MA Screenwriting is delivered via lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials. Students' creative output includes short and feature screenplays and a television series pilot script.
The MA deepens students' creativity, embeds professional practice, encourages enterprise and enhances employability. Taught in the manner of a creative conservatoire, it prepares our graduates to forge successful and fulfilling careers in the UK and global film and television industries with confidence and flair. It is taught by professional screenwriters and experienced educators Tim Price, Jonathan Hourigan and Gonzalo Maza.
Participating production companies have included Film4 , Wildgaze , Number 9 Films , Left Bank , Warp , Red Productions and Hammer Films , Sony Pictures and Saffron Cherry .
Over the two semesters of MA Screenwriting you will work closely with your tutors and collaborate with your contemporaries as you develop your screenwriting, pitching, story-breaking, script editing, analytical and other professional skills. You will attend screenings and will regularly be required to read, analyse and discuss screenplays and television episodes. This will broaden and deepen your critical awareness of the history of - and current trends in - UK and global film and television. You will have exposure to a range of approaches to story structure and you'll explore the generation and development of ideas, story design, characterisation, visual storytelling, genre, theme and scene construction. You will develop short screenplays, a full-length feature screenplay across at least two drafts and a pilot TV episode which, collectively, will showcase both your distinctive vision and professional capacities to the industry when you graduate.
As with all courses located within the Centre for New Writing, you will be taught by practitioners who are also experienced educators. It is an industry-focused and vocationally-oriented programme. You will receive individual career guidance and support around research, the business and finance of screenwriting, the preparation of CVs, the dissemination of your work, networking and the pursuit of entry level opportunities.
Industry speakers
Speakers from the film and TV industries have included Jane Langford, Senior Scripted Producer and Development Consultant at Saffron Cherry, Beth Pattinson of BBC Films ( Brooklyn, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Philomena ), Chris Chibnall, writer and creator of Broadchurch and Pete Czernin, producer of In Bruges and Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (1 and 2).
Internship opportunities
During the second semester as students approach the end of their studies, we hope to offer the possibility of either a `hands-on' internship, or industry placement, of up to two weeks at a major film or television production company in London or the north-west, or a mentor relationship with a professional screenwriter. An internship provides an opportunity to gain a direct, practical understanding of the context in which development and production take place. It also allows students to network and develop contacts as well as to reinforce `soft' and transferable skills developed during the MA. Meanwhile, a mentor relationship provides students with an opportunity to discuss their screenwriting and professional ambitions with an established professional.
The school considers all applications holistically. Even if minimum academic entry criteria have not been met, exceptional candidates, or those presenting excellent portfolios and/or with relevant writing experience and potential, will be assessed.
For recent graduates, we usually require an Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent in a humanities-based subject area.