Screenwriting

Content

Leading the field, this prestigious screenwriting course gives you access to skills, knowledge and high level industry professionals.

This course-based MA is one of the UK's leading film and television scripting courses. Highly regarded throughout the industry, it has helped students win numerous UK and international awards and has established an outstanding position as a source of professional screenwriters for both film and television in the UK.

The course's unique workshop and portfolio creation programme provides a sound basis for work as a script editor or reader. A feature of the course is its industry links.

Structure

The schedule for the two years is as follows:

Phase 1 starts with an introduction to the theoretical framework and the practice of writing short films and television episodes, as well as introducing you to current practice. Units covered include:

• Screenwriting structure and process: short film
• Short television series: research and analysis
• Short television episode: structure and process
• Long television episode: research and analysis

Phase 2 includes course electives which allow you to focus on a specific screenwriting topic or related topic of your choice. Examples include long-running series (fiction and non-fiction), feature-film analysis and the business of screenwriting in the UK. On successful completion you may choose to exit with a Postgraduate Diploma.

Phase 3 (the MA) involves the writing of several drafts of an original screenplay for a film, video, or TV pilot episode and format documents for an original series or serial. You will need to write treatments, step outlines, drafts and, where applicable, format documents. The development of this project will take place in a series of workshops.

The mode of study is one day per week during term-time, plus a minimum of 10 hours individual study for two years.

Assessment is focussed on four major pieces of writing submitted throughout the course and participation in a workshop programme.

Dedication

2 years (90 weeks), part-time.