MA Screenwriting

The MA Screenwriting is an intensive one-year program designed to develop the writer’s unique voice and instill professional practices. Our graduates are able to find work writing for cinema, TV and new media platforms.

True to our teaching method, a number of hands-on, practical screenwriting exercises are assigned, culminating in a feature length screenplay. The feature screenplay is undertaken in small groups chaired by a tutor. This allows for a healthy exchange of ideas and feedback and is the most productive format for learning.

Collaboration with other students, including filmmaking students, is encouraged. Students are embedded in a personal supportive tutoring network. This consists of course tutors, and as well, early on in the program, they are assigned a practising screenwriting professional as a mentor. Student scripts, including the final are critiqued by a script panel, consisting of professional screenwriters.

To provide context for their new skills, students are required to attend classes on history and theory as well as screenings. Led by a group leader, students discuss screenplays to develop their critical faculties. Students also keep a Work and Research journal to track their progress against their goals. This journal is part of the final student assessment.

MA Screenwriting is accredited by Screenskills and embeds professional practice and industry involvement in the course, whilst developing screenwriters’ entrepreneurial capacities and enhancing their employability.

Curriculum Highlights

The curriculum is composed of three units to be taken sequentially.

UNIT 1: THE SCREENWRITERS CRAFT
This unit introduces the theoretical framework to support the practical work. Emphasis is given to the development of the writer’s personal voice within the complexities of the filmmaking craft.

The main practical focus of this unit is the writing of a Short Film Screenplay and the production of a Feature Film Portfolio. Small group and one-to-one feedback sessions with actors, directors and development professionals support this practical exercise.

UNIT 2: THE SCREENWRITER’S PRACTICE
The main focus of this unit is the development of a First Draft Feature Screenplay through small group feedback and one-to-one Mentoring. This unit continues to place screenwriting within the context of craft skills, film style and the filmmaking process. It also introduces the economic and industrial context for film production, distribution and exhibition and the role of the writer and the screenplay within that context.

UNIT 3: WRITING THE FEATURE FILM
The principal focus of this unit is the writing and development of a Feature Film project. Supported by a professional writing mentor, the student completes 2 more drafts of the feature screenplay. The final screenplay along with an outline of project development and the Work and Research Journal complete the assessable work for the MA programme.

Selected scenes from the graduate screenplays are presented at a Showcase event for industry professionals later in the year.