Screenwriting and Producing for Film and Television: University of Westminster

Introduction

This MA builds on the highly successful BA in Film and TV Production that has produced whole generations of film professionals including (recently) Seamus McGarvey (DoP on "The Hours", "High Fidelity" etc.) and Neil Purvis (writer of the last few Bond movies).

The MA is uniquely designed to develop skills and experience in screenwriting, producing and script-editing.

Course Structure  

The course runs on a calendar-year basis, commencing in January, allowing the summer-vacation period to be used for development of personal project work.

There are two teaching Semesters each lasting 12 weeks; Semester 1 runs January to April, Semester 2 from late September through to the middle of December.

The course moves from the creation of short screenplays and treatments to the writing of a feature-length script or feature production package.  Students will also have the option of writing a dissertation on screenwriting or script-development issues as their final assessed work.

Modules include:

• The Art of Screenwriting
• Contemporary Production Practice
• Narrative forms
• Script Editing
• Major project research
• Major project development
• Major project completion

Entry Requirements

Candidates should normally have:

• A good quality first degree in a creative or media area.
• And/or a relevant professional qualification.
• And/or a substantial body of personal work in screenwriting, drama, creative writing, script-editing or production.

The nature of this course requires that candidates must be able to speak, understand and write fluent English. For those whose first language is not English, they must comply with the following: English Language Testing Service (ELTS) score of at least 7.0.