Film Studies Ph.D or Masters?

[dhouse]

I'll be graduating with a Bachelors in Film Studies this spring, and I'm looking to continue on to grad school with the ultimate goal of earned a Ph.D. in the field. From the posts I've read here, I've gotten the sense that film and media Ph.D. programs tend to look for candidates who already have a Master's degree. Is this true? Should I be focusing my energies on Master-level programs at this stage?

[Swagato]

Not necessarily. Some places are biased toward BA-only candidates because of a notion that they can more effectively mould/shape the BA into a PhD, but this is infrequent. Usually this anti-bias exists with regard to internal applicants, ie, a UChicago undergraduate applying to UChicago's CMS department will not be very well received unless they're exceptional (this is what I've heard from several faculty members).

Beyond that, though, I'm not aware of an anti-MA bias per se. I'm currently at Chicago, in the MAPH program. I intend to apply to PhD programs for fall '12, and I sure hope my AM that I'll have already earned won't hurt me.