketing and Advertising Companies;
• Interactive Media Commissioner (TV industry);
• Audience Analyst

Furthermore, students can continue their studies at Master level and specialize in a variety of creative and communication areas. Within Tallinn University students could choose among curricula such as: Digital Learning Games, Audiovisual Media, Documentary Film, Film Arts (Joint Master Degree) and Interaction Design (Joint Master Degree). Students could also continue their studies in Estonia or abroad, in fields such as marketing, journalism, communication, sociology, semiotics, information technologies and design.

• Baltic Film, Media and Arts School (BFM) has more than 20 years of teaching experience.
• Graduates leave with an extensive portfolio of films and audio-visual content for further career, plus an internationally validated university degree.
• BFM believes in hands-on approach.
• Internship possibilities in different media enterprises and also in the Estonian Public Broadcasting.
• Lectures at BFM are given by well-known filmmakers and media professionals in Estonia such as Arvo Iho, Renita Lintrop, Marianna Kaat, Dirk Hoyer, Jüri Pihel and Indrek Treufeldt.
• The university provides students with a state of the art facilities and equipment. BFM building houses Estonia’s first 4K cinema hall, film and sound studios, and editing rooms.
• BFM has over 30 partner universities in Europe and China, which offers a truly exciting mix of cultures that creates an invaluable professional network for your later career.
• Scholarships available

Crisely Apri 

Study Councellor and Specialist

For additional guidelines regarding admission procedure please contact the international admission specialist: